April 2017 review of the Paradigm Persona 9H A home run for Paradigm!

Wow, I don't even know where to start.  How the heck did I get pulled into this thread?  Glad I am Johnny's payroll. Sorry Johnny for buying my Ayre AX5/20 from Ralph at Take 5 in New Haven.  He's a GREAT dealer and a darn nice guy just like Johnny is.  Oh, I also got a small Linn system for the bedroom (hate it) from a dealer in Dallas.  Great guys all of them.  That was a year and a half ago.  Oh I forgot, I have recently purchased headphones at another dealer.  

My point is that you should never make a statement like that about me when you don't know me or anything about me other than some posts I make about equipment.  Like the owner of some dealership you have talked about, I've been in audio a bit too.  I've been involved since 1969.  I started my system early in life. I've been blessed to meet many great and some not so great folks in the industry. Heck, my ex was Mark Levinson's attorney many years ago.  I am in contact with many a reviewer too and know who I trust and who I don't.  There are some I like, but we hear very differently and like different products.  I believe in my own ears and don't need to go to dealers to tell me how great anything is.  Honestly, that's why I ended up at Johnny's and started buying Vandersteen's.  They sold themselves.  

The last thing I was going to even listen to were Vandy's as my old dealer I was loyal to sold them, but never had them set up properly so I never liked them.  I was closed minded.  Not any more. I hear a ton of gear as I travel and get asked to audition.  Heck, heard the 9H's the second day they made their NA tour at the Audio Store in Newington, CT where I grew up.  Bernie the owner is a GREAT guy and will also take the time to let folks audition.  See, again not working on Johnny's payroll or anyone else's.

Unlike many of the folks posting, I have no hidden agenda or any agenda other than have discourse and sometimes debate with some great posters and some, well.......

When you decide to make a post hiding behind a keyboard about someone you really should have your facts in order as that makes things personal. Talking about audio products is not personal regardless of how much we love what we own and listen to.  

I'm not made or hot under the collar, just stunned that my name came up in a thread by a poster who is clueless in making the allegations they have made.  It was just wrong and very rude.  

From now on, just email me to let me know when you bring my name up in any posts on any boards so that I may at least defend my name.  Pete at ctsooner@alumni.ou.edu   I'm not hiding behind a keyboard.

Oh, not that it matters, but I WISH I was able to work at Johnny's or any of the dealers I mentioned.  Since you don't know crap about who I am, I'll share a spec.  I'm a retired Navy Commander.  I'm a Surface Warfare Officer who drove the USS Kitty Hawk back in the day.  I'm a proud dad of two wonderful children.  One is 18, with Autism who stunned us all in his growth and is attending college this year in PA.  My daughter is a Jr at Univ of New Hampshire. She's majoring in Astro and Nuclear physics and minoring in Entrepreneurship. She also captains the cheer squad that is heading to nationals in April.  My wife owns an insurance agency and  writes in over 38 states. We have three Yorkies.

I can no longer work as I had Transverse Myelitis that was caused by MS.  I use a rollator to get around.  I'm very active and do everything I can possibly do, but many days I have to just stay home by myself with my dogs.  We will hang out on forums all day and listen to music of all types.  

There you go, that's what I have decided to share, but still not WHO I am.  Oh, I love Vandersteen's, Ayre, Basis and Audioquest.  Guilty for liking them all.  I also like a ton of other gear, but this is what I currently own and I realize that we all like different things and that's why there are forums.  Not trying to sell a darn thing, other than older gear that I wanted to move like many other folks.

Ctstooner I am glad you love Johny and love your gear, that is not the point, the point I was raising, is that there are plenty of guys on these forums that love their dealers, and are very vocal about their support.

And I am not trying to say anything other than you are friends with this one particular  dealer, the fact that he or any other dealer is doing anything for you because of it is between the both of you.

As I mentioned, the nice folks at Audio Doctor, treated me more as a friend then as a customer, and have been very hospitable, other then having Dinner there, I have been given the opportunity to hang out anytime and just watch a movie in their home theater room as well as spending hours listening to music.

All the New York stores seemed to be more with an agenda to make a purchase, then I have found with many of the NJ  dealers, high rents?

My point in some of these posts is not to denigrate someones choices but to point out as Troy did that we should all be open to the possibility of enjoying the sound and qualities of other products and you should be loyal to what sounds good to you and not just to a product.

