Paradigm Personas anyone heard them

Hi Dave b. The b&w demos I’ve listened to just weren’t convincing too bad cause I was taken by the looks of the 802d xx. I’m one of those guys that liked kef over b&w and how either of them can be called‘British sound’ when they sound so different idk. So in my room the persona 7f sounds like a pair of high end kefs that actually has the bass sorted out. Here’s the thing, were on a persona thread right? I’m not on a b&w thread saying persona is better. One doesn’t have to be wrong for the other to be right.

Steve, you must have been in an alternate universe when you demo’d the B&W’s.

glad you found your speakers. I never heard a B&W demo I liked at all, they always sounded dull and lifeless, dark and uninvolving. Any other critical reviews I read about b&w are the opposite complaining about the peaky mids which just reinforces my belief that in home demos are the only way I can hear what a speaker will actually sound like. I think active dsp could be the exception since there’s less variables and the directivity can be managed(right?). 
We really can’t rely on other audiophiles approval for our own enjoyment, but forums can be valuable tools all the same.

I listened again and decided to buy the B&W802D3’s...just so much more realistic and dynamic compared to the Personas.

I’ve been buying speakers used here and on usam to home demo for as long as I want with my equipment in my room. I figure once I get the pair that gets it the way I like it I can keep them or resell to get the finish I prefer. I can’t afford to choose a pair of speakers then go thru a dozen power amps just to find out the speakers will never sound like they did in the demo that I liked so much. All the new Metal drivers regardless of the brand sound very similar to me with more emphasis on speed and detail that can make them sound more like tools than musical instruments. The salon2 I had when paired with Mark Levinson was to die for, but once home with my gear they lost that midrange magic I bought them for.  The persona 7f shares that hyper detail the salon 2 has but the 7f here in my home is an easier load for my amp so I’m getting more bass which balances the presentation. There’s still more detail than “midrange bloom” if thats a thing, but they do make me want to keep listening so, for now I’m enjoying them.

Heard the 9H’s vs B&W802D3’s driven by McIntosh separates and it was obvious to me instantly, that the 802D3’s created a living breathing soundscape full of dynamics and atmosphere.  The Paradigms were analytical and devoid of any warmth at all...not organic sounding at all.  

Just like any team, the pieces  have to fit. When paired properly they are a fantastic speaker. Just have to have a basic understanding of what will work with them as far as electronics , wire and dac ( if digital). I love my 5fs in a 27x17x10 listening/chill room.  I have AKM dac. , Tube pre amp and very neutral wires.  Wonderful combo. 

I heard the Persona bookshelf speakers, and I was blown away, best sound I have ever heard. We were able to switch to some B&W 802d,s, and I know this is hard to believe, but the Persona were significantly smother and more transparent, a far better sound. I would love to hear the towers!!

The motorcycle industry is taking advantage of india wages and scale of economy so will audio? I wonder

The mere Made in Canada  will  make me give it a go .

driving the 7f with a Hegel h360 bass is excellent and the combination commands attention, so much information, music laid out. They really do make old tunes sound new.

Stitt, BINGO!

You should hear them on way better gear, the Nad T777 is an excellent receiver we sell it but if you add a high performance intergrated amplifier into the mix your B's will really shine.

Many people don't like reality they like a candy colored version of it.

We are frequnetly at odds with other members because we preach the virtues of a system that sound musical but real, which is the sound of the Personas with a bit of softening, The NAD T777 is actually quite musical, if you listen to the same system with a Denon or Onykyo you wouldn't be so happy.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Persona and NAD dealers

yyzsantabarbara  Persona B Speakers
I had this big long write up and I hit the back button accidentally lost all of it. I will keep this short. The room is 14 X 20, but has an entrance way, hallway and stairwell. Not easy to set up.

Anyway, the speakers sounded horrible when I first hooked them up. I almost crapped my pants after paying so much money for these things (used). Long story short, I had to change settings in my Amp (NAD T-777 V3). I was running stereo through a zone and that turned out to be a no no. I had to set a main output to stereo by creating a profile and assigning it to a preset, then assign that preset to the source; BluOS. That and adjusting speaker position changed everything.

NAD comes with BluOs which has a library of musical providers. I have been using Qbuz, Deezer and Tidal. They are free, so they may not be the 24 bit quality version.

I have been listening for a few days now and i love the speakers. I think these speakers take some time to get used to. They can be harsh, because they are so honest. These are the most honest speakers I have ever heard. They play it like it is, good or bad and the sound you get seems like the exact sound.

