Hi Joe. Yes, I posted a bunch of info over on AVSForum in the paradigm owners thread. I've been anxiously anticipating these speakers for a while and now they are almost here. My local dealer has them ordered and is expected to get them in mid-late September. In addition, Paradigm will officially unveil the entire Persona line at CEDIA 2016 starting on September 13th. Not long now
Info I collected from my dealer:
Dealers are now able to order their showroom models with expected arrival in mid-late September. In fact, my dealer had a full Persona brochure that was only for the retailer and not customers as of yet (since the series hasn't been officially announced). The brochure included everything you would expect: pictures, specs, price etc. First the full Personal lineup is as follows:
9H FloorStander (flagship) - Four 8.5" powered woofers, one 7" Beryllium midrange, one 1" Berylllium tweeter
7H FloorStander - Two 8.5" passive woofers, one 7" Beryllium midrange, one 1" Berylllium tweeter
5H FloorStander - Three 7" passive woofers, one 7" Beryllium midrange, one 1" Berylllium tweeter
3H FloorStander - Two 7" passive woofers, one 7" Beryllium midrange, one 1" Berylllium tweeter
Center Channel - 3.5 way speaker configured like a C5 signature but couldn't see full details
B29 Bookshelf - 2 way speaker with one 7" Beryllium midrange, one 1" Berylllium tweeter
Again, I couldn't see the full brochure with ALL the details but here are some of the details I was able to get:
- The entry price for the B29 is lower than expected at $7000/pair (previously said to be ~$9000/pair)
- The center channel speaker is of the large CC690/C5 type and features 6 drivers in total. Price is $7500 per speaker
- The 3H Floorstander is definitely the sweet spot and best value in the line. It will be $10000 (roughly the same as a Signature S8 v.3) but has deeper bass response than the S8 and looks to be between the S6 and S8 in physical size. -2db low freq response is 35hz!! (S8 is only 39hz at -2db)
- The 5H Floorstander is priced at about $15000 and 7H at about $22000
- The pricing of the Persona line explain why there is no Signature follow up. Since the Prestige series tops out at $5000 and the Persona starts at $7000 for the bookshelf there is no room for a speaker line in between the two.
- Several of the folks that heard the speakers at a recent dealer event said the midrange was the absolutely best they've ever heard. The clarity, air, and accuracy coming from the beryllium midrange is the real deal and competes with anything on the market
I for one am keeping a keen eye on that 3H Floorstander and should be able to hear it at my dealer in a few weeks!
Pics (Can find more over a Quadio's Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/qaudiohifi/)