What bothers me as I mentioned before is the narrow minds of some of the people on these forums.

I am a photographer I do not care which brand of camera I use they are tools, and over the years I have used different  brands and quite frankly I have never seen such polarizing views on brand loyalty as to what I have seen here.

To me there is no one brand that is better, I know you love Vandersteens, but how objectively have you listened to the competition, how do you know if you might not like a pair of similarly voiced speakers such as the Legacy's unless you have also gone down that path?

Like you I have my bias both pro and con to many of these dealers, I never felt warm at Lyric or Stereo Exchange, nor did I find great sound at either of these, I found Innovative also to be a bit on the weird side, l I did have a positive experience at Singer, I would not go there again, as their new store  is a shell of what they once were, and they have very little that I can afford that I think I would actually purchase, and Andy I know would not let me come in time and time again to just listen without making a purchase.

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Cstooner, I hope that clarifies my position, I thank you for your service to the country, and you do sound like a terrific and very interesting man.

I also must apologize if I mentioned your name without knowing you, I was just trying to make a point about some of the fan boys here.

I am not on anyone's payroll, but like you, I have never found a store where it was more about me, and my experience of having fun and learning about and playing music, never found that degree of civility in most of the stores, and I think Audio Doctor is unique place so like you I am vocal and I will try to promote them as much as possible. 

We should all just visit more of the shops and try to keep an open mind. I know how I like and what I like I am open to listen to and consider anything.  

Thanks for the apology.  My phone and email blew up after it.  I'm not into promoting anything. Just love what I ended up with, but as I said, I get out all the time to audition.  At least once a week at various stores.  I will no long enter Lyric.

I objectively listen to all speakers that I can as it's my money and not Vandersteen's or Johnny's.  I have liked a lot of what I heard from the larger Legacy's, but hated anything below the Aries.  The highs literally hurt my ears in their old tweeter and the new one, although better to my ears, still wasn't sweet.  Heard them with both ss and tube gear.  Just not for me for the price.  I dislike the Focals that I've heard as they were more 2D than 3D if that makes sense.  I dislike Wilsons as they are distorted and lack micro and macro detail.  The new Paradigm Persona 9H's are decent new speakers, but for the 35k, they are not as good as my new to be delivered Quatro's for more than half that cost.  Something was missing and I don't know what it was.  The B&W 802D3 were too forward for my tastes and the Dynaudio (forget the name) were very nice. I liked that tweeter, but they lacked coherency for me.  They have a 55k speaker that I like, but I don't love the rest of their line.  Their sound is all over the place. I like the new Avalon's, but wouldn't purchase them right now for many reasons that I'd never share in public right now.  Salk makes a good speaker, but not as good as the speakers I like IMHO.

Again, I purchase as a system so everything I have goes nicely together.  Of most of the speakers I've mentioned, I have heard them in various set ups and or in various places (stores or folks systems).  I don't do shows as you can't tell how anything sounds there.

When I find a speaker that sounds better than the carbon fiber cones that Vandersteen is making in house and also implements them better, then I'll think about making a move again.  I just don't chase my tail.  

I own Paradigms btw and knew John Bouvier who is in charge of sales at Audio Plus Services when he was at Sennheiser, so it's not bias against Paradigm.  

I'm happy you like your dealer and your system.

I haven't bought anything, yet.

I don't know how you could say the Legacy's are bright, the Aeris and the Focus use the same midrange and tweeter and they sound very Vandersteen like, big sound stage, warm and very liquid in the treble. So are you basing what you heard at a show or at a dealers, and at a dealers it would also depend on what equipment they were using at the Audio Doctor show room they are delicious sounding, and are anything but bright.

Maybe your are confused with the older models which do not use the newer Heil drivers?


As per the Paradigms not be half that of the Quattros, how can you make that statement, Cordesman said they are among the best speakers at any price,?

Perhaps you heard them with less than flattering gear, or the pair wasn't broken in. At the Audio Doctor showroom they were amazing, completely holographic, smooth, with great bass and thrilling dynamics.
They sound totally real. So could it be that your experience is very different based on where you heard them? 

As per Wilson's not being dynamic? What they are known for being very dynamic. 

Why don't you visit their showroom and see for yourself, I would be delighted to meet you there and introduce you. 

Did Audio Plus ever distribute Paradigm, I thought they always did Focal?