Paradigm DSP-3100, Hidden technology

A SCIENTIFIC PARADIGM

• This subwoofer hides a processor inside that allows it to be perfectly adapted to the room in which it is installed

• Price: €660

• Specialists' rating: 5

• Text: Josep ARMENGOL

The Paradigm DSP-3100 is the smallest of Paradigm's subwoofers, but when I had to move the box it arrived in, I could already tell that the 18 kg net weight stated in the specifications is no exaggeration. The cabinet itself is made of high-density wood, and Paradigm's mastery in building loudspeakers (see box) shows, because it is truly inert and no low-frequency resonances can be heard when you knock on any of its walls. Its size is relatively compact, somewhat narrow, and it will not look out of