I'm beginning to poke around and gather opinions and information about a "super speaker" to replace my aging Thiel 2.4s. I like the idea of bass dsp room correction and I am a bit of a point source type imaging nut (thus the Thiels). So among other choices I've been looking at the Paradigm Persona series specifically the powered 9H with room correction for the bass. However I'm skeptical of the "lenses" i.e. pierced metal covers on the midrange and tweeter specifically because of Paradigm's claim that such screens "screen out" "out of phase" musical information. The technology in the design seems superlative but I just can't get past the claim re out of phase information and the midrange and tweeter covers. What could possibly be the science behind this claim? It just seems like its putting a halloween moustache on the mona lisa given the fact that the company is generally a technology driven company.
Santa, that's my point. We all like different things in a speaker. Some overlook hot and or bright thinking they are highly detailed and if they 'stage' great or have another positive thing, they love them...until they grow tired and get the next most talked about speaker (or amp or DAC).
Bottom line is that it's all good. I always caution friends who are getting into higher end audio, to beware. Dealers know what tracks they can play on a system to make it sound 'best'. They will always stay away from tracks that won't sound good due to the compromises that said designers have to make. Kind of like going to the store to buy a new top end TV, but they are all turned to their brightest setting where they will look their best for a half hour or so. Good luck watching at that setting all day long, lol......
The 7F shares almost no resemblance to the 1028be. Not sure where you get that. Also, there is no enhanced bass in the 7F. They have perhaps the tightest bass I have ever heard. So to a lot of people that would likely be heard as “lean” in the bass due to years of hearing boomy speakers and hearing lots of the room or speaker enclosure. Sounds like you’re letting what you read influence your impressions. I just saw you raving about them in another thread yet now you’re changing your tune based on what others are saying.
It’s amazing how much “audiophiles” are psychologically influenced and don’t even realize it.
What recordings did you hear through the 7F that made it sound two dimensional and boring? If the 7F is capable of providing a huge deep and wide holographic stage on good recordings, that means they can extract the same when available from other recordings. If the mentioned “bad” recordings don’t have the soundstage, there’s no way they’d suddenly have anything better on another pair of speakers. The speakers don’t pick and choose when they want to have space in the soundstage. That goes against logic, physics, and science completely.
Given the same Amp, a Persona will sound brighter, than a Dali (for instance) with the same amp.
Thats my entire point, and the one most here have made. It’s a bright speaker, not a bad speaker.
Of course amps, pre amps, tubes etc can affect it. But the speakers character will always be prevalent in the system. Can you tweak the system with sources and room treatment and eq, of course.
Generally speakers are the most expensive component in a system and the hardest to change. So yes, for most people getting the speaker right matters most.
Thats the point. I don’t think anyone here has said they are bad speakers.
I have heard the Vandersteen about 5 times. The $7K CT version and the most expensive one. I think every time I heard them, except once (most recently), Richard Vandersteen was in the same room. I thought I would like them more because I love Thiel, especially the CS3.7. However, the Vandersteen did not pull my strings to buy them. Now these demos were all under an hour and not using my demo tracks so maybe that had some bearing.
When I heard the following speakers under similar demo situations (not my demo tracks) I thought I could easily live with any of them. I did not have the room then so I did not buy them.
Thiel CS3.7 (still wish I bought had this one) KEF Blade (I will buy this soon now that I have room) KEF Ref 1 KEF Ref 5 Vivid Kaya 90 Vivid Giya G1 Magico A3 Magico S3MK11 Paradigm Persona 5F Wilson Alexa 1 Magnapan (for got the model #)
Revel Salon 1 (did buy this one long ago after a demo since I had space)
Maybe my hearing is geared towards a certain sound that is in the Persona camp. I have actually heard a ton more speakers, some mentioned on this thread, but no need to mention them since they did not move me.
There is a reason that many loudspeakers will sell and all sound so different. There is a lot of disinformation out there about many lines and some comes from boards. Folks all hear differently and all too often dealers will discuss others speakers and claim they have heard, them, but really haven't heard the new models etc... I've even heard about a specific dealer talking to another dealer about a speaker he carries. Come to find out the dealer who claims he has heard this line was talking about the 8k speaker and thinking it was the 60k speaker.
