Anyone use the Persona with grills? Does it mess up the sound? |
@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?
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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?
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@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.
BTW - my dealer informed me on this program
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@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.
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@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. |
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.
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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.
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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. |
In my most recent speaker auditions the dealers were encouraging me to play anything from TIDAL. They were rather happy to hear me say, wow that recording sounds real bad or that recording sounded great. This was on the speakers I had come to audition, the Magico A3 and Persona 5F. Point is these guys were rather cool about demoing the speakers.
One example was the Clash "From Here to Eternity: Live" disc. I had been playing it on my car while driving to the demo and I rather enjoyed it (I love this disc in the car). When I played it on the Magico A3 it sounded awful. The dealer was rather happy to see that I could hear the bad sound via the speakers he was trying to sell me.
Bad sound because the recording was bad.
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@ahofer Hope you post on what you end up getting. I always like to know what systems musicians listen with. I think I have great hearing but that does not mean I know what a musical instrument should REALLY sound like. Sounds like you would know this better. |
@rlovendale Ever consider that your hearing and tastes maybe different from people who like the Persona or Kanta? Most people tend to buy what they like.
There are quite a few owners of Persona's chiming in saying how much they like the speaker. So you are basically saying to these folks that they are rather messed up, either mentally or hearing wise, to be buying the Persona.
Stay classy. |
I think it is actually a disservice to A'Gon readers to have posts telling people who have not heard the Persona that it is bright and does not sound good.
I almost bought into that line and had ALMOST eliminated the Persona 3F from consideration for my office system (small room). They only reason I heard it was because of a fluke. I was intending to audition the Lyngdorf 2170, that gets rave reviews here on A'gon. The dealership had the Persona and Sonus Faber. I unenthusiastic-ally chose the Persona to pair with the Lyngdorf demo because I knew the Sonus Faber sound is not to my tastes.
I have mentioned more about the audition previously but the end result is that the Lyngdorf was out and the Personsa 3F was in my top 3 for consideration. The was after using a SimAudio 860A amp to power them via the Lyngdorf preamp section. Dealer actually said it was the best he had heard the Persona 5F. He normally demos with MAC gear.
Moral of the story FOR ME, don't take the words written here verbatim, even if it is written as a benevolent audio SERVICE. Go out and listen for yourself. |
@pwhinson I have heard a ton of Magico speakers. They are rather popular out here in the West Coast. I have heard some costing $150K+ (maybe $200K+) to the A3.
I did a very long and fruitful audition of the Magico A3 with Mark Levinson gear and I was trying to figure out how to fit the A3 into my small office. During, this figuring out phase I started to look at DSP capable preamps to help fit a floor stander into a smaller space. If I could figure that out I would have bought the A3.
However, during the DSP preamp search I stumbled onto the Persona 5F and realized that the tweeter and mid range integration was more to my style on the Persona vs the Magico A3. So I am now going to buy a Persona 3F and use with a DSP preamp.
I had not really been a fan of the Magico's, most likely related to the cost aspect of them. I only went to listen to the A3 because I have heard the Magico S3MKII at an audio show, in 3 rooms, and I was so surprised because it was the first Magico speaker that I thought I should consider. I also heard the Magico S5MKII at the same show with much more expensive gear than with the S3MKII and did not like it. I attributed that to the electronics. The S5MKII is supposed to just be a bigger version of the S3MKII. A few people have questioned my sanity when I said I liked the Persona over the Magico and their arguments were similar to what we are seeing on this thread.
Another speaker I was considering but had to drop it because I was told is too big for my space was the Yamaha NS5000. I spoke with a NS5000 owner in Australia who either owned the Magico S5 or his brother owned it. His feedback was that the best mid-range he has ever heard was on the Yamaha. He preferred it to the Magico. It is a shame that I cannot fit the Yamaha because it seems like a incredibly interesting speaker. All 3 drivers are made from the same material that is supposed to be faster and lighter than BE. If you want more info on this one just PM me and I will send you some contact info. |
@pwhinson I had a dream last night that I had the same room as you . Unfortunately I woke up and still stuck with a crappy room.
Have you every considered the KEF Blade 2 in your space? I don't think it is as revealing as the Persona, I have not heard the 9H, only 5F. I will buy the 3F for a small space.
I bring this up because I loved the Thiel CS 3.7 and in the past I owned the much lowered end Thiel SCS4's. I see you are a Thiel fan. The only speaker sound wise and cost wise that I have liked better than the Thiel CS 3.7 is the KEF Blade. You may have the same sound preferences as me.
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Interesting take on your friends room. I also have a medium sized rectangular room downstairs that is currently my toddlers play area. That room has a 25 foot ceiling and would likely sound rather great with the KEF Blade. Just have to wait a few years to test out that theory. |
The Vivid Kaya 90 which I heard reminded me a bit of the KEF Blades. That was the 3rd speaker in my list for my small space (actually the Kaya 45 would be what I would have ordered). It was a tossup between the Vivid and Persona but I started to consider cost and the side firing woofers of the Vivid in a small space and the Persona made more sense.
I forgot to added in the previous comment that I liked the Magico S3MKII much more than the Magico A3. However, the S3MKII is too big for my room.
BTW - I am not an audio historian but it seems to me that the Yamaha NS1000 was the precursor to the Paradigm Persona. |
@pwhinson I read your nice review of the 9H in your room. I get the impression they don't have all you want to pull the trigger to buy.
If not, what are the other options?
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@pwhinson My musical tastes run through a wide selection. I go through periods of listening to certain types of music. A few months ago it was heavy metal, at the moment it is a lot of 70's Soul and R&B. I have not had too many classical music periods lately but I do enjoy classical. I really like anything that gets my legs tapping.
A few things I value in a speaker are:
- the ability to hear the details in a recording
- the ability to visualize the 'live" musical performance if I close my eyes
- a coherent sound where the drivers sound as 1 source
- speakers disappear
As I mentioned in the prior posts my favorites speakers to do these things are:
Thiel CS 3.7 (unfortunately Thiel is no more)
Persona 5F (only model I have heard)
Kef Blade (my favorite, no need to close eyes with this one)
I am very happy to read the posts by the Persona 9H owners here who are describing how their speakers sound after break-in. That type of sound is what I am after, though it will be with the 3F in a very small room.
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