Best Speakers $10k to $20k Series: Paradigm Persona 5F Review

[@jonathanmoore8886]

Double review, nice

[@alisalehpour2143]

Wow what a fantastic review - really well done - thank you Your knowledge and your ability to explain complex concepts to the average person is truly amazing :-)

[@bobk3840]

Nice review. Please increase the volume on your channel. It is much quieter than the typical video. When KZbin switches to another the volume quickly blows me out of my seat!

[@FOH3663]

Tom's resisting the 2020's KZbin loudness wars!

[@clivioBruce-uq7rq]

Le ho ascoltate ad una fiera, e sono rimasto folgorato. Sono fuori dal mio budget, ma nessuno speaker anche con costo doppio o triplo suonava così bene. Complimenti.

[@modvind]

Audio is difficult to understand for some people

[@gtrguyinaz]

Nice review Tom…. This is a step up for this manufacturer..

[@kristhomas8518]

Great review

[@TASmagazine]

Glad you liked it.

[@erics.4113]

Awesome speakers. Midrange is so clear

[@doyleshafer]

WOW fantastic and thorough review! Thank you so much. Btw, what song is that playing in the intro and outro?

[@Integralista001]

Very good amp combination Audio Research pre and PS Audio monoblocks contribute here for outstanding sound. Speaker cables again well chosen, Wireworld❤

[@TASmagazine]

These speakers are very revealing of amp-amp differences.

[@mahasidha9]

My wife and I auditioned these speakers; it did all the things you say it did BUT they were not engaging. We then auditioned the Martin Logan 13A ESL Expression with gear costing half as much behind it and wasn’t even close. Later a sound specialist came to our home and using the ARC and microphone taking measurements in 5 locations was able to achieve and almost perfectly flat in room response. Here are the last sentences by John Atkinson reviewing the big brother 15A: That aside, I keep returning to the Renaissance ESL 15A's extraordinary in-room response, which is even better than the BeoLab 90's. As I said: "Wow!"-John Atkinson

[@TASmagazine]

Check out our MartinLogan history video (Audio History Series on this channel)

[@gadymarcus2362]

Bello/Magnifico.🙏✡️✡️✡️✡️✡️✡️👑

[@andrewwieczorek4708]

nice how would these compare to focal sopra 3 I like them as well.

[@spacejaime]

Will the AE Corinium approach the Persona 5F in any of the mentioned prominent characteristics of the 5F? InJohn Atkinson's measured response of these speakers (2018), it shows the boosted bass region, with an output rise beginning at around 6k, peaking at 10k and sloping down from there to 15k. I can't hear past that, so I don't care about the 20k boost. In other words - slightly bright as you mentioned. All that is secondary to how they present the music - so - can the Corinium will satisfy similarly? As always, terrific review! Keep 'em coming.

[@TASmagazine]

In some ways the Corinium may be more satisfying. Some will prefer its low treble voicing and some will find the bass to be tighter. Imaging, while good on the Corinium, is a specialty of the 5F. But you might not miss it. Or you might. Both are quite sensitive, but we did all our testing with big amps.

[@spacejaime]

@@TASmagazine - Thank you!

[@rmeyer52]

I have the Founders 100 and I love them. These speakers are nice but pricy

[@QuintEssential-sz2wn]

“ very vivid” is certainly true that these speakers. I auditioned them doing a long speaker search . I don’t like dark sounding speakers (nor too bright) but the treble rise in these things was just too much for me. They start to get quite hot at 7K and up something like 5 db by 10 K. It wasn’t just the occasional recording that showed this - it was a persistent character that overtime just left me fatigued. Definitely one of the most fatiguing speakers I auditioned.

[@TASmagazine]

I think you accurately characterize how many people will feel about this speaker. I probably should have emphasized a bit more how much it seems to work in an environment with very good sources, managed T30, and non-leaky walls. While the price isn’t low, I think such an environment will be rare for most folks shopping in this category. Thanks.

[@QuintEssential-sz2wn]

@ aside from the high frequencies being a little too hot for me, otherwise I agree quite a bit with your review. They were extremely impressive speakers. Ultra clear from top to bottom. Excellent sound staging and imaging . But also, they did an excellent sense of scale. I found that both in terms of image size and density, the sound felt a bit more life-size and substantial from the Paradigms than many others I tried. In fact, they reminded me very much of the Thiel cs 3.7 flagship speakers I owned at the time (though, in my set up, the Thiels were not as bright on top… which might be surprised to some given the reputation).

[@mikelautermilch8939]

Another solid review (although comparisons with other speakers would be helpful). Tom, is there any chance you could get the Graham Audio LS 4/4 in for review? It's in this same price range and looks very promising.

[@TASmagazine]

Have you had a good experience with the 4/4?

[@mikelautermilch8939]

@@TASmagazine No, but I've had a very good (near-field) experience with the Graham 8/1, which features the same mid-woofer as the 4/4. That mid-woofer starts to gas out in the lower frequencies -- a problem that would be remedied by the separate 10" woofer in the LS 4/4. Another shortcoming of the 8/1 is the lack of dispersion in the upper range of the mid-woofer -- another problem presumably remedied in the 4/4 by that fascinating slot-loading, which reportedly makes the 8" mid-woofer and the 10" woofer behave like much smaller drivers in terms of dispersion.