This is a major problem in high end audio. Another problem to ME, is that system matching IS so important. It's why you can't get a component of the month or year and put that with another and hope to have great sound. I own Vandy's as all know. In order for them to sound their best, they need a zero feedback amp. Not difficult to find anymore and not difficult to set up.
To ME, if you have to go nuts tuning any speaker, then why buy it? Why not just get a speaker that sounds great to you with a bunch of different amps. If a speaker is good, it will show the difference in anything in your chain. It's not a difficult thing. This is how we get into folks having to justify their sale or purchase. As I've always said, if you love them, that's awesome. Not saying that in a gratuitous way either. That's from the heart man as it's all about the music and enjoyment.
I must have gobs of micro and macro detail. I want to hear it all, but I need to listen for hours on end and not just for an hour. I usually don't need more than a half hour with a speaker to know it's not my cup of tea, but I do need much more time to know if it is THE cup of tea (hope that makes sense).
It's all good, but some are calling some speakers softer, but that shows they either havent' heard that speaker, or that they are so different than folks who have. Just sayin.......
I heard the 7f being driven by STR separates last weekend , This is a long thread so I might be repeating myself. Detailed and fast with a top end that I could compare to the focal electra 1028be meaning fed a good recording they really moved me and poor recordings became 2 dimensional and boring. If I didn't know better I would have taken advantage of the offer the dealer made me right then. The Persona measures a bit like a smiley face but I never got the impression the mids were recessed. I also didn't find them bright as much as unforgiving of poor recordings. Bass was as tight and fast as the 3f but much deeper and the sound stage and images within were amazing. I'm lucky that I have dealers that will let me home demo a product i'm interested in in fact they demand it! How's that for policy.
Trudat, your point is quite erronuous. We sell Kef, Dali, Legacy, Cabasse, ATC, Elac, and Retheym these are all great loudspeakers each has a different personality.
There are classes of loudspeakers which are more accurate and more detailed and there are those that are warmer and more recessed in the treble.
Your presumption is that you just change loudspeakers, no you change whatever you need to with any loudspeakers to bring out the results you are trying to accheive.
It all comes down to setup if you have a speaker which the listener perceives as a brighter sound and they love the clarity but find it is too much then you alter the cabling, electronics, digital, processing etc to tune the speaker so the clarity remains but the top end is a bit wamer, hence we tend to recommend the Naim, Krell, T+A, or Anthem electronics with the Paradigms.
The corrollary is also true if you have a wamer loudspeaker, Dali, Legacy they tend to pair very well with brighter electronics: Musical Fidelity, Nad M32, Anthem STR.
Mentioned that Mr. Hoffer did not leave us with a lot of time to explore how we can tune the Personas, also we did not evaluate a lot of different recordings mostly the ones on his thumb drive. Given a bit more time even a simple software settinng in Roon can totally add more wamth to the sound of the Personas it is really that simple.
Yes there will be people who will not like that much clarity, if you prefer the vocing of a Harbeth or a Vandersteen or any other loudspeaker which tends to have a softer presentation you most likely will not like the Persona.
Mr. Hofer’s comment that a $10k Persona was very close compeition to a $17k set of Wilsons does show that the 3F are an outstanding value, you can do a lot of tuning with $7k now can’t you?
It is rather amusing to see people so animated about disparaging the Persona line. We are just talking about audio speakers here right?
Whatever the case, for the folks who want to help others from making the mistake of buying a Persona and then having their hearing diminished. How about stating what would be a better choice? Maybe describe what you own so people can calibrated what your ears are happy with.
I mean stating this is, "bad, bad, bad", only can carry a discussion (maybe an argument) so far. How about some good options from some of you golden ears.
Given the same electronics, the Persona will typically sound brighter than most other speakers.
So yes, electronics matter, but the bottom line is most people will find the Persona's bright given a head to head with 95% of other speakers.