I have a story. A few years ago the wife and I went to the Walnut Valley Bluegrass festival in Winfield, Kansas. As we walked through the main thorough fair, there were two young boys who were 12 or 13 years old. They were both playing banjos. I am not a banjo fan unless its Bela Fleck, J.D Crowe or the like, but these two kids were amazingly good. They were trading licks and playing at amazing speeds.

While I was at home repositioning these new speakers and walking around the room, I walked right in front of one of the speakers when a banjo tune came on. It was so stark and realistic, the image of those two boys playing those banjos at Winfield jumped into my head. I hadn’t thought of that since we were actually at Winfield. The sound was so real, I was back in Winfield for a split second.


These speakers won’t be for everyone, but I’m sold. The clarity, the bass, the accurate sound which is completely honest of the recording is something I like. I think it takes some tuning to get it right. I also think different amplifiers may have a different affect on the sound. Not all will fit.

@sttt How big is the room you want put the new speakers? Any reason why you have considered the monitor and not the 3F (or any other small floor stander).

I know this is old.  I am interested in the bookshelf model and wanted to listen to them.  I found them in a local box store.  They had all models connected with anthem, but it was so disappointing listening to great speakers in an open show floor.  It was competing with loud gaming next door and store noise.  I listened for an hour but didn't really get to hear them. 

Don’t get me wrong; I am not knocking the 9H, I would love them just as anyone else, but all I am saying is that they could of easily had a 9H and 9F version (for less money).

If everything the dealer told me is correct (he seemed to know his stuff), the 7F is the "9F" as you’re describing (take the 9H speaker but with passive bass instead of the 9H powered bass). But for whatever reason Paradigm called it 7F instead of 9F (maybe to save the coveted "9" designation for their statement version with powered bass). 

I only had about an hour yesterday and spent the whole time listening to the 5F which was astounding in so many ways (Transparent audio cables and Meridian dac/pre/amp electronics). Perhaps a bit bright compared to "warm" sounding soft-dome speakers. But not bright in an etched or sibilant way... rather, open, extended, airy, and ultra-refined micro detail that never sounded harsh or irritating. Very listenable. I have a feeling this open/airy character may work well with my own Hegel amplifier (when tends to warm/neutral IMO... not a bright or edge SS sound at all) so once I save more $$ I plan to bring my own electronics to the store to do some serious listening.

I also look forward to hearing how close/far the 3F are in comparison (would love to hear the 7F which they don't have on display sadly as they go straight from the 5F to the 9H). And they also have KEF and Monitor Audio so i'll be able to hear some comparably-priced other brands that are also well regarded (would love to hear the Monitor Audio Platinum 300 IIs). 

I want bass (which the Persona 5Fs have... tight and musical... it's sublime), natural mids (which sounded to me like they could be better but I wonder how my own electronic gear might affect that), open/airy/detail (5Fs have to perfection). And one other thing I want are speakers with wide dispersion so they sound good playing even when you're in the other room or walking around or dancing... and the 5Fs do that well.

I will say that the imaging on the 5Fs was phenomenal... wide, tall, low, and deep. It was like 3D IMAX with some recordings... not only "height" in some cases, but sounds came from below... like I was in a stadium IMAX seat looking up *and* down at music that filled my field of vision... not just a left-right horizontal spread. And some recordings with depth were astonishing. For "effects" audiophile recordings (think Pink Floyd etc) they are superb. They also sounded great with Holy Cole female vocals... and her "don't smoke in bed" album sounded like I was in the presence of a performance rather than a recording.

One thing that wasn't ideal though (and I'm very curious to hear in the future how this may or may not change with room and electronics) was that sonic images were "larger than life". This included close-miked pop recordings but also was true for more traditionally mixed stereo vocal-recordings... the "IMAX" analogy works here too as it was like everything was magnified. Now, this was playing loudly. When turned low things sounded life-sized, but that's not typically how I listen personally... when turned up for slam/impact, the music got "larger", not just louder.

It's not bad per-se, just not something I've experienced before. I'm curious if others have heard this too with the personas or other speakers... basically the effect that when the louder they are played, the *larger* the soundstage images become... as if they are being magnified like a projector that's zooming to create an even larger image. It's intriguing and I think it may be because of the purity of the highs/mids that remain completely clear and distortion-free even as they are played loudly... all of the ease and detail is still there, and the brain probably sees this as "larger", not just "louder". 