[@gryphongryph]

Great review, any chance you will review the Amphion Krypton? Thanks.

[@TASmagazine]

@@gryphongryph We will add it to the prospective review list. The cardioid radiation pattern is interesting. It will have to go in the $20k-$40k series.

[@dripslobber]

How would these compare to Aspen FR20?

[@thedude3423]

Your explanation of clarity is spot on. And hearing it really does separate moderate, good and great speakers. I recently started hi-def streaming and the difference is phenomenal. I never knew my speakers had such clarity! They are older bookshelves, the Peachtree D5's, formerly ERA. Along with a sub, fantastic...😊

[@calvincurry8496]

Here is a question. I cant find the actual review for the Cabasse Murano Altos About $ 7100,00 but on sale at Upscale for 1/2 price $3400.00. Where is the actual review??

[@TASmagazine]

We have not reviewed the Murano Altos.

[@calvincurry8496]

Ok Because in the review of the Cabasse abyss. It said they were reviewed in issue 339 by Neil Gader. Will you be reviewing them??

[@JD-mm4ub]

Hi Tom, With the Tweeter being so high on the speaker, did you have to angle them down? Thanks.

[@TASmagazine]

No, although the adjustable spikes would allow this to some degree. Why no tilt? First, the upper treble measures as slightly elevated above 6-8k. And, directivity on a 1" tweeter should only start to really kick in above 13kHz. At the listening position, the result may be that frequencies above 13kHz are down 1-2 db relative to say 10 kHz, but not rolled off relative to the rest of the spectrum. If you look at lots of in-room speaker FR plots you see +-6 db variations all the time, so we can guess that the slight decrease in emphasis in the top 1/2 octave is due to tilt geometry, but really I don't know. I did see that more toe in moved response in this region around, so if it is a concern, you could play with tilt. I was more concerned about the phase relationship between the mid and tweeter, which based on the imaging with no tilt seems to be outstanding (again a logical guess that this matters for imaging). As a final thought, with a large midrange like this, Paradigm may have very sanely tried to place the listener on the midrange axis. Directivity for this driver should kick in around 2 kHz, and I would rate the 1-8kHz octaves (3 octaves with many instrumental fundamentals in that range) as vastly more musically significant that the 10kHz - 20kHz octave. Paradigm's practice here seems logical (to me) and yet somewhat unconventional. But again, who knows? So we listen. Hope that helps.

[@JamesWilliams-gf8gm]

Good video, your video reviews have been good lately.

[@TASmagazine]

Thanks, it's nice to hear that.

[@CheekyFest]

Why on earth are they listed on their website at price EACH?

[@jaredhylton6591]

Amazing speakers for sure, but they aren't the ones to buy, the little brother 3f are definitely the ones to buy at $12k vs these at $18k. The 5f only add an extra bass woofer per cabinet and a tiny bit more cabinet space at a huge extra cost. Specs show that the 5f are barely different, and during an over hour demo, my ears agreed, I couldn't perceive any real difference between the 3 and 5. Both were incredible, but one did it for far less.

[@TASmagazine]

Seems like a helpful tip. Thanks.

[@IanKnight40]

I'm so pleased that you mentioned my pet hate and life long obsession with the problem reproducing orchestral violins ...also the recordings are a nightmare in this regard.

[@TASmagazine]

You may want to follow our series on solving (or trying to) digital distortions. That isn't the only issue but it is significant.

[@IanKnight40]

@TASmagazine Thanks, I will take a good look....is there a link that you can share please?.

[@TASmagazine]

@@IanKnight40 first in this series is a review of the Berkeley Reference DAC Series 3 on The Absolute Sound KZbin channel. (YT doesn’t allow link sharing on YT). More coming from January on. This, btw, is a very hard problem to solve.

[@IanKnight40]

@TASmagazine Brilliant, thanks......yes I am plagued by it.

[@unclewilbur8976]

I sure wish you would tell me the make and model of your audio racks. I asked three times on previous videos, but apparently, you're too busy to answer. 😊 Please tell.

[@TASmagazine]

They are Salamander racks. They have various sizes, finishes, panels and casters/feet.

[@unclewilbur8976]

@@TASmagazine 👍 Thank you for the helpful information. They look like ideal racks for my persnickity needs!

[@unclewilbur8976]

@@TASmagazine I like your listening room!

[@TASmagazine]

I'll have an overview in a little while (still a few tweaks to do thanks to forklift impalement)

[@TASmagazine]

@@unclewilbur8976 I think the line is called "Synergy" (they have multiple lines)

[@chrisrichards2827]

I listen to the paradigm persona series and the top stuff is very bright and edgy that beryllium mid-range and tweeter is very grading on the ears, the monitor audio platinum series is much better.

[@FOH3663]

Expectation bias?

[@chrisrichards2827]

@FOH3663 no just actual listening, the persona series is very bright and edgy that's the Sonic signature of beryllium, and the MPD tweeter that monitor audio developed is much better than any dome or ribbon on the market.

[@FOH3663]

@@chrisrichards2827 There's nothing inherent in beryllium drivers that would make them bright and edgy. However, a poorly executed design (driver/loudspeaker/room) could elicit a bright and edgy experience for the listener. I'm not saying whatever you heard wasn't bright or edgy, simply pointing out that it's not inherently due to driver material.

[@mbracerh]

Listen to them at a dealer, not good for metal or prog