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Paradigm Persona series

I'm beginning to poke around and gather opinions and information about a "super speaker" to replace my aging Thiel 2.4s.  I like the idea of bass dsp room correction and I am a bit of a point source type imaging nut (thus the Thiels).  So among other choices I've been looking at the Paradigm Persona series specifically the powered 9H with room correction for the bass.  However I'm skeptical of the "lenses" i.e. pierced metal covers on the midrange and tweeter specifically because of Paradigm's claim that such screens "screen out" "out of phase" musical information.  The technology in the design seems superlative but I just can't get past the claim re out of phase information and the midrange and tweeter covers.  What could possibly be the science behind this claim?  It just seems like its putting a halloween moustache on the mona lisa given the fact that the company is generally a technology driven company.
pwhinson
audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy
1,621 posts
 
Science cop how come then so many people find them to be absolutely fantastic when paired with the right electronics, I guess they must sound bright and coarse, in our setup with the T+A and Naim electronics the speakers sound fantastic. 

Measurements in an anchoic chamber do not guarantee results in the real world.

In a real world envionrment you will generally have absorbtave materials which will tame the top end with the result of a balanced sound in the actual listening room. 

So perhaps if you have a super spartan room these speakers may not be for you. 

Conversely a speaker which might measure flat to slightly rolled off in an anchoic room may sound completely dull in a real world enviornment. 

Take your pick. It is easier to absorb excess energy it is nearly impossible to add more clarity to a dull sounding loudspeaker.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ 
mofojo
517 posts
 
Funny that the Signature series from Paradigm measured very flat? I liked them very much but they were on the brighter side of the spectrum. 
mofojo
517 posts
 
Your take on the Revels is complete BS as being boring boring boring as you said. 
Just make all these accommodations as you say the paradigms need. Cables brighter amp may do it for the Reveles huh?
sciencecop
79 posts
 
This has nothing to do with being flat or rolled off. The FR with wild swings of -/+ 5 dB indicates some serious issues, most likely from the midrange breakup area (5-8Khz).
Also, unacceptable THD in the upper mid.

bill_k
671 posts
 
@audiotroy - With all due respect regarding your post above, an anechoic chamber (an-echoic meaning "non-reflective, non-echoing, echo-free") is a room designed to effectively absorb any reflections of sound. So any "normal" (non-anechoic) listening room even with acoustic treatments will inherently have more reflective surfaces and therefore be more lively (brighter) than an anechoic chamber, not less so. If you’ve ever been in such a chamber it is an eerily quiet and dead sounding environment, so if a speaker is measured to have significant peaks in response anechoically it will only be exacerbated by the additional reflectivity of a non-anechoic room.
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