Even your system matching genius, uber cables, stands, and decoupling isoacoustic magic and power conditioning.... won't change that. Given a head to head with the same electronics - they are bright to most people.
I don't really think anyone has said they are bad speakers.
Actually Cmsgolf, bright can be very accurate, if your recording for example was from, Deustshe Graphaphon, and made in the mid 80's or a Telarc, digital recording in the mid 80's tended to sound bright due to the digital encoders and mixing consoles at the time, and they sound bright on the playback that is accurate as those are the sound of those recordings.
You also failed to understand that even if the gentleman found them "bright" we can tune that out by something as simple as a playback change in Roon.
We did not have the time to really go into and explore changes that can be made by playing with different gear and software changes which affect playback.
The demo was a bit rushed and we started with a different set of speakers before switching to the Personas and then we swtiched electronics, we encouraged Mr. Hofer to come back for a much greater extended session where we can play a wider variety of tracks on different gear.
And as hell is freezing over, we are agreeing with grgr4blu on something and he is acutally being nice, that Mcintosh tends to sound warm and veiled a bit, and that Mcintosh or similarly voiced electronics, actually Naim sounds a bit like that in a good way are the keys to making the Personas sound good.
Translation McIntosh is slightly veiled, rounded and warm (I had an all Mac system for years) and you need that to mitigate the brightness and harshness in the Paradigms.
I listened to them toed in a bit, and if you look around you'll read a bunch of reviewers/users are setting them up facing straight ahead to avoid an overly bright presentation. Apart from the brightness, I think the Paradigms are *very* stiff competition for the much more expensive Wilson Sabrina.
Actually ahofer said in this post on this thread that they sounded bright in your shop. Of course you would say they didn't sound bright. He said they did. Plus, bright is bright and is not accurate. The Stereophile measurements show it, the measurements ahofer linked show it, and my experiences listening to it match what the measurements show. If you like that, great but don't say that it is accurate.
Csmgolf, the setup did not sound bright at all, compared to other speakers the Persona's had far greater clarity then the Kef R series which we also demoed.
Yes it is true these are not laid back speakers they are however remarkably transparent, fast and accurate and so if you prefer a warmer more recessed sound then this kind of accuracy will not be for you.
We also demoed the 3F with the more expensive Naim NAC 272 dac and preamp and a 250dr, and then we added the XPS 2 power supply and the system started to sound really magnificent.
In retrospect the demo was a bit flawed on the higher end Naim as we could not use Roon directly into the NAC 272 and had to use another streamer with an spdif cable to play the test files which were storred on a usb thumb drive.
Also there is a way to change the sound quality radically on the Naim Uniti products if you are using Naim which is to ouput your PCM files as DSD which the Uniti can handle and boom now you have the elevated midrange and softer top end of DSD decoding we didn't do that either.
Normally our demos last for 2-3 hours this demo was a bit brief so we didn't even scratch the surface of what we can do and how we can tune the speakers to match someone's taste.
There is also a huge range of gear to choose from in our shop, we started with the Naim Uniti for one reason which we Mr. Hofer also heard the Wilson Sabrinas on the same amplifier.
We never went to the Krell K300i which is a very warm integrated nor did we listen to the Antem STR amp/preamp combo which also sounds really outstanding on the Anthem.
You are welcome to visit our shop and see for yourself
Dave and Troy Audio Doctor NJ Paradigm Persona, Krell, Naim, Anthem dealers
When I heard the 5F with a Lyngdorf 2170 it sounded rather bad. I really wanted to like the Lyngdorf and it was more the reason I went to that demo. I excluded the amp section of the Lyngdorf by going preamp out to a Simaudio 860A amp. We had to do some sound degrading RCA to XLR conversions but nevertheless the sound was very agreeable to me and that is the reason for me to purchase the Persona 3F. I will not get the Simaudio amp I demoed but something lower priced with similar sound characteristics.
I have heard a lot of speakers, being close to Los Angeles, makes this easy. So it is not like I do not know what is out there. Different strokes.