Can't wait until I save some more $$ for a more in-depth audition with my own gear...

I listened to the small Personas at The Audio Doctor's shop. I preferred them to the KEF1 speakers.

dmance, if you’re under 75 you’ll live to see the True North Brave and Free buck worth 10 times the Yankee dollar.
Or the Confederate one if they change the name .

Guys it is refreshing to see people agreeing with us on the performance envelope of the Personas, which we have been extolling for the last year since we got our display pairs and did the New York Audio Show with T+A gear and the Personas.

The entire line is very impressive and when setup correctly they are incredibily life like speakers with very holographic imaging. 

The Persona's can easily compete with most of the $60-70k loudspeakers out there. 

We have had a number of expensive ultra high performance loudspeakers over the years, from Scaena, Polymer Audio Research, and recently we tested the 9H vs a $120k pair of Kharmas, and these are all $60k plus loudspeakers, and none of these speakers were radically better different yes, but in terms of value for money, room tuning capability, ease of drive, reasonable size and weight it is very hard to beat what you get with the Personas.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

stebrn
i live in Canada - about 20 miles from the Paradigm factory.  i;ve waited for years to have a true high end loudspeaker company in my backyard.  Ive not heard everything - but gosh these 9H's have to be close to the TOTL Magico's ...for less than half price. 
FYI - when I was at my dealer, they corrected the speakers for the room (the speaker comes with microphone + software to program the onboard DSP). Using five separate measurements per speaker, the correction is almost 10 db of swing correction to address peaks at 40,80hz and trough at 60hz.   Look at this damn flat response!  I believe it when then say they are flat from 20hz to 20khz!

http://www.canuckaudiomart.com/forum/download/file.php?id=51671&t=1

Regarding the deal ...I think most of if comes from accommodation for the CDN$/.USD$ exchange rate.  If Mr. Trump continues his shenanigans, i wont be able to afford anything from the USA.

Dmance-sounds like you were offered a discount on the Personas.  I've had so little luck getting a discount on new high end speakers that I usually don't even ask.  Don't want to pry but I certainly would be interested in any additional information you could share. 

I've heard the Persona 3f and was very impressed.  Going back tomorrow to hear the 5f in comparison.  As I posted elsewhere, I will then try to decide between one of the Paradigms, the KEF Reference 3 and the Monitor Audio pl300ii.  I'm wondering how each of these will sound with my equipment--Audio Research VT130SE amp and LS22 pre amp.   Also wondering why neither Srereophile nor Absolute Sound has reviewed the Personas (A/S did review the Persona 9).  I called Paradigm for some information and learned that they soon will be offering grills for all the Persona speakers for an extra charge (important in my case for WAF).  

The 5F's are very good IMO ...but the 9H's are just stunning. when calibrated to the room, they produce so much low end information without any boom or drone.  I auditioned with my own amp (ZOTL40 @ 35w) and the synergy was spectacular.  The active woofer is a winner.  I listened for three hours ...there is so much richness and effortless fullness to the sound when the lows are present and controlled. 
And the dealer margins must be good because I was quoted a great deal - which I am now seriously considering.  Compared to other high end speakers they are are steal and probably end-game for me.

I have heard both the Signature and the 3f but I didn't feel it was really a fair comparison... but that's just me

My use is home theater primarily.

The most accurate (and best price performance) I have heard were the Tekton speakers but at this point in time they don't have the HT lineup that I would like. I don't think they are warm, bright or anything but accurate IMO. They do not have the openess of the Aeris though. The Aeris is magical there. But again, that's just me.

Vitop we sell both lines so keep this in perspective.

The Personas only start to compete with Legacy in the 5F vs the Focus.

We have the Signature Se the Jr Focus in the same room as the Persona 3F and it is a very interesting comparison.

The 3F sound smaller, which they should they are smaller, their image focus is better and they are more transparent also their bass is tighter although not as much.

The Signature Se have a more prounced bass are warmer thow a bigger soundstage and have a wamer midrange.

I would have to say that the larger 5F is going to be more of a match even though is is more expensive than the Focus or the Signature as the larger version has more bass and an even larger soundstage.

The Aeris vs the Persona 9H will be a more interesting comparison.

We are getting the show pair of Aeris so we will have both speakers in the same room.

There is no denying the Aeris are world class loudspeakers if you prefer their presentation that is a good thing. Personally our store feels that the Legacy speakers are nearly unbeathable for the money.

