Persona 9h vs S3 mk 2

There will be several people who have likely nevermind heard the personas, our dealers who don’t carry paradigm and want to down talk them... but there is literally no speaker on the market that will achieve such high performance TRULY FULL RANGE sound in a small to medium sized room like the 9H.
I now have two more friends who have gotten 9H’s and their rooms are both polar opposites. One is huge with a two story vaulted ceiling, one is a basement with 7ft ceilings. In both rooms the bass is astonishing. Extremely lean and tight, almost spookishly so. The skin on drums, etc is just so organic it’s just incredible.

And the best part is you get to start with lightning fast lean bass, yet if you want more, you can just raise the room gain a tiny bit and get a little more of the outstandingly flat non boomy room corrected bass.  I think the fact that the speakers have FOUR 8” woofers that are all quite a bit apart helps couple them to the room differently (as is the reason multiple subs are key) and you end up with super flat bass response even without the correction.  The ARC just takes things to a completely different level.

Can not recommend them enough.

Contuzzi, have to agree with you here. Especially in terms of bass response in adverse rooms you are right on the money!

Audio Doctor showcased the Persona 9H at the New York audio show in 2016 right after they came out. This was one of the first public showings of the speakers.

We were not in a ball room or a giant demo room just a regularly sized hotel room, the entire room from side to side was probably about 14 feet wide with the length of the room perhaps being 16-18 feet. We had the speakers very close to the side walls, toed in signficantly with three rows of seating. The speakers were setup on the long wall.

The local rep and Paradigms sales manager ran the Anthem Room correction in multiple locations. The dip in the bass response was dramatic from the before no room correction vs the post room correction plot. The ARC function allowed the bass to be deep and tight and not to over load such a small room.

The sound for a big system in a small room was breathtaking and was a perfect example to showcase how much a difference that the Anthem Room Correction software was creating a listenable tight tuneful bass reponse in a room that should have been boomy and bloated with a bass response that would dominate over the high and mids.

https://hometheaterhifi.com/features/show-reports-film-festivals-concerts/new-york-audio-show-2016/

https://www.facebook.com/audiodoctor1/photos/pcb.1322387171167826/1322378621168681/?type=3&theat...

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Persona dealers

So it looks like the link I posted above for the 9H was from Audio Doctor's NY Show room. I just did a web search for "Persona 9H and room size" and that photo came up.

Every time I climb the stairs of my home I see the big narrow empty space currently functioning as my toddlers play area. I have tried to figure out what speakers would fit in there, specifically seeing if the KEF Blades would work along the short wall. Unfortunately, some comments I read here, including by Audio Doctor, indicate that the sound would be compromised along the short wall. Sad times for this potential Blade buyer. The long wall setup is a no go (family wise).

However, today I learned after an email discussion with both the management of Vivid Audio and the profession sound technician that acoustically treated my upstairs office room, that the Vivid Kaya 45 will work in my room. The Vivid guys did not say for sure that it work but the sound tech and I deciphered the comments on the speakers dispersion pattern to figure out that it would work.  

To me, the Kaya 90 (which I heard) actually sounds a bit like the KEF Blade. I did like the Kaya 90 a bit more than the KEF Blade-ish KEF Reference 5 which was surprising. I am targeting the smaller Kaya 45 which has less bass.

https://www.soundstageultra.com/index.php/equipment-menu/865-vivid-audio-kaya-45-loudspeakers

Why mention this? Well I like the Persona 3F and the Kaya 45 EQUALLY.  However, I did not want to get a Persona 9H for my downstairs space if I got a Persona 3F for the small room upstairs. So in the past, I have not seriously considered the 9H.

Now I have a great sounding option for both rooms. Audio Doctor you will get a call from me on the Persona 9H. No dealer around me area that demos this one and likely knows it as well as you. Need some patience though. 

Just want to add that I totally agree the 9H bass is amazing. When I heard them, it was in a very large, about 30 foot by 30 foot by 12 foot room and I was in a corner of the room.. it was by no means ideal yet the bass sounded tight, fast, rich and detailed. 9H is super impressive.

Mike Bovaird keeps saying it makes his ears bleed, but thats not my experience at all. I find it has a very detailed yet still smooth intoxicating sound. I wonder what electronics he used.

If I had to choose, I would probably pick a 9H over a Magico M2 just because the sound is nearly as good overall and has better bass and I can save well over 20 grand.

Mike likes to go out of his way to attack them.  Definitely business related.