The last time I wandered into the Anthem and Paradigm room at a high-end audio show, I made a few jokes about the sheer simplicity of the set-up–all of the gear could fit inside someone’s subcompact hatchback. At the 2019 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, Anthem and Paradigm were both featured in a much more elaborate system, one that showcased the stunning new look for these two sister companies.
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The main system from Anthem and Paradigm centered around the beautiful new Persona 7F speakers ($25,000/pair) along with the SUB, matched to Anthem’s STR line of electronics and a Wolf Audio server. The two companies boasted about a total retail price of $50,000 system, including Clarus Audio cabling, which suggests that they’re aiming for the high-end these days as opposed to the value-driven components that they usually promote. The sound of this system was mightily impressive, with an exact, well-proportioned soundstage and razor-sharp imaging.
The real star of the Anthem and Paradigm room was Anthem Room Correction (ARC), a proprietary technology that I’ve found to be both effective and easy-to-use. In many of the rooms at the Gaylord I detected some serious room reflections–one exhibitor in another room demonstrated the challenges of the acoustics by pounding on a wall that could best be described as alarmingly flimsy–but the Anthem and Paradigm room sounded almost uniquely refined with absolutely no hint of over-excited resonances despite the plethora of static components placed all over the room.
I didn’t mean to sound flippant about the spartan presentation of that prior Anthem and Paradigm set-up–I noted that “the sound was big and clear and impressive” and that the simplicity underlined the fundamental idea that these are lifestyle components are “designed to stay out of the way while they fill your life with your favorite music.” Anthem and Paradigm clearly had a different approach at RMAF, with the compelling argument that these two Canadian brands can certainly play with the big boys of high-end audio.
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