Paradigm Persona 5F and 7F vs Salon 2s

How's bass in your room? I know of a gent that used ML to drive his salon's and replaced it with an ATI 6000 sig and said it was very close. If you don't need the 4 powered woofers in the 9h and can properly match the salon 2 I don't doubt it would make you happy. There's used models coming up that can save you some serious scratch also. Since i've found my room sounds nothing like the demo rooms I no longer buy speakers I can't recoup the bulk of my money from.
 
What about a 6000 with 4-channels and biamp the Salons? :)

Steve I just need to convert you to JBL so you can Rock.

steve59 said:
How's bass in your room? I know of a gent that used ML to drive his salon's and replaced it with an ATI 6000 sig and said it was very close. If you don't need the 4 powered woofers in the 9h and can properly match the salon 2 I don't doubt it would make you happy. There's used models coming up that can save you some serious scratch also. Since i've found my room sounds nothing like the demo rooms I no longer buy speakers I can't recoup the bulk of my money from.
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pdub said:
Haven’t been any h30s lately but used to come up on A’gon fairly often. Funny they’ve intro’d about 3 gens of integrateds since the flagship h30 came out.

With the Revels, can’t overlook amp/pre synergy. In my home system both the all-Soulution and all-Hegel systems were distinctly inferior to the Soulution 520/Hegel h30 combo. (And trying to improve on this Soulution/Hegel/salon2 system, in this room, is probably going to be the source of long-lasting regret). At my mountain place, replacing the class D ARC DS 450 with the Classe ctm 600s wrought a fantastic improvement in image width and depth with the Revels, even though I was using an ARC LS27 at the time.
Parker
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awesome to hear about the soulution+hegel combo as i usually read only about soulution+soulution. i remember reading that hegel's matching pre for the h30 just didn't play in the same class as the h30 itself. btw, i started a thread a while back in the soulution forum about pairing soulution pre's with different amps (i have a soulution pre but not the amp). so if you have any other impressions on pairings to share, they would be most appreciated
 
I think the amplification requirements for Salon2's might be slightly overblown. I drive mine with a Rowland 625 S2 which is 325 watts into 8 ohms and 600 watts into 4......it powers them with ease. I recently tried an ARC Ref 75 SE which I though would be totally wimpy but I was shocked at how well it handled the Salon2's. I recently discussed this with Kevin Voecks and he was somewhat in agreement on the lore being a little misleading. That said I've always wanted to see what they'd do with some really high powered amps!
 
tdimler said:
I think the amplification requirements for Salon2's might be slightly overblown. I drive mine with a Rowland 625 S2 which is 325 watts into 8 ohms and 600 watts into 4......it powers them with ease. I recently tried an ARC Ref 75 SE which I though would be totally wimpy but I was shocked at how well it handled the Salon2's. I recently discussed this with Kevin Voecks and he was somewhat in agreement on the lore being a little misleading. That said I've always wanted to see what they'd do with some really high powered amps!
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Totally agree. Quality over quantity. Although, high quality and quantity would be the sweet spot.
 
tdimler said:
I think the amplification requirements for Salon2's might be slightly overblown. I drive mine with a Rowland 625 S2 which is 325 watts into 8 ohms and 600 watts into 4......it powers them with ease. I recently tried an ARC Ref 75 SE which I though would be totally wimpy but I was shocked at how well it handled the Salon2's. I recently discussed this with Kevin Voecks and he was somewhat in agreement on the lore being a little misleading. That said I've always wanted to see what they'd do with some really high powered amps!
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What size room?
My experience has been very room dependent. Large room (17x38 in one instance, 23x35 in another) needs wattage. H30, stereo mode: 350/8 ohms; 675/4 ohms -- plenty in large room; Soulution 501: 125/ 8 ohms, 250/ 4 ohms paled in comparison but was adequate in a 14x19 room.

