Amps for Paradigm Persona 3f

returntomusic
i may be blessed with either great ears, a high level of auditory discernment or just confirmation-bias/delusion. Regardless, nothing I have heard bests my LTA ZOTL40 amp. They can be purchased 'used' but you want the MKII ...and you can upgrade them to the newer spec tubes and capacitors. Without transformers in the design they are pure magic.

Anyhow ...i had about 90 minutes with the 3F’s and then similar time with the 5F’s. They were so different (the 5F’s being so much more ’open’ and revealing). I was surprised to learn that the two models share the exact same tweeter and mid (both fully enclosed BTW) and the only difference was the different woofer crossover freq /design/cabinet volume.
Similarly the stunning 9H has the exact same tweeter/mid configuration as the 3F/5F but sounds so much better still due to the improved woofer resolution below 500 hz. And I mean much so much better that having heard the 9H, i am now just saving my pennies to purchase a pair this spring. I’m 58 and this is an end-game setup for me.

If cost is your limitation - there is a great deal on a Persona-B bookshelf on ’canuckaudiomart’. With the cheap CDN$ you can probably drive to Toronto and acquire 90% of the 3F for a great deal.

Anyone has tried the Personas with Ayre Amps? 

I heard the 3f's with new anthem gear yesterday and the demo was impressive, I have a little concern about the exaggerated bass output but I expect that was speaker design choice and had nothing to do with the amp.
 The patch for the 225i has the unit shut itself off once the dial swings past 12 o'clock, it prevents disaster but still happened occasionally when I was turning up the volume by remote, still at current prices a great value.

@dmance I admire your courage in running the 3f and 5f on that very fine tube amp. I would be terrified that I would tempted to push the volume too high at some point and fry those beryllium drivers. The 9H is another kettle of fish and I would probably not be unnecessarily anxiety ridden using that amp to drive the 9Hs and I’m sure that setup sounds awesome. I’m evaluating the 9H right now and running them off a Pass Labs amp which does sound pretty sweet. When they were demoed the dealer was using the Anthem STR integrated to drive them first, then some Mac gear (not impressed there). They sound 100 times better in my room on my rig (Aesthetix pre / Pass power amp and a full loom of Synergistic Research cables throughout.