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

The reviewer is the editor in chief. The review was an unquestioned rave and the speakers the 9H was compared to were the almost twice the price Magicos and the Legacy Aeris about $10k less.

We are a Legacy dealer, and will be getting our display pair of Aerius later in the Year, We have heard them at shows. 

The 9H is a much more holographic loudspeaker with greater clarity then the Aerius, if you are looking for a gigantic sound with a warmer midrange the Aerius are very hard to beat.

As per why the Personas  weren't yet in the top 10 who knows, except,that the top ten may have a lot to do with how  many other reviewers have heard the same speakers with the Persona series being so new it is doubtful that many other reviewers have spent the time with the product that Mr. Cordesman has.

The Personas were in the Editors choice issue. 

So who knows  what politics or policies these guys follow.

If by your questioning why they aren't in the issue as something is wrong with the product I can assure you the Persona series is starting to get raves reviews on all who hear them, they like all reference speakers will be subject to personal opinion and taste and because the speakers have such tremendous resolution will be more dependent on system matching then more recessed speakers or ones without this level of resolution.

The same argument can be said for those guys who love Raal Ribbon tweeters or JM Labs products or B&W Diamond series, whenever you have a speaker which had remarkably extended treble the speakers can sound terrific or bright depending on system matching.

Our Legacy Signature setup  for example is super musical not quite the same degree of treble clarity but instead a huge, warm, layered sound with just a bit less detail then the Persona sound which is  why they sound so appealing to so many people. 

So  again, it  all comes down to personal taste and system matching. 

The Persona series are remarkable in so many ways and will continue to challenge the status quo for now and for many years in the future.

Troy
Audio Doctor
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I really don't want to get into a pissing contest with you, but your response to a simple question, which IMHO is way over the top, is why you are getting dinged by numerous posters.

one of the keys to dialog between people of differing points of view is that each listen to the other. We all know your point of view regarding the Paradigms--you have repeated it without much change in many of your responses. I heard it loud and clear, so please no more. 

However you seem to not hear the way you are pushing this point of view is upsetting many, or if you do hear their message, you seem not to care how repeating yourself will influence how they react to you.

Also, Cordesman is listed as a senior writer, not Editor in Chief.

jay

Wow... I don't even know where to begin. Why can't everyone accept the fact that there are different speakers for everyone.  There is no such thing as an end all be all speaker.  What's even more comical is people bashing speakers they have never even owned or based on brand name alone. I've been in the audio industry for 18 years and I've heard every speaker imaginable. Paradigm makes a damn good speaker and the persona is a statement piece that DOES compete favorably to speakers in a much high price bracket. Attacking people because they believe in them such as Audiotroy is kinda crazy. He just sounds like a passionate sales guy who actually believes in what he sells. I respect that. I haven't read one of his responses where he hasn't invited someone to just listen to them and judge for themselves. I've owned Rockports, magicos,  focal, revel etc but guess what I have in my listening room? A brand new pair of Persona 9Hs. Why? Because they sound better to me! Sound is so subjective.  Everyone has their own likes and dislikes.  I've never heard a speaker at 35k that sounded better to me. As a matter of fact I've never heard a speaker under 100k I've liked better. I've heard them all... that's my opinion. I don't care what logo they have on them and why should I. We buy speakers for their sound not their logo. Most companies logos are meaningless anyway (klipsh, definitive tech,  polk) to name a few all started as good speakers that sold their soul and now are mass market junk that are no longer engineered and voiced by true audio guys (Sandy gross, Matthew polk, Paul Klipsch). All these personal attacks on people voicing their opinions and displaying their passions need to stop. We are all adults and should be able to discuss grown man toys without the non-sense. 

I agree that we all hear differently and like different speakers and amps etc...  That's a given.  I too have heard tons of the speakers spoken about on the boards and personally have my favorites (not only Vandersteen's as some think, lol).  I was one of the first in the US to hear the 9H's (at Bernie's in Newington). They weren't burned in as it was the first stop of their US tour.  I then heard them again a few other times now as many are starting to carry them.  