So ahofer heard the Personas at Audio Doctor and still found them bright. Apparently, there are no dealers in the country that can tame the brightness. Maybe Audiotroy can chime in here and blame his hearing for the perceived brightness. When I have heard the Personas, they have sounded bright to me as well.
You are correct. Troy and Dave (no shocker) think they are one of approximately 5-6 dealers in the country that know how to set-up a speaker and experiment with electronics.
Call them what you will, bright, detailed, accurate etc. That's what they are. NO one said they were bad speakers. In fact, I'm sure they measure quite well. Accurate, uncolored etc.
They are fast, they are very detailed. If you like that, they are a heck of a speaker to audition.
But the bottom line is they are very much on the bright/accurate/fast/detailed end of the spectrum.
Though, I'm sure some isoacoustics footers, and uber expensive cables will warm them right up. ;-)
(this is part of a larger post from another thread, but relevant to Paradigm 3F)
I found the resolution and soundstage
of the Paradigms to be extraordinary. You can hear the wood of the solo
viola, and the movement of cymbals when struck, the voices and
locations of individual string instruments (even low strings) in
ensemble, clear as a bell. I don't think it's a speaker for big bass,
but that's not a huge priority for me. I like the impression of the
ensemble or orchestra laid out in front of me, life-size as possible.
My only reservations were a)
I don't find them terribly attractive visually, and more importantly, b)possible longer-term listening fatigue.
Doubting my aging ears, I looked up test bench measurements last
night. Multiple measured (on-axis) frequency responses of both the 3F
(and
5F) are certainly consistent with what I heard, showing a substantial
bump
from 5-12khz:
I listened to them toed in a bit, and if you look around you'll read a bunch
of reviewers/users are setting them up facing straight ahead to avoid an
overly bright presentation. Apart
from the brightness, I think the Paradigms are *very* stiff competition
for the much more expensive Wilson Sabrina.
ctsooner, I agree with your post. I’ve listened to Paradigm 7Fs and didn’t care for them, but I can understand why some may love them. I just think it’s silly for Dave to keep repeating how Paradigm’s benefit from the "right" components being connected to them. All speakers benefit from the "right" components being connected to them.
Dave, you honestly need to stop with saying folks aren't listening to these in systems not set up properly etc... That's just a false statement. I have heard these in numerous systems with excellent electronics etc... and that includes YOUR house/store! They are a bright speaker, but as I've said, many love that.
There's plenty of room for all, but please stop it already. They are not easy to match up at all. Reality and not a knock on them.
Benzeman, great to hear, it is nice to have pro Persona guys on these posts rather than the naysayers who have never heard a set of the Paradigm's setup correctly with the right gear.
As we keep on saying, you have to inject some warmth into the system to get the speakers to sound more enjoyable, they are very clean loudspeakers so a bit of euphonic coloration somewhere in the chain makes them work really well.
Hence our prefered electronics T+A, Krell, Naim all tend to sound rich, the Aqua Digital is rich, and the Light Harmonic Davinci is lush but with good detail.
When paired with the right gear the little 3F sound more like a $20k set of speakers then a $10k one, put some isoacoustics footers on em and watch em fly!
@nitewulf I need to go with the 3F because my room is small. The 3F is boarding on being a little too big itself but acoustic treatments and ANTHEM STR preamp with ARC3 should save the day. However, most of my listening is at moderate to low levels so I maybe worrying about nothing.
@benzman Interesting take on the Audience cables. I have that for my current system. Maybe I need to move the cables to the bedroom with the current office speakers. Thanks for the heads up, I am going to look into compatible wires later.
From Stevie Ray to Daft Punk the Personas Rock. I heard the 5f’s at Axpona with the Macintosh 600 watt monos do 1 k peaks and filled a 30x60 room with 14 ft ceilings without a quiver We where sitting 15 ft away measuring 100 dB peaks. The Personas have beautiful midrange and delicate highs. The speakers you hear demoed at the dealers(most) are not a true representation of how good the Personas can be. I sit in a pretty much near field with mine and the micro detail in these speakers are exceptional. With their high efficiency they will work with a number of amps, tube or SS
There are no 9Fs, I see someone keep mentioning them. 9H and 7F. Personally I wasn't a fan of the 3Fs, but the 9Hs were fantastic. I would get the 5Fs if that's what you auditioned...unless you also auditioned the 3Fs and liked them.
