Under 10k - where to go?

[mtrot]

I finally got to hear the new(ish) Paradigm Persona 3F, which are right at your $10K limit, on Saturday. I wouldn't recommend buying anything until you can hear them. With beryllium tweeter AND mid range drivers, the sound stage, clarity, vocals are incredible. And I couldn't believe the power and depth of the bass, for the size of the 3F. Paradigm's Persona woofer motors are massive. I wasn't really seriously considering them because Paradigm has not traditionally been considered a "high end" speaker company, but they have blown that notion out of the water with the Persona.

 

[KEW]

I am having second thoughts:
1. I still like my NHT XD 2.2. Not perfect but I love it
2. 18 months ago I changed jobs - better pay but longer hours. That + running + biking leaves little time to stay in front of my speakers. OTOH my headphones get a lot of time so maybe I should by the Stax Sr009?
For now I will just chill. Thanks everybody for suggestions. I made a list with some of the speakers. In time I will try to audition as many as I can.

As long as you can "resist the itch", taking your time to make a better researched and more thoughtful decision is always a great option! It is not like you are suffering in the mean time!

 

[William Main]

If I was spending this amount of money on speakers, I'd be inclined to look at a planar, Martin Logan or Magnepan, as I like the accuracy of the planar technology and it's openness that I experience when comparing to boxed speakers in the same price range. Disclosure - I own Magnepan currently.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Here is the Sound and Vision measurement of the $10K Paradigm 3F:

https://www.soundandvision.com/content/paradigm-persona-3f-speaker-system-review-test-bench

I don't know about spending $10K on speakers that have a huge broad treble peak around 10-12kHz.

What's that going to sound like in some rooms with some treble-heavy materials after several hours of listening?

https://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/kef-reference3-vs-b-w-804-d3.110591/page-3#post-1235754