Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Male voices, too, were excellent across the range, even though, at the lower end, their reproduction is a function of room interaction as much as of the speakers and the voices themselves. Given that my room acoustics have not changed over the years nor have the positions where I have placed most loudspeakers, the Persona 5Fs' midbass and bass were as clean and defined as those of any conventional speaker I've used. Consequently, Hans Theesink on "Late Last Night" (from Call Me, CD, Blue Groove BG-4020) sounded warmly gruff, but a bit less weighty than through some speakers. However, I definitely got the impression that the 5Fs were getting it right—I'd had the same reaction to Theesink's voice with speakers using DSP to minimize boundary interactions, such as the Kii Audio Three and the Bang & Olufsen BeoLab 90. The Paradigms accomplished much the same thing but without the bells and whistles. I could hear no trade-offs, such as a loss of character, with Theesink or other low-voiced singers—eg, Leonard Cohen and Gottlob Frick.

Grouped voices were equally satisfying through the Persona 5Fs, as demonstrated by a 24/88.2 file, engineered and provided by John Atkinson, of The First Tears, from The Doors of Heaven, an album of music by Eriks Ešenvalds performed by the Portland State Chamber Choir, directed by Ethan Sperry (CD, Naxos 8.579008). The soundstage was beautifully open, spacious, and specific at low and gloriously high volume levels. The balance of bass through treble was excellent overall, and I was impressed by the Personas' ability to clearly resolve subtle shifts in dynamics. These qualities remained consistent at all listening levels.

Speaking of dynamics, the 5Fs were capable of more than just subtlety—really big dynamic shifts could be explosive. I was inspired to pull out "Return of the Garage Door," from Hi-Fi News & Record Review's Test Disc III (CD, Hi-Fi News HFN 020). Over the years, I've played this mostly to impress and terrify newbies, though I've become somewhat inured to it. But playing it through the 5Fs at a level that experience had taught me was reasonable, I jumped up off my couch twice—once when the recordist, Mike Skeet, closed the door, and again, even faster, when he banged on it. And that was in full knowledge of what I was about to hear—or so I'd thought.

This experience loosened up my volume-control restraint, and I let the Personas run free. I rounded up some tracks that have been (ab)used in the past to impress audiophiles at audio shows, just to see how the Persona 5Fs would handle them. I began with a live recording: "Stimela (The Coal Train)," from Hugh Masekela's Hope (SACD/CD, Triloka/Razor & Tie/Analogue Productions APJ 82020). It's not that massive forces are recorded here, but here are Masekela's trumpet and voice, his band expanded, the entire audience, all in a lively acoustic. Taken together, Masekela's singing, shouting, and playing, the percussion battery's pulsing crescendi, the brass, and the enthusiastic crowd's joyous responses just grab me and wrap me in their emotions. With just two Persona 5Fs driven by generous amplification, I enjoyed the thrilling sensation of having surrendered any disbelief that I hadn't been swept away to Blues Alley, in Washington, DC, in the summer of 1993.

Then came some classic orchestral demos from Telarc and Reference Recordings (pick your favorites) with their deep, spacious soundstages, their brass choirs expounding from the backs of stages to left and right, and, of course, their signature timpani and bass-drum thwacks. It was like going back to the audio shows of the past, when such demonstrations fed my sound obsessions at a time when I had little hope of being able to afford the huge, room-filling speakers I was hearing. It amazes me that these Paradigms could re-create the same sort of imposing sound in my (and my neighbors'!) living room, though they're but a fraction of the size of those behemoths of the not-so-distant past. Price? Well, that's another story—$17,000 is still a lot of money for a pair of speakers, even if it ain't nearly what it used to be.