Demo'd these a few times. (and a few speakers in the persona line-up)
If you like detail, I mean LOTS of detail they have it in spades. The first 10-15 minutes at moderate volume - holy crap, if it's in the recording they will reproduce it.
After 10-15 minutes with the volume cranked up a bit, no thank you for me. Cymbals, Cymbals, and more Cymbals... but I listen to rock, blues, and reggae.
IF you are interested I absolutely make sure you demo them long, hard, and a few times WITH the electronics you are going to use.
I could see someone loving them who listens to Jazz, female vocals, and loves to analyze the recordings and every micro detail at moderate volumes. They do it, and they do it well.
For a listener who likes to add a little gas and have a little fun - man I would make sure your electronics are WARM and your room is damped.
Glad to see a few folks giving the Personas a chance. I am enjoying the heck out my 5f’s. Sound better all the time as they have a long break in time. Electronics on the warmer side and you will be rewarded. Cabling is also very important. Cerious Technologies Matrix line is a great match. Replaced the Audience AU 24SX at half the cost and really a perfect cable for the the Personas.
Yysantabarbera, remember we have been saying right from the get go that these speakers are very amplifer sensitive and when used with the right stuff they sound magnificent and in many way outperform speakers that are way more expensive.
When we were setting up our 9H we tried numerous combinations of electronics, digital and power conditioners before we hit magic.
Dave and Troy Audio Doctor NJ Persona, Coda, Krell, Anthem dealers
@audiotroy Thanks for the feedback. One of your recent customers, who bought a CODA #8 from you, messaged me that you would be doing such Anthem STR preamp testing in the coming weeks. Hopefully you can post the results without causing mass hysteria. Whatever, the case I will give you a call and we can discuss the amp I would want to get.
As an FYI, the only reason I went to audition the Persona is due to the great feedback Audiotroy has been giving on this line. A ton of negative posts on here about the Persona but I decided to take the time to audition it (a real PIA for me) because a lot of stuff I read on here by Audiotroy makes sense to me. Actually, when most dealers post I make a point of reading their posts because they have great info, even if it is biased towards their products.
I was all set to buy the Magico A3 but after I heard the Persona 5F I knew that the Magico A3 was no longer my favorite (but close). It was the tweeter and mid range that won me over. The Persona demo I had was actually off to a very bad start and I had to give the local dealer feedback on a better setup configuration to make the Person 5F sound better. It was only after those changes did I realize that I liked the Persona over the Magico. So from my efforts, learned by my A’gon research, my local dealer gets a nice sale of the Persona 3F and Anthem STR preamp.
I should add that I was trying a different combo at my local dealership than they used with the Persona’s. So it was not their fault that it sounded aweful at first.
Well, I am not going to buy a set of speakers just to be able to use this offer. My speakers are in excellent condition, but certainly not of the value of the Kef LS50s. I think the original MSRP on them was $800/pair, but they are obviously not worth that now.
From the Paradigm Trade Up promotion page:
"Remember, ANY pair of speakers will get you at least 20% OFF your new
Paradigm speakers, even ones that you've loved too much and are damaged."
Would the 9f be too much for my small room, 12x15? It's weird how bigger speakers work better in my room because of directional horns or other design quirks but a more traditional speaker with narrow design actually needs MORE space.
Guys Persona dealer, let me explain the program, first it is not a mandatory program the dealer may or may not want to offer this program.
Two the dealer will not go above the 20% as the dealer is not getting 20% off from Paradigm, we actually make less money with these programs the deal does work to bring in new clients which helps offset the program.
We have very different opinions on the Anthem STR integrated vs Contuzzi, we have the STR integrated and the STR amp and preamp in the same room.
