Like to see a tube pre amp with the Personas. Tames the little bump in the upper mid. Plus a big room really helps. Once dialed though they are a great speaker.
The pathos integrated I like for the 7f is a tube pre with a 100 wpc class a/b amp. Plenty of power and gives the mids some bloom, if thats a proper term? The 9h listed is very close to what I paid for the 7f and while I got the color I wanted I think I could have found a way to live with the silver front baffle for the difference.
For you guys going Persona, if you can swing it get the 9H. The 5H and 7F are nice but the 9H with the active woofers and ARC is a massive step up in low end control and power. It is 100% worth the increase in price (assuming you can get a good deal).
I demoed the 3F, 5F and recently the 9H. The 9H bass was extremely strong but was the worst sounding demo of the 3. I loved the 3F and 5F demos. I think you need to find a good dealer to set it up. I was shocked at how bad the 9H demo I heard. Fatiguing with the bass dominating. Setup must be a bit of a challenge if a dealer can screw it up.
How did the setup at Kennedy HiFi sound? They seem like guys that know how to set it up.
if the 9h were selling for the price of the pair recently posted which was less than the 5f retails for absolutely. Suppose I wait for the 20% sale and the 7f is $20k while the 9h is $28k. The speakers dimensions and drivers are identical so I’m paying $8k for built in powered subs with dsp. Great if I want or need subs otherwise I’m spending money I could put towards motorcycle tires. For music lovers that like subs the 9h is an elegant solution, but I don’t care for subs in my stereo system and the 7f is full range.
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