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Paradigm Persona B Loudspeakers Professional Review

I met Jerry Seigel at the RMAF this past October and had a quite lengthy discussion with him on audio reviewing in general. He was very nice in person and not what I expected. I never mentioned this to him, but I always felt he liked everything he auditioned.

Not so for the Paradigm Persona B loudspeakers. I won’t bore you with the specifics of the review as you can read it online, but he summed it up as he couldn’t wait for the audition to be over. The words bright and brittle kept being mentioned in the review and he gave it 2 LP’s out of 10. I have never heard these particular speakers, but I have always felt that Beryllium speakers were too bright for my taste and that is what he seems to say in the review. I am looking forward to what The Audio Doctor has to say about this as he always seems to be pushing their top of the line Persona speakers in these pages.

Has anyone heard the Persona B speakers and what do you think about them? I was actually thinking of a 3rd system in the spare bedroom with some kind of stand mounted speakers. I believe these speakers will be off my review list.
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audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy
3,782 posts
 
You may have a far better setup.

What electronics, source, and cables were they using?


exfoliate
20 posts
 
Worth noting the guy who wrote the review (Jerry) was selling the Personas a few months ago and said some very different things at the time, that he thought the Personas were better than the Focal Sopra 1s. Quite a backflip he's made.
jph_1
3 posts
 

I have a pair of Persona B’s. I have a pair of KEF LS50’s. I love the sound of the KEF’s,  but after awhile they can sound harsh in my environment—high ceilings and hardwood floors. I ended up getting the Persona B’s after hearing them. These have all the detail and clarity of the KEF’s, but match better with my room. I can listen to these for hours. I’ve done AB comparisons with the KEF’s and prefer the Personas in this room. I just can't part with the KEF's, so the KEF’s will go to carpeted environment. 

 

Roger Kanno’s (SoundstageHIFI) review seems closer to my experience. So glad I heard the Personas before reading Jerry Seigel’s review. 


nabcs's avatar
nabcs
55 posts
 
Hello, I am new to the forum.

I have Paradigm Persona 9H with Triode TRX-M845, and sincerely, it’s really a mystery for me when someone claims that the Paradigm Persona 9h are bright.

In my setup none of this is happening... the sound is full and three-dimensional and I can hear for hours. For example, last Saturday my wife had a birthday party and I took the opportunity for a listening session that started at 10pm and only finished at 3am !!

And any change of equipment or cable is really evident with this speakers. I tried Synergistic Research and Kubala Sosna and the differences are really evident...in the end I choosed Kubala.
dmance's avatar
dmance
45 posts
 
The 9H sounds completely different than the Persona B's.  Paradigm really compromised the magic of the Be midrange to become a woofer with the bookshelf's.  The crossover in the B's makes my ZOTL amp sound lifeless ...yet it sounds magical driving the 9H's.  Honestly the 9H is the best high efficiency speaker i've heard.
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