The Persona 9H are also a bargin for what they do, they have greater transparency than the Legacy’s but also have less of that famous Legacy bass warmth and midbass warmth.

So the Legacy’s would fit in that hyper musical class of loudspeakers in the Vandersteen, Harbeth type of sound with the Pesonas fitting into the Magico, Focal, Rockport, type of sound

I would also say that is does depend on where you hear these speakers.

The Personas have a disadvantage vs the Aeris in that the Aeris comes with a pretty good preamp/dac that means for many setups the amplifier and speaker cables are the only variable.

The Personas are totally at the mercy of everything used with them and considering that the Beryillium drivers have greater resolution then the Heil AMT drivers which are a bit more laid back means the Personas are harder to get right. With greater transarency comes a greater chance of making a system sound too detailed and less musical which is why we tend to demo the Personas with warmer gear such as Naim or T+A with the Light Harmonic Davinci or the Aqua Hifi digital, rather than our older reference the EMM Labs Dac 2xse. 

If you are ever in our neck of the woods New York metro, we would invite you in to listen to both sets of these world class loudspeakers.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

I heard the Aeris after I heard the Persona speakers. I really think a lot of the Persona, but I liked the Aeris better. They just sounded better to me. Nothing like them. Not sure if it is the hybrid open baffle design or the wavelet processor, or the combination but wondering if anyone else made the comparison between these two. 

Although the price of the 3f and Focus are closer, I think the 3f beats it  in terms of clarity, but I do think the 3f is brighter than the Focus.

Wow that is interesteing that you owned three different sets before it dawned on you that you had issues with them.

I am not suprised that the Rogue audio setup wasn't good, it is not a tube thing, it is a complete system matching thing.

When you have a cool speaker, ie one with very low levels of coloration and you want them to sound musical you have to add some warmth and body to the sound somewhere. Just because you use a tube doesn't mean you have solved the problem.

Yzsantabarbera commented that the room was way too small, I wonder what the reset of the chain was, were they using Audioquest or Nordost cabling? Did they have a suitable digital front end? Did they employ any room treatment or was the room ringing with slap echo.

That is one reason why we invite people over to our showrooms, we dial in our display systems and we use all the tuning tools and accessories to make our systems sound musical. 

So before you bash the speakers perhaps blaim the setup.

As per hearing individual drivers I find that remarkably strange, the Persona use the exact same material for the tweeter and midrange, what you may be having an issue with in terms of integration can happen if your sitting distance is not correct or your rake angle is wrong.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor

mofojo, I went into more detail here in a previous Persona thread and was immediately schooled by the Audiogon's resident Paradigm retailer who has at least thirteen responses in this thread alone. I should applaud him/them on his sales persistence and wish him success within our little industry.  

I feel Paradigm has a terrific business plan and has the potential to offer sensible quality at an affordable price which is why I owned three different Paradigm products and auditioned their S8s in home. 

In MY opinion the Persona's sound way better than any other previous Paradigm offering and their technology is interesting but they're plagued by what I now consider to be the Paradigm house sound. They go high and they go low and I'm sure they'll measure perfectly. Along with the brightness or harshness others have mentioned I was still able to hear every driver discreetly as with my previous Paradigms consequently they didn't make music for me.

This is my personal opinion and opinions vary.

It was the Persona 5F. The problem with the speakers was that the room was way too small. I also did not like the tube electronics used (not a tube fan) nor did I like the long wall placement of the speakers. The drivers were way too close to your face. A shame they could not have gotten a bigger room such as the Magico S3 MKII room. I had the same feeling about the PMC speaker room. The only rooms I liked were the medium to large sized rooms. My favorite being the KEF Blade 2 room.

A few years back I heard the KEF Reference 1 at dealer and it sounded pretty bad. The reviews in the mag and internet were glowing. The dealers room I heard it had a large glass window in the back. So I put it up to a terrible room.

I heard the KEF Reference 1 again with the new Wired4Sound monoblocks at the show in a room I liked (it was circular where the speaker was setup). Now I could see why people raved about the KEF Reference 1. It was awesome and a real fun listen. So there you go,

I heard either the 3F or 5F at the Los Angeles Audio Show. They were paired with Rogue Audio (tubes I believe). The sound was full top to bottom but a bit harsh even with the tubes. I freely admit it may have been the electronics did not synergize well with the Personas. But you'd think that every effort had been made to put their best foot forward at this West Coast show. I was there with a Paradigm owner and he was not impressed either.

