Paradigm Persona series

personally i am a bit jaded with paradigm for jumping into high end so hard, so quickly. the prestige series was already significantly more expensive than anything they ever did beforehand, now we got the persona series... i never considered the paradigm brand synonymous with ultra high end, guess theyve made it to the big leagues now.

They have been making the Signature series for about 15 years. Very well built great sounding speakers IMO. 

Agreed, but they have usually been a quarter of the cost of the persona series.

I have owned Paradigms practically since the company was founded in 1982.
d2 I agree with you that Paradigm's did  not have the  reputation of being "high end" .Neither were PSB ,Energy and other excellent Canadian speakers.
That's what I liked about them.Most of their speakers to me sounded pretty close to other  very $$$ "high end" speakers.

Had a pair of Studio reference 100s in 2000 which to me sounded much better than some of the "sterile" high end British boxes back then.

Just bought a set of Prestige 85fs and they too sound great.
Paying over $15 grand for speakers,well I just won't budget that high for 'em.not even for Paradigm....

Folks, all speakers have a house sound.  That's due to the compromise that the designer makes.  This is why we either like or dislike specific brands.  I do try to go in with an open mind when any company changes a design practice.  I couldn't listen to Wilson's until Darrel took over and started to use a soft dome tweeter.  Uber dynamic and easier to listen to.  I could easily own pair now, but personally feel they are not detailed enough for my tastes and I don't get the emotion that I hear out of other speakers (including other's not named Vandersteen, lol).  

If you like Paradigm, then you will like these new speakers.  They are very well extended on top, so system matching is more crucial than other speakers (IMHO).  They are just too bright for my ears (as well as many folks I've spoken with) no matter what room they are in.  As I have stated, I've heard them many times in many situations.  That includes a friends house where the room sounds great.  Not overly damped as many are and his electronics are top notch tubes (AR ref gear).  It's the best I've heard them sound, but still just not my cup of tea. His either as he returned them adn is still looking.

That's not a cut at all. It's just that they have a house sound that is Paradigm's.  As I ahvce stated, I own an older pair still.  My daughter uses them for her parties at college (as I had their former top sub with them).  There are a ton of choices in the 35k and under range and of all varieties.  Now, more than ever, it's important to audition in stores and get advice from folks who actually match speakers to various electronics and cables.  System matching is as critical as ever.  There is a market for most gear (some stuff just universally sucks).