[FullRangeMan]

Oh man, I haven't heard Paradigm speakers in years, time to give them another shot.  How did they sound?  Oh they sounded like someone put a big mesh grill in front of the drivers.  How does this even get out of the brainstorming stage?

Thanks for these great photos, very nice job boys.
These grids are for protection purposes only when the speakers are not in use

[Chris Adams]

Thanks, Tyson!  Your coverage is the best of any I've seen/read. If "pro"? writers adjusted their coverage to be more half-assed, the information would be far more interesting and useful.

[davek]

Hi Tyson, thanks for the reviews, was wondering if you got a chance to hear the new Ryan s840 floorstander?

[djdube525]

Having never been to one of these types of shows before... I was a bit surprised given the small #'s of folks, some vendors just didn't give a crap and seemed to be (a certain headphone mfg in the back corner comes to mind) a bit annoyed when you asked a question, when there wasn't anyone else in the near vicinity. Of course there were others who would bend over backward and understand someone doesn't want to drop 2Gs or more for an office headphone setup.

As an aside... while the Elac Adente's sounded quite nice... it's the first time I've heard and of the Elacs... The F5s for under $600 for a pair is pretty sweet...  I concur with Vinnie Rossi/Spatial room... and while the room sounded quite nice... at the end of the day, it was a rather "simple" setup that was much appreciated.

[Tyson]

Hi Tyson, thanks for the reviews, was wondering if you got a chance to hear the new Ryan s840 floorstander?

I'll point you to this bit in my original post:

Now, before you ask, I'll tell you up front.  I went into every single room at RMAF and I spent at least one hour in every room thoroughly evaluating every aspect of performance.  The systems that were good, I took a quick picture of.  ALL of the other systems sounded shitty.  So if you don't see your favorite vendor pictured below, well you can guess what I thought of it. 

I should probably point out that the above is a bald faced lie - there's 140 rooms at RMAF, so spending an hour in each one is an absurd impossibility.  Now, having said that:  no I did not hear the Ryan S840 speakers.

[Delta77]

Good job Tyson..
You sound as if you gave your OPINION , as you saw IT..
That’s exactly what I want to read..
Even though my feelings are a little bruised , (no coverage on TEKTON)..
I’ll just have to get over it ..
Again Good Job , not everybody has the guts to write a review..

[studiotech]

Thanks for these great photos, very nice job boys.
These grids are for protection purposes only when the speakers are not in use

Incorrect.  The drivers are pure beryllium and you don't wanna get near it.  See the description on this page.

http://persona.paradigm.com/persona/

Greg

[studiotech]

"Oh man, I haven't heard Paradigm speakers in years, time to give them another shot.  How did they sound?  Oh they sounded like someone put a big mesh grill in front of the drivers.  How does this even get out of the brainstorming stage?"

Never heard these things and I've got no beef in the game, but I think it's unfair to make that judgement about Paradigm.  They do more science based  R&D than most of the higher priced boutique loudspeakers that are out there and  this speaker appears to be a huge value for the tech you get.  I'd be highly surprised if what you heard was an artifact from the grills.

Edit to add:  I wanted to actually say thanks for the report.  I love these no opinions spared, first hand reports, but in many cases judgments are made unfairly, blaming one particular item in the system, when no one has the capability to isolate that item to see if it goes away.  It's really just a best guess, sometimes correct and sometimes completely wrong.

Greg

[Tyson]

"Oh man, I haven't heard Paradigm speakers in years, time to give them another shot.  How did they sound?  Oh they sounded like someone put a big mesh grill in front of the drivers.  How does this even get out of the brainstorming stage?"

Never heard these things and I've got no beef in the game, but I think it's unfair to make that judgement about Paradigm.  They do more science based  R&D than most of the higher priced boutique loudspeakers that are out there and  this speaker appears to be a huge value for the tech you get.  I'd be highly surprised if what you heard was an artifact from the grills.

Edit to add:  I wanted to actually say thanks for the report.  I love these no opinions spared, first hand reports, but in many cases judgments are made unfairly, blaming one particular item in the system, when no one has the capability to isolate that item to see if it goes away.  It's really just a best guess, sometimes correct and sometimes completely wrong.

Greg

Sure, in the end its a biased opinion based on less than ideal listening conditions.  On the other hand, with all that science they are renowned for, you'd think they'd at least be competent selecting matching components and setting it up in the room.  I mean, building a great speaker is a whole lot more complicated than getting a good setup in the room.

[Phil A]

Thanks for the coverage

[ebag4]

Thanks for the coverage Tyson, I enjoyed it as always.

Best,
Ed

[studiotech]

Sure, in the end its a biased opinion based on less than ideal listening conditions.  On the other hand, with all that science they are renowned for, you'd think they'd at least be competent selecting matching components and setting it up in the room.  I mean, building a great speaker is a whole lot more complicated than getting a good setup in the room.

Yeah, you got me there, Tyson.  The two serious reviews I've seen though are stellar and the one coming from Jeff of Ultra Audio, carry's a lot of weight for me personally.  He's a straight shooter if you've followed his articles and blog posts.

Anyway, thanks again.  It's always fun hearing from the troops on the ground.

Greg

[Brettio]

Thanks for the review and your honest assessment of what you liked and didn’t.

Brett

[dB Cooper]

Skull shaped headphone amp for $14,000!  I kid you not.  Holy crap what is wrong with this hobby?

A lot.
I think I'll buy a high-quality acrylic skull from Anatomical Chart Co. for $89 and start building O2  boards into them....

[mresseguie]

Tyson,

Thank you for your thoughts. For 5 years now I've dreamed of attending RMAF, but I think I'm not missing out now. I get quite a lot at the Taipei shows each winter. Someday, I hope to make it to one of the big shows in China.

Michael

[HAL]

Tyson,
Was great to see you, woodsyi, Pez and the rest of the group at the show.  Love the coverage as always. 

We share a like for open baffle speakers, so that helps with what to seek out.

Rich

[rockadanny]

but I think it's unfair to make that judgement about Paradigm

I don't think it is ever "unfair" for a non-professional reviewer to share their experiences/opinions without regard to anything/anyone:
1. Manufacturers/Distributors roll the dice when they participate in events such as this, so they'd better work to get their systems sounding as they think they should, or pull the plug and display a static setup.
2. When reading reports such as this, from a non-pro reviewer/consumer, I appreciate reading what they experienced when they walked in the door and plopped down in the sweet spot, without filtration or excuses as to what they heard. If I want to read about how a specific gear is SUPPOSED to sound or WHY it sounds the way it does, I'll refer to a brochure or pro-review.
3. Regardless of the cost or scientific effort spent in designing/manufacturing gear, if the listener dislikes like how it sounds then the efforts to produce the gear are meaningless to the listener.

[orientalexpress]

Thank you

[rklein]

Thanks for the coverage and pics.   

Regards,

Randy

[nature boy]

Thanks Tyson.

NB