Paradigm Persona 3F

[Joe B]

I found a dealer about an hour away that has a pair of Persona 3F speakers set up in a system. I emailed them and the owner told me to come by any time, so I think I'm going Wednesday. The tech behind these speakers is pretty neat and I want to hear what Beryllium drivers sound like. I'll post the review when the mission is accomplished.

 

[shadyJ]

Be careful, you are going to end up wanting that speaker. By the way, I think the 3F is the sweet spot in the Persona line-up for those that will be using some good subs. The midwoofer is not tasked to play bass as it is on the Persona Bookshelf, but the 3F is not nearly as expensive as the other Persona towers either. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. Bring music that has an emphasis on mids, like female vocals.

 

[Joe B]

Be careful, you are going to end up wanting that speaker. By the way, I think the 3F is the sweet spot in the Persona line-up for those that will be using some good subs. The midwoofer is not tasked to play bass as it is on the Persona Bookshelf, but the 3F is not nearly as expensive as the other Persona towers either. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. Bring music that has an emphasis on mids, like female vocals.

Oh, I have a feeling you're right that I'm going to want that speaker. I agree that the 3F looks like the sweet spot out of the line up. And though the price is up there, it isn't unreasonable given other offerings with the same tech. Dave, the owner of the store, said, "We have a Sooloos music server with Tidal feeding the system, so virtually anything you might want to listen too will be available," so I probably won't bring any discs into the store, although I'll have a few for the ride up there in the car.
As far as music that emphasizes the mids, I've got that covered. I listen to a lot of choral music and art song, so I know exactly what I want to listen to. My 75F's have fantastic mids, so hearing an improvement is going to be very cool. The 3F's should also have more low end than my 75F's. I'll post upon completion of the mission. I'm getting psyched!

 

[Cos]

I have demo'd the Persona line, I think each level of those speakers are outstanding, but I did not like the bookshelves.

Sounds like you have a solid Paradigm Dealer, which is good, my dealer where I buy my GoldenEar from also sells a ton of Paradigm if you end up not getting aggressive pricing. I personally would love to get the 7F, unfortunately my wallet disagrees with me

 

[returntomusic]

Joe B-
Did you get a chance to hear the 3fs?

 

[Joe B]

Joe B-
Did you get a chance to hear the 3fs?

In fact I did. The speakers transparency blew me away. Soundstage was so perfect I couldn't hear anything coming from the speakers. I read a review somewhere on line where the writer said, referring to the 5F, that on some pieces you are transported to the recording location and on others the recording soundstage is brought into the listening room. I find this accurate.
My speakers have excellent mid-range. The 3F's are better, and not marginally. I'm sure the difference in driver material is responsible. The high end was really nice. Again, driver material leading to clearer, more transparent sound. Low end marginally better than my 75F's. I would pair these speakers with two good subs in a 2.2 set up for killer sound reproduction.

 

[returntomusic]

Thanks for your take on them.

I also compared the 3fs to the Prestige (95f in my case).
My experience was similar to yours, the Personas engaged me on a different level with beautiful clarity, midrange purity and an immersive soundstage. The 3f bass quality was better than the 95f, (didn’t go quite as low, but didn’t care!) and had less apparent room node excitation.
A step up in every way- and I am a fan of the Prestige line (with many hours listening to them) and view them as great values. The 3fs would also appear to be great values, just at a different strata.

 

[Hunter21]

After owning these for a year, just found out they were ported at the bottom.

 

[Joe B]

After owning these for a year, just found out they were ported at the bottom.

Really?
The first line of the spec sheet states:
Design 4-driver, 3 way floorstanding bass reflex

 

[Hunter21]

Guess I really never saw that, I was too intrested in the beryllium drivers. I was always wondering why I had a hard time incorporating my sealed subwoofer With the front speakers set on large, And I probly shouldnt have them pointed down towards the hardwood floor and put them on the carpet

 

[Joe B]

That really shouldn't be an issue. I've got my Paradigm Prestige 75F's (bass reflex) with a sealed Paradigm sub working fine, with no issues (though I used Anthem's ARC software to do so).

 

[Hunter21]

Yea only have the PBK on the sub and the preamp is YPAO, I really have to get a mic and do REW on the system

 

[Joe B]

Yea only have the PBK on the sub and the preamp is YPAO, I really have to get a mic and do REW on the system

Do it! I've auditioned the 3F's twice set up with Anthem's ARC. They are nothing short of outstanding. Properly set up in a 2.1 or 2.2 set up.........amazing!

 

[2channel lover]

Demoed...the 3 and 5F. The 3F? Expensive but very good 2.1 speaker.

 

[Hunter21]

One thing I can't wrap my head around is how to measure the speakers from the wall with its curved design and adjust toe in to make sure both left and front speakers are equal distance from the wall behind them.

 

[shadyJ]

One thing I can't wrap my head around is how to measure the speakers from the wall with its curved design and adjust toe in to make sure both left and front speakers are equal distance from the wall behind them.

This doesn't have to be exact. You just want them to be far enough away from the walls so that the acoustic reflections from one speaker isn't going to be significantly worse than the other. Don't worry about it if it is only a matter of inches.

 

[Hunter21]

Yes not that it's I just wanna make sure they're at 0 toe in and it's hard to measure from side to side because of the curve and I can't find anywhere where there isnt curve to put the ruler. Because for some reason even on pure direct mode It's still sounds like one side has higher treble than the other. I've done where listening to a mono track and getting to the speaker distance correct because the YPAO did not get them correct and one side was delayed more than the other, But for some reason I still hear more treble on one side than the other. Maybe I'm just dealing with some nasty reflection. And if people wanted to know what equipment I'm using it is the Yamaha CX - 5000 and the amp is a parasound a21. And I've done all the crazy stuff like make sure the front speaker wires are the same distance. I think it's the square Room and most of the equipment is more towards the left side of the Room rather than equadistance from the side walls.

 

[shadyJ]

Yes not that it's I just wanna make sure they're at 0 toe in and it's hard to measure from side to side because of the curve and I can't find anywhere where there isnt curve to put the ruler. Because for some reason even on pure direct mode It's still sounds like one side has higher treble than the other. I've done where listening to a mono track and getting to the speaker distance correct because the YPAO did not get them correct and one side was delayed more than the other, But for some reason I still hear more treble on one side than the other. Maybe I'm just dealing with some nasty reflection. And if people wanted to know what equipment I'm using it is the Yamaha CX - 5000 and the amp is a parasound a21. And I've done all the crazy stuff like make sure the front speaker wires are the same distance. I think it's the square Room and most of the equipment is more towards the left side of the Room rather than equadistance from the side walls.

The Persona speakers have the most neutral response with only a mild toe-in. If you aim them right at your listening position, they could have a somewhat bright sound. If you want to tame that sound, make sure they aren't aimed directly at you. The further you listen to them off-axis, the less bright their sound will be. Keep in mind there is no 'correct' angle of toe-in here, just user preference.

 

[Hunter21]

And people that do own the speaker, what setting do you have them set at large or small, I had mine set at large with the sub also outputting but I might change them to small due to watching Phil Collins live at montreux on bluray and the beginning drum playing bottomed out the left speaker woofers , I do not want to risk damaging these speakers.