Persona 9h vs S3 mk 2

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.  

"Mike likes to go out of his way to attack them.  Definitely business related."
Some of the people on here suggests the 9H are the best thing since sliced bread and if you don't like them, either you heard them with the wrong equipment and/or room, you're hearing is just bad, or you have an agenda against Paradigm. What are their interest? I submit that everyone that's a dealer or in the audio industry should have to identify themselves as such.

Who is this is Mike Bovaird we are mentioning here?

I like the Persona line and when I heard them, the 3F and 5F at 2 separate dealers, they sounded poor (1 was cringe worthy). So why did I decide to get the 3F and now changing my mind to the 9H? Well I had to make the dealer switch electronics to something I thought was a better match for my ears, though not ideal (such as replace the Macintosh). These changes made the systems sound much better. So much so that one dealer said to me, that it was the best he had heard them. That was a little shocking when an audio nob like me can make HIS products sound better with HIS gear. It made me think this dealer did not care too much about the line.

So when I read these comments about a bad dealer match with the electronics and the Persona I can relate that to what I experienced.

BTW - the 2nd dealer I went to visit for the 3F had the system setup with a $10K+ integrated I believe. I won’t mention what brand itwas because I do not remember exactly what the model was. However, I told the dealer it did not sound too good and the dealer then replaced the integrated with the much cheaper NAD m22 amp and m12 pre/dac and it was way better. Not the best gear but great for the cost.

I can see people still disliking the Persona for it's sonic attributes even with the proper gear match. I would think a Vandersteen or Harbeth fan would not like the Persona. Though I like all 3.