I think most would admit that synergy is very important. I heard that with the Wilson Sabrina/Audio Research gear, Mbl - with its own gear, Marten and Zesto I believe, Hegel and KEF Blade 2, and maybe a few others. I was there all day Saturday and certainly did not  have the time to hear/see all rooms. But Paradigm was on that list. I know my friend had high hopes. I don't mention these brands to bash, but rather to show that some rooms that I heard were exemplary while many others struggled. I can also say that a few of the pairings I mentioned above have sounded very good every time I've heard them and I've heard them a number of times in different venues. Maybe I just heard the Personas with gear that didn't suit them well.

Personally I find the whole Persona thing really really weird.

People should be flooding the posts with interest about wanting to audition the speakers, yet we keep on hearing the same litenany of brands, Magico, Wilson, Rockport etc.

I know of no other speaker system in recent memory that is offering this level of technology, build quality and sound for this kind of money and in the case of the 9H how many other loudspeakers have built in room correction?

What I don't find suprising is the polarizing nature of speakers with basically 0 coloration. I have seen many of the setups that people are hearing and they are not good, hence the speakers are not blowing away all listeners and some of the comments are the speakers are bright.

We have found that if you spend the time to setup them up carefully the speakers can sound magical.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor

IMO made in USA means little, made in Canada means a lot .

I heard them and liked them a lot. Excellent clarity IMO. I almost bought a set of the 3f and center. Literally almost pulled the trigger but ended up with something different.

If you have not heard them, you really should try to.

Funny I never heard that ever being said.

Also the Sig were updated to version .3
The .3 update were way better than the older v2 which were compared to Revel Performas not Salons.

Considering Sig 8 v2 were $6500 back in 2009 of course a pair of $20k Salons would be better.

The Personas compete with Salons.

I am sooo sceptical about comparisons - most of which come from shibboleths posted on reviewer sites. I owned Paradigm Signature S8 v2s for 30 months and I loved them. Then I heard the Revel Salon 2s that the Sigs are said to rival. Nope stop there, the Sigs do not rival the Revels - period. This comparison has been repeated endlessly - it has been conjoured into being something real. 

Literally, during the first minute that my wife heard the Revels, we had a deal and I replaced the paradigms with them. On every level, the Revels beat the Sigs. 

I had a chance to hear the Persona 3F's today at our Paradigm Dealer here in town. They were driven by Moon Evolution Series Pre-amp and Amp. Source was a Moon Neo CD and DAC. I have to be honest in saying I didn't love them. I found the Mid-range and highs somewhat bright and to forward sounding. Almost irritating for lack of a better description. I found the image hard to centre even with toed in versus wider. The bass was very strong. Perhaps the electronics are not a good match for the Persona's. I think they would have sounded better with tubes or pure class A since the speakers are so efficient. Beautiful build quality and pleasing to the eyes esthetically.

Dear Patsuh,

Thank you for the kind words. Both Dave and Myself love the Persona line, if you set them up carefully and use great electronics, the speakers perform magnificently!

I have a feeling that some of the doubters have heard the speakers with the wrong electronics or the speakers were not broken in.

I was amazed at the quality of sound we were getting out of that way too small room at the show.

In terms of your comments vs the Wilson, and Utopia product, again I feel the same. It is not that the Persona's are so much better, it is that they offer some of the best qualities of those speakers yet cost considerably less. 

The Personas have a level of transparency that is just so remarkable and the imaging is just spooky one of the best imaging speakers i have ever heard 

If you are in our neck of the woods you should come in for a visit. 

We heard the paradigm 9h at your show in Ny, even with the bad acoustical room conditions, let me appreciate the wonderful caracteristics of the paradigms, and it is truly right their coherence compete easily with esl loudspeakers, speed too, we did later listen 2 types of wilson loudspeakers with nordost cables ( by the way, worst choices) and jm labs utopias and preferred the paradigms over thoses. 

Yes and I am sure the same thing can be said about B&W
and KEF.

B&W didn't start with the 801 nor did KEF start with their Reference lines. Both of these companies started with affordable models first.

Look at PSB the T3 which has been universally heralded as a fantastic speaker got the same smirks when they went up market with the T3. 

Paradigm has always played it safe and even their last line of high end speakers the Signature line was compared very favorably to speakers from Wilson and B&W whose models cost considerably more.

