I just purchased the PS 1000 for music purposes only and I must say it was a brilliant investment. For 450 dollars I got a sub that drops all the way down to 23 hz and sounds awesome. I would highly recommend this sub, as it fills my 12 by 27 foot room perfectly. Draws rave reviews from me!CJ

I just recently purchased a Paradigm PS 1000 subwoofer floor model for $270.00. The sales man gave me a 5 year warranty and 2 years on the amplifier. My Denon AVR 800 receiver is currently at the repair shop and my VCR is not a hi fi. My brother in law connected the Ps 1000 to my cheap Tech receiver worth $100. Sounds very very good deep bass when I listen to music and watch movies. Give it three stars for now, can't wait to hear it with a better receiver and Hi Fi VCR.

For those on a relatively strict budget, the PS-1000 is an unusually incredible find; as it does many things very well for its asking price. After all, a relatively inexpensive subwoofer needs to:· Cover as much of the last octave (20Hz-40Hz) as possible
· Do it cleanly
· Handle dynamics with ease
· Integrate with a variety of speakers
· Be reliable
· Etc., etc…

Therefore, products (especially in this price range) will do a combination of some attributes somewhat well, but no other sub. in my experience in this price range takes as full a lunge at the full sch-bang as this one.

I put a stereo cum HT system together for a friend of mine with the B&W 302's and the PS-1000 handling the speaker duties. But before giving her the system, I did some experiments with the speakers in my system to get a better idea of what they may do:
· Theta Data Basic
· Adcom GDA600
· Sonic Frontiers Line 1
· Sunfire Amp
· Martin Logan Sequel I's
· Sunfire Mk. II Sub.
· Cables: various

Equipment: Feeding the Sub. with an alternate preamp. (Counterpoint SA-1000) I had lying around, wasn't the best match. The sound though low enough in frequency, proved too ill-defined for my taste. Switching to the SF Line 1 cleaned things right up - providing a good deal more finesse to control the woofer. For that matter, I achieved similar results for the sub. by going to a Carver CT 26-v. Though it's highly unlikely that anyone will drive it with a preamp. (or somesuch) that is almost 4.5 times its cost, it nonetheless proved to me what the sub. can do - which is a helluva lot.

Placement: The best combination of extension and clarity I attained from the PS-1000 was in the corner with the "ports" facing out into the room; anything else proved disappointing. With the ports facing one wall or another (the sub. 1-3 feet away) the resulting sound was decently extended, with mediocre definition. With the sub's ports facing the corner (same distances) the sound was allot fuller with definition hitting the toilet. Putting the its beveled front corners into a room corner - allowing the ports to fire into the room provided the best combination of definition, weight, extension, and room coupling.

Room: In my living room, the sub. wasn't too bad, but in my friend's living room (sheet rock and brick) the PS-1000 literally rattled the house! What a transformation a room can make. Whew...

Design: The PS-1000 is a band-pass enclosure that is better suited to music reproduction than others of this ilk that I've heard. It has continuously variable controls for volume, crossover, and phase. Hell, some subwoofers 3-4 times this price don't have this flexibility. On top of that, there are thoughtful little touches like an auto on circuit (becoming standard fare) and top and bottom cooling vents on the control/amp. plate - allowing cooler air to enter the bottom with the warmer air leaving out of the top (at least in theory anyway).

Implementation: In her setup, I have the sub. crossed over at about 80Hz, phase set at 0 deg. with the volume control just below ½. The B&W's are driven full range.

Sound: A great many superlatives apply here, because this particular sub. does so many things well for the price. After about 100 hrs of break-in, it's tight, tuneful, and dynamic - providing a visceral impact to music that is just fun to listen to and downright astounding for the price. It goes very strong to 30Hz with useful output to 25Hz, and its crossover allows the user to choose higher frequencies without sounding too muddy in the process. I mean within its limits, the thing just loves to do its job. Don't let anyone tell you that the PS-1000 won't work in an all music system. Actually, the complete opposite is true - as long as you have the right associated equipment, set up, and room. The end result (combined with the '302's) is an extremely musical and highly satisfying speaker system for roughly $700.00.

Powerful, deep bass

none that i can detect

After having a dolby digital system for a few months prior I decided I needed a subwoofer. I was considering purchasing a Paradigm PDR-12 but I figured a PS-1000 would provide better bass. I basically use the sub for dolby digital/dts encoded DVD's. I never really test driven a sub as there are no audio retailers in my area, that carry Paradigm. After connecting my new sub to my system and making the usueal audio refinements, I put on a DVD and wow, what a difference!. I have my system in my fairly large bedroom, and it literally shook. I now do not regret buying such an impressive litle sub. I strongly recommend it to anyone who wants to upgrade.

Volume

Sound quality.

I had the PS-1000 in my place for several days.