Enough about showing off. What about beauty? Zemlinksky's tone poem Die Seejungfrau (The Mermaid), based on the Hans Christian Andersen tale, is all about seduction, and communicates in a language at the nexus of Wagner, Mahler, and Debussy. In a recent live recording with Cornelius Meister leading the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra (CD, CPO 777 962-2), the opening is a warm, inviting carpet of low strings that smoothly rolls into the languorous, sweet surging of the upper strings, then the glory of the full orchestra. Dynamic outbursts punctuate a rising urgency followed by similar but elevated sequences of mounting emotions. The ebullient opening and the alternating brisk and lilting passages of the second movement are refreshing, while the mood of the third begins like that of the first, but soon swells with joy and satisfaction. Through this work, a symphony in all but name, the orchestra was seamlessly presented by the Persona 5Fs, from the depths through the peaks, the sound of the Vienna Konzerthaus embracing me, complete with occasional but unobtrusive audience noises. The low strings and timpani had weight and detail, and never became clouded or boomy at high levels, attesting to the firm control of the Personas' woofers.

A good acoustic environment, coupled with Paradigm's engineering, made for truly satisfying bass, and the abiding quality of the Persona 5Fs' bass performance had been easy to achieve because I pretty much know the best spots for it in my room. This was aptly demonstrated with a fascinating new recording, Paddle to the Sea, by Third Coast Percussion (CD, Cedille CDR 175). The title work, composed by the ensemble, is based on the classic children's book and film of the same name. Also included are works by Philip Glass and Jacob Druckman, and an arrangement of a traditional chant from Zimbabwe. Filled with simple melodies, a few with a Latin flavor, that are curiously gripping, this is not a smash-bang percussion disc. I listened with delight through the Personas for the details of some very low, soft tones from what sounds like a marimba, through a range of exotic instruments tapped or stroked, to the very pure tintinnabulation of small bells. The title piece also includes some natural sea sounds. The entire disc is mesmerizing.

But it's those bells that remind me to comment on something about the upper treble of the 5F that had nothing to do with quality, as the sound was consistently transparent. It was the balance of the HF around, I'm guessing, 10kHz, that at first seemed a bit prominent with respect to the upper midrange. This was why, during my original setup with the Classé Monos, I gradually angled the 5Fs more laterally, from 5° to near 15°, with reference to when they are aimed directly at my nose (0°), in order to restore a satisfying balance.

However, each time I switched power amps, it was necessary to readdress the interaction of HF balance and speaker toe-in. With the Parasound Halo A 31, the sound was not much different from that with the Classé Monos, but I found it more tolerable in the HF, allowing full enjoyment at toe-in angles closer to on-axis. In hindsight, the Halo A 31 may have been a better match to the 5Fs from the outset, but it may not have let me recognize the critical need to carefully adjust the toe-in. On the other hand, with the 5Fs at the original reference 15°, the insertion of the Benchmark AHB2 amps demanded yet another adjustment. What worked with this combination was to have the 5Fs face directly forward, so that the line from the tweeter to my nose was about 30° off axis. In those positions, the 5Fs seemed to better reveal details (a known feature of the Benchmark). I became more aware of the subtle instrumental accompaniment in Ešenvalds's The First Tears, and how the speakers "disappeared" from the soundstage like aural Cheshire Cats. None of the three amps had any difficulty powering the 5Fs at any level, high or low.

Comparison
Compared to my reference Bowers & Wilkins 802 D3 Diamond speakers, the 5F is more "lean and mean"—its bass is much tighter and it lacks the larger B&W's "authority" in the upper bass. The 5F's midrange was a tad more delineated but it was also more forward harmonically and in presentation. On the other hand, I felt there was a practical advantage in the 5Fs' ability to maintain balance and a coherent soundstage at very low listening levels.

Conclusions
Overall, Paradigm's Persona 5F is a truly excellent speaker in a stylish and easily accommodated package. It need not be favored with any particular type of music or listening level, and aside from requiring some attention paid to toe-in, it was very easy to set up. Throughout my time with the Persona 5Fs, their sound quality repeatedly sidetracked me from my job of critical analysis. Often, I planned to only sample an album or work but found I couldn't resist the temptation to enjoy the whole thing. I believe that the Persona 5F is a more-than-worthy competitor for any similarly priced speaker, and deserves to be considered when shopping in this market. For Paradigm, it's an auspicious entry into the thinner air of high-end audio. Welcome.