And yes if you have a lot of money you can hire the best minds and use the best technologies, and Paradigm has very talented staff.

Your logic is fallacious, the larger the company the more resources they can throw at a project, Do you think if Bose wanted to build literally the world's best speakers that they couldn't?

The problem in the industry is that their is inherent snobbery and way too much brand passion that borders on insanity. 

There are Wilson guys, Vandersteen guys. Magico guys.etc.

We have tried a lot of very expensive speakers and the Paradigm's are really, really good, and are very competitive with anything out there. 

Are we brand loyal not really, as we have moved in and out of a number of speakers before we settled on the Persona's as one of our top picks, we are adventurous and willing to move to new brands and products that we feel offer our customers the best performance possible. 

So with that said Oaky have you even heard the new Personas?

Anyone who thinks that Paradigm one of North America's biggest and most successful companies can't make a world class speaker is smoking something.

Lol, what world class speaker has paradigm ever made since they started making speakers, ah.....NONE, now who is smoking something.

Again,
Just because a company has lots of money to spend doesn't mean their designers will know how to make a good speaker.

Again something is not right with the setup the speakers are accurate but hardly bright or non musical. What did the dealer say about the setup? Were they thrilled with it or where they saying we just got these in do you want to check them out and perhaps they were not finished with the setup or the speakers weren't fully broken in?

The other possibility is that this dealer just doesn't know how to setup a good system. I have seen it before in many dealerships. I am not saying that we are necessarily better, but lets face facts just because you can put out an expensive system doesn't mean you have the experience to make a great sounding one. 

I have seen dealers with sound rooms without a lick of acoustical treatments, with sound rooms that had slap echo, no power conditioners, stock power cords, wrong or inexpensive cabling, no vibration control etc.

I will also say that your Krell Resolution speakers are a bit dull in the top end, I am not saying the speakers aren't good, I have heard them and many other speakers with the ring radiator tweeter and although the tweeter is rated to go to 20k and above they don't sound that way they sound way more recessed than the current generation of metal tweeters. 

So one person's musical is another persons dull. 

Anyone who thinks that Paradigm one of North America's biggest and most successful companies can't make a world class speaker is smoking something. 

If the sound isn't to your liking I can understand that, however, if I was getting the same results like you were getting in your demo I wouldn't jump to such hasty conclusions, but question what is going on with the setup, and were the speakers broken in?

Macintosh separates....usually always warm sounding.  I've owned some of the other speakers you mentioned.  These are just not voiced for music...maybe for the hard of hearing, but not for lovers of music.

I would also add the same applies to Magico, Wilson, Rockport etc

I have heard Radiho speakers sound really good and I have also heard them being bright and harsh. 

Any high resolution speakers will show you both the good and bad of the setup.

The Bookshelf, and the 3F are less finicky then the big boys which as i said deserve the best in matching gear. 

The 9H are extraordinarily transparent and will show you everything that is both right and wrong in your setup. 

So with any true reference speakers the care in setup and system matching is crucial. 

I am sure if you ask enough people here you will get the same response about many of the world's best speakers, if the setup wasn't to their liking.

It is just like a high end sports car, put in the wrong gas, put on the wrong tires and the car will drive like crap. 

What were they using for gear? 

Any speaker with superior resolution may sound that way, 

The trick is always to use the right equipment to pair with them that has the right warmth to make the sound balanced.

Try the Personas on Naim, T+A gear, Manley Labs, Conrad Johnson and you will be amazed. 

Wrong setup, cabling, dac and yes they will drive you out of the room, they are not laid back, they are extremely revealing. 

Etched with no warmth whatsoever...flat and cold!

I went to Audio Doctor yesterday to drop of my Manley snappers for repatriation. . I had the opertunity to listen to the Paradigm 9h speakers through a T+A system. I was awe struck I own Wilson watt 8's and audio research sp20 an pass x250.5 and wa so impressed I'm working on a deal. I found the owner David a very specialized representive of high end products. In fact 15.+ years ago I herd the best system of my life I only remember the speakers they were Seaena with woofers and tweeter towers. He is an honest guy and a train ride from NYC. I hope anyone who likes music will visit an deal with him. He is honest and likes to talk about the products he represents.

Not sure how much I trust or care about the guy selling 3F's based on the room he's listening in. Looks like literally the least ideal room possible. Tile floors with no carpet and all.

Please contact us if you need more info on the Paradigms. 

They are way better than the Josephs.