They are nice, but for ME don't compete with a few of the speakers I like that cost a bit less, so they wouldn't be a starter.  I have heard them burned in and set up properly in a good room etc...  When folks ask me what speakers they should go listen to, they are on my list as there will be some who love the sound of them.  I'd own them over some of the big name speakers that are in this range and above, but there I PERSONALLY don't see them as punching above their price range. Again, that's my personal view and there are many who feel that way.  Conversely, I've spoken to a few who love them and may purchase them.  I guess that's why I like the net as I can speak with others offline about our hobby and it helps me keep an open mind on components.  

We all are passionate over some specific brands. Some, because they sell them and make a living at it. That doesn't mean they don't truly love what they are selling.  I am one of those who doesn't listen to sales folks IRT how anything sounds.  Never have and that's why I go listen to as much gear as I can.  That doesn't mean I won't start with what a dealer will say, but I can't tell you how many folks I see in stores being led around like lemmings by a sales person in auditions.  

With that said, it doesn't matter as long as people are happy with their decisions, but based on the used market, I don't think that's happening as much as it should, but that's just my opinion.  I'm glad sales guys are on the board posting. Heck, I have learned a few things about my Ayre QX5/20 by a sales guy in Chicago and I've never met him.  I've shared things with him that he didn't know and hopefully he's been able to use that info to help others when guiding them to purchases.

I think when sales people post on threads like this with strong opinions on what they are selling, there will be a large contingent who are skeptical and will call them out depending on how they purse their responses.  I do know of a few dealers who use shills to help them sell and it's too bad.  Some of us post about favorite dealers we know and use.  I post often about Rutan in NJ, but I love Mike at Suncoast in Sarasota and I have done business with Ralph at Take 5 in New Haven since opened in 78.  I love Bruce at Stereo Unlimited in SD and few can set up a system like Joe Heusi in Houston.  There are many more I like and respect and will send folks to for auditions.  Only two of the ones I mention even post on boards and when they do, there usually isn't a firestorm like this thread has become.  Just an observation and neither negative nor positive.

Dear Gabmetz, Thank you and you get it. Incidently I agree with you, we had the $120k Kharmas in our shop, as well as the Polymer Research MKX-s quite amazing speakers by the way, we also sell the Kef Blades.

Ctsooner just because you heard them at Bernies in Newington, doesn't mean anything, it means you don't like what you heard at Bernies, it doesn't mean you won't be amazed at hearing our setup or maybe not amazed but you may find that our setup is one of the most realistic systems you will ever hear and that is without first order slope speakers or you still may not like the speakers as much as your beloved Vandys. 

What I said in another post was the boss, Dave drove out to another dealer to hear the speakers and was not impressed with their setup, but he heard their potential so he took the leap of faith and ordered a set.

Everyone's setup room and gear are different, our room is 26 by 20 with a 10 foot ceiling, I stopped in to that dealer you spoke of many years ago to check out their Magico setup and I don't think they had one large sound room in their entire facility, many dealers don't. 

We are using $50k worth of T+A electronics, a Light Harmonic Davinci, $35k, a Baetis Music Computer, $15k and all Enklein cables prices vary, our room features Shakti Holographs, Acoustic System Resonators, Echo Buster Pannels and Stein Harmonizers to name a few of things we are doing to make the speakers perform optimally. 

We got a demo of the Isoacoustics Gaia and they were amazing and made a huge improvment. 

So you have to understand my point which I have made many times before each dealers setup is different we tried a lot of good electronics including Conrad Johnson, Devialet, Electrocompaniet, Thrax, Chord before we found the T+A gear was better then all the rest. 

I don't know Bernie and I am not saying he is getting the same sound better or worse then we are getting, I recommend that you finally come here and meet with Dave and myself and hear our reference system for yourself.

Your friend in NJ just purchased a Light Harmonic Davinci based on one of our setups in his home, we don't move into new lines casually, we test and listen and test.

We did compare the Davinci to EMM Labs DA2, the Berkly Reference 2 and a DCS Rossini,  and in our demo system the Davinci was much more musically satisfying. 

Troy
Audio Doctor