Parker
 
I got flamed on a forum for suggesting if a guy can't hear the difference between emotiva, hegel, or parasound with the ultima 2 loudspeakers maybe their money would be better spent on the performa line? I never did have a filter and years of wind, construction equipment and age have limited my hearing but I could hear a difference and pick a favorite. Not trying to offend anybody but if I was in a shop working with somebody who was putting a system together within a budget I would consider such things. as to the Performa line they're considerably more sensitive and will play louder with the same power, but may need more care matching amps anyhow.
 
The Persona series follow something closer to a W target curve, a similar response to the B&W 7 and 8 series, somewhat of a departure from the prior Signature series which had a design that followed more closely the typical Harman target curve (neutral in a anechoic chamber, slightly warm in-room).

I think Revel is better compared to Magico or Focal in terms of sound signature. The F228Be is really fantastic and actually has a slightly better power response than the Salon2 so it's no slouch at all.
 
After months of listening, I narrowed my search to the Persona f7s and the Salon 2s. Both are passives, of course, and in Canada about the same price, pushing 30 thousand Canadian petro bucks. I liked the Salons best.

Then I did one last listen, this time to active speakers (amp built-in, for readers who don't know this). Heard the now out-of-production Focal SM9s, midfield monitors, made for sound studios, obviously, not for the "listening public," so to speak. I liked them better than the Paradigms Personas and the Revel Salons. Flatter frequency response, to my ears, and less distortion (which is the hard part). Like good electrostatics, but with huge dynamics and tight, responsive bass. This is, of course, a totally subjective call. Cost: 7k Can (on sale), and no amplification to worry about. Not pretty, obviously. Studio monitors never are. Then again, some folks hate the looks of the Personas AND the Salons. (Personally, I like the look of the Salons, and for me they were a close second to the SM9s, for the kind of sound I was interested in. Very close.)
 
Yes, it is a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions.

BTW.... I actually DID purchase the sm9s. So it's all academic, at this point. I guess my point is that my faith in active speakers has been restored.
 
Go for it, since getting the 8k’s I just enjoy the music again and i doubt you can get a passive speaker with less audible compromises, especially for the money.
 
Bought them, the sm9s, as I said above. And liking them more and more. They completely fill my space. So orchestral music doesn’t sound like a copy or smaller version of the real thing. Sounds and feels like your at the real thing. That takes huge volume and tight bass, which they have in spades. Fortunately no ground loop issues. Dead quiet at top volume.
 
There's a re-review of the Salon 2s in the current (May) Streophile by Jim Austin. While he praises the speaker, he also says, "The big Salons had a bit too much base for my room." He concludes the article: "...like other ambitious, full-range loudspeakers, the Ultima2 Salon2 makes demands - on the source material, on the room, on other equipment (because they're so revealing), and sometimes - when you're forced to hear what is actually on those recordings - on you, the listener. Are you ready for that kind of commitment?"
 
What draws me to powered monitors is the feeling—right or wrong— that I’m not paying for heavy marketing, cabinetry, and then the heavy outlay for a compatible amp. Also, the SM9s are (like Dynaudios, PMCs) designed by audio engineers for the recording industry.
 
To Mike: would the ARC Ref 150SE have enough juice to drive the Salons? Room size is wierd, but say 15 x 20 x 8.

I have been holding on to my Paradigm Signature 8 (v3) speakers which sound very fine. The S8s have BE tweeters … are not hot, perhaps "cooled off" by the ARC amp. They are very sensitive at 92db, very easy to drive and have great detail thanks to the BE tweeter.

Even still, I have been keeping an "ear out" for something else at some point. Salon 2s, while long in the tooth, are on my bucket list.

BIF
 
Bifwynne said:
To Mike: would the ARC Ref 150SE have enough juice to drive the Salons? Room size is wierd, but say 15 x 20 x 8.

I have been holding on to my Paradigm Signature 8 (v3) speakers which sound very fine. The S8s have BE tweeters … are not hot, perhaps "cooled off" by the ARC amp. They are very sensitive at 92db, very easy to drive and have great detail thanks to the BE tweeter.

Even still, I have been keeping an "ear out" for something else at some point. Salon 2s, while long in the tooth, are on my bucket list.

BIF
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I had my Salon 2’s with REF250’s and it was awesome. REF150 should be fine so long as you don’t push it too hard.


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