Persona 9h vs S3 mk 2

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. 

Actually, the 9H has four woofers, opposed (literally) to two in the 7F. It also has completely room corrected bass, a sealed cabinet whereas the 7F is ported, and is dramatically easier to drive. It also plays lower due to the DSP the amp is able to employ on the bass.

As good as the 7F are, the 9H is a dramatic improvement and a steal for even the $10k retail difference.  In fact, not only is the 9H not “like having subs,” it’s even less like having subs than most speakers are because the ARC will make the bass response in room far better than most if not all other speakers available (7F included obviously).  

@yyzsantabarbara oh ya Kennedy had it set up nice but they don't always have it there. Call ahead if you are a local. Did you ask the person if he could just turn the bass gain down on the speaker? Maybe they just didn't run arc correctly or maybe they manually raised it because perhaps most people who listen find that impressive and exciting.

I heard the 9H in Southern California a few weeks ago. It was pretty incredible bass. Maybe the best bass I have ever heard. However, the thing did not sound coherent. A incompatible setup for me. I was really bummed at the result since I knew it was not a good setup based on my 3F and 5F demos.

I got the Thiel CS3.7 for my office and have it setup great. Send me PM and I can pass along some things I did that may also work for your NS5000 in your small room.

I am still looking at the NS5000 for my living room along with the KEF Blade2 (maybe with META drivers). I am not sure if I will give the  Persona 9H another listen.