The STR intergrated is very good, but it is not as warm and full bodied as the separates which totally outperform the integrated amplifier.
In our tests the Anthem STR is outclassed by the Micromega and the Naim gear, if you like a clean punchy sound without a lot of additional midrange warmth the STR is your amplifier if you prefer more warmth and body then the other pieces are better. The STR is fantastic value and we are not talking about the effects of room correction which may push the STR integrated into a different catagory just sound of one vs another under identical conditions.
We will agree that the Anthem STR amp and Preamp are a fantatic value.
We will be testing the STR power amp vs the Coda and the Krell more extensively in the weeks ahead.
Our initial impressions are the Krell power amplifier is more magical but less powerful same with the Coda, the Anthem power amplifier is a little flat sounding, but excells in terms of punch and it is quite smooth.
Dave and Troy Audio Doctor NJ Krell, Anthem, Coda and Paradigm Dealers
@contuzzi Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate the time. I also went back and looked at some of your old Persona post, very helpful.
I heard the Persona 5F with a SimAudio 860A and it was great.
@mtrot Go to the Paradigm web site and register your trade in speakers. They will send you a coupon by email. You take that to your dealer with your trade in speakers. The dealer can discount the speakers beyond the 20% from Paradigm. The trade-in speakers must be in working order and in decent shape. I know they except the KEF LS50 (maybe $800 used). Get one of those and trade in for a Persona 9H with 20% off.
Interesting. I called a dealer in Dallas, and they were not well informed about the Paradigm Persona Trade Up program. The guy with whom I spoke thought that the amount was UP TO 20%, and was at the discretion of the dealer. This is not correct, as the 20% discount is direct from Paradigm. The terms of the deal also indicate that the dealer may also offer and additional discount. I read the information to him from the Paradigm web site, and he said he would look into it and call me right back. It's been close to an hour now and I have not heard back. Seems like a great deal, if it actually works.
Aavik U-300 integrated (sounded great, but overpriced)
Yamaha RN-803 did okay, and its an awesome piece, but perhaps the only setup I thought that was lacking.
Anthem STR integrated (best value dollar for dollar by far, especially if you want to integrate subs, which this will do better than ANYTHING else out there, fact. Just wait for the new ARC Genesis update coming out in the next couple months)
Anthem STR preamp with the STR amp (best sound but dollar for dollar the integrated a better value)
Anthem STR preamp with Bryston 4bSST sounded great.
the new carver Amps sounded incredible with them. I heard a bit with the mono blocks and STR pre. Mind blowing. Then the 275 or whatever the inexpensive amp is (outstanding) around $2,500.
I haven’t heard them with any of the three you listed other than some modern high top of the line krell stuff and that sounded a little hard to me. Could have been my expectation bias because I always have thought krell sounds cold and sterile.
I have also heard them with some higher end McIntosh stuff a friend has. 600watt mono blocks I believe, and a Mac preamp. Sounded a little dry, but I’m sure 90% of the sound difference I heard was the room being completely different.
I think that’s all.
Make sure you toe in the Personas 5 degrees max. Completely unnecessary for any more aggressive tow in (like any good speaker).
Let me know if you want me to go into any more detail about what I heard from memory.
@contuzzi What a coincidence that you responded. I was just about to search through your A'gon comments on the Persona line. I know you have provided a lot of feedback on them.
I think you mean that the STR amp is the better choice than the other 3 amps that I have listed. If so, that would make life easier and likely provide better synergy with the Anthem preamp.
Have you heard the Persona's with other amps (maybe costing more) that you liked better than the Anthem?
I plan on getting the Persona 3F maybe this month since it is on sale by Paradigm. Did auditions of the usual suspects and I like the Persona for the overall combination of sound, tech, and price (mostly sound).
Only issue is what amp to pair this with. I am likely going to use the Anthem STR preamp (because of DSP) but not sure if the Anthem STR amp is as good as some others in the same price range. Unfortunately the dealer I am using does not carry the STR separates only the STR integrated. Just an Anthem prejudice on my part based on their HT pedigree.