I was not terribly impressed with the sound quality of this sub. While it had TONS of volume, the bass was laggy and boomy, at least compared to higher end subs. At low volumes, I felt even the PDR line had better quality sound, although those PDR subs are not strong enough for serious HT work in a larger room - they get too stressed out at very loud volumes.

So, if you're only into HT, the PS-1000 is fine, but if you want your sub to do dual duty, get a better sub.

Similar Products Used:

Energy, Paradigm PDR-10 and Servo-15

very big , need big area for best results

When i got this delivered to my door i thought they gave me a telly instead, this product is huge for a 10inch driver. I use it for H/T and music and i must say that using it for H/T sounds much deeper than music.
Takes along time to get going but when u do get it going u will be rewarded with very DEEP BASS.

Similar Products Used:

car subwoofers (passive 10inchs)

So much power it is rediculous. I am listening to it right now and it still amazes me after 6 months of happy ownership.

In a small room(like mine at home) it sounds worse than a 100 sub. In my college dorm room sounds insane but there is still a dead spot in the middle of the room, and VERY hard to set up. Another thing is that everybody on my floor, the one above me and the one below me comes to complain everytime I turn it on 8O).

Like I said about this sub is incredible. And even though I love bass I still have an ear for SQ too, and this sub delivers in both departments. Like I said above in a small room this thing sound horrible. I accually brought it back to where I bought it because I thought something was wrong at first. The room was just acting like a big bandpass enclosure, plus the old weak walls didn't reflect that bass to much. But when I get it to my dorm room (cement walls) the thing is insane. I am using AudioQuest Turqouise Interconnect with the gain set a little more than half way and the crossover at around 55 Hz (checked that with a bass cd). The sub is in a corner right next to my Monitor 7 aimed directly into the room. Still that dead spot in the middle but it happens no matter where the sub is. I even let the side with the ports on it hang out the window and it was still loud in the corners with the dead spot in the middle. Well to keep it kind of short I love this beast and if you wanna spend the money BUY PARADIGM!!!!

Similar Products Used:

Never had any real experience with home theater woofers but my car has two 10's that put out 137.7 dB so I know what good low bass is. The only think I've really heard besides Paradigm stuff is Energy and Low level Velodyne.

Deep bass and sheer slam, price, engineering

Can be boomy if incorrectly setup

A class act and at a cheap price too, its gonna be very difficult to top this sub at the price - its looney. Ok I listened to Rel's before and sure they sounded good, excellent in fact, but I just couldn't get away from the fact that the PS1000 cost me just £200 whereas the next alternative was the Rel Q50 and to my ears there was little to nothing between the two - except the price £350 as opposed to £200.
It Takes quite a while to get this sub working at its best, but take the time and you will be rewarded. At first I did the usual sub setup routine and placed the sub about a foot away from a side wall and the sound was well, boomy. I decided to move the sub right into the middle of room, stashed under a large coffee table and once setup WOW, no more room boom just quality bass. One thing I did notice was that the bass had less 'impact' but was far more tuneful, essential as its mostly used for music with HT being used far less. To counter this effect when watching movies I turn the sub up a notch.

Similar Products Used:

Rel Q50, Q100E, Q200

high spl above 40hz, good value IF used for DVD movies. Flexible controls to integrate with current systems. Very reliable and excellent warrenty.

muddy/boomy and slow on music. Large, no true low frequency info at decent spl's. Spring clip high level inputs(I don't use these but some may).

This is an addition to a previous review. After owning this sub for many months now I want to relate that is works great for dvd movies but is not so usefull for music. For movies this sub puts out the SPL's well. It can rock a small to medium sized room with ease. Now to the problems for music. This sub is muddy and boomy with no bass note pitch definition. Accurate it aint! But as I said this sub works well with dvd's. The value here must be high as it will most likely be used as part of a home theater setup, the value if used more for music is a lot lower IMHO. The PS1000 is flexible though, it has high level(speaker) and low level(rca) inputs, a low level high pass throughput(rca) and level,crossover and phase controls. It should be easy for anyone to integrate into a home theater room save for it's size, it's pretty large. Note that the bass level is quite prodigous above 40hz, rolls off below that but the bass in the 30's is usefull but really nothing below 30hz. True low,below 30 hz FLAT is expensive so again your getting a lot for your money IF used for home theater.

Similar Products Used:

Infinity

Decent product for the price, phase control, good HT sub

a little boomy, not bad for music but not great

This product seemed to fit my price range and was a decent, though not spectacular sub. It is quite adequate for HT but only OK for music. The price paid was $480 CAD for a factory blemished (very small glitch in the finish) sub. The PW2200 was $775 and likely our of my range and I was disappointed in the bass extension of the PDR10 for HT. All in all, I am happy with the price I paid and what I got.

Similar Products Used:

PW2200, PDR10