I am thinking of the following as potential amp options:
Jeff Rowland M535 KRELL 125 XD CODA #8
Anybody successfully using other warmish sounding SS amps with their Persona's, including the Anthem STR?
What a very entertaining thread. Nearly everyone I've ever met feel that the 9H is on the brighter side of things. Every time I've heard it that ways (including at Dave's) it's sounded that way to my ears. No excuses needed as so many folks feel this is what they want.
For those of us who feel that's not real etc..., it's not a speaker for us. I'm sure they are selling plenty as they have a ton of money behind the marketing. I'm happy for Paradigm. Good for them to market their gear that they love.
The more I read posts on these sites, I laugh a bit. I laugh at myself a bit also, so this ins't an attack on anyone. If folks buy gear and then dont' like it, then it's on them/us. Too many aren't able to go audition or they get lazy and read online adn then buy used. This is the best way to never be happy and to lose a lot more money than buying new at a top dealer. Also, many dealers have a great selection of used gear in their stores that they will audition for you and probably be willing to move at a bit lower cost.
At the dealer where I compared (in the same room with speakers in the same basic location), using my Hegel 30 amp, 30 dac, and Aurender music server (and Anzus C2 Cabling)...
The Contour 60s sounded "good" and had phenomenal bass... so extended, effortless, and with "punch" when called for. However, the soundscape was "monochromatic" or to use another visual example... it was like the color was washed out and subdued. At least they sounded that way when listening to them right *after* listening to the Sopra 3s.
The Sopra 3s had bass that was articulate, but less satisfying to my ears without a sense of weight and authority (though they did go low)... that's where the Dyns really beat them IMO. But the mids and highs were glorious... airy, open, extended, not shrill or bright at all... with resolution and micro detail that kept making me wonder how anything could sound higher-resolution than the red-book CD files I was playing. There was also a lush and alive sound to vocals that was seductive... which was why I ultimately bought them.
After having them for a few months I wasn't thrilled with how they sounded in my own living space (I had a hard time getting front/back holographic imaging with them for some reason in my own house... and that's a key criteria that makes me happy when I listen to high-end audio) and I needed cash given some unexpected issues that came up.
I kept my Ansuz cable upgrades (speaker cable and power cords) that I had done at the same time I had bought the Sopras and wow... that has totally transformed my entire system and made my old (I kid you not) AV 123 "rockets" sound better-than-ever. I hope in a few years to be ready to sound-treat the room and figure out what used speakers might be available at that time so I don't take such a financial risk/loss the next go-around.
Tough crowd here.... I just purchased the Persona 3f's several months ago and am very happy with them. They are definitely brighter than many other speakers but that does not bother me at all as I usually over do it anyway on both bass and treble. They are definitely a dichotomy. In different setups they sound different. I have setup them up with different McIntosh gear and even an old Vincent 236. I like them and have put the full wrath of my MC501's through them where the power guard is blinking at me and think they sound as good at low power as they do running full bore. They definitely expose weakness in your system and may just keep them around just to test gear.....lol
I would like to mention that like all of us I have read audiotroy providing his opinion on specific gear and proper systems matching. I always had the impression he was open to questions and today I did happen to call with one. Dave answered the phone and I would like to say he was generous (very) with his time and a pleasure to speak with. I would like to visit his showrooms, but its a bit of a way from Vermont.
The Persona 9H demo pair is being offered at a significant discount now. I'll be going back and auditioning it again after they tweek that setup and run ARC on the low-end. I wish I could bring my electronics to the store but frankly the Pass power amp is a monstrous thing to move. The Pass brings some real magic to my existing Thiel 2.4's and I imagine would work quite well with the Personas. I believe the dealer will continue to use the Anthem STR preamp and poweramp. I'll report my impressions of the second listening session later in the week.
I have had a few folks bring over their amps to try out my Quattro CT's and so far they have all sounded great. They also have all been zero feedback designs, which is what RV recommends on his speakers. Just loving all the great music as much as I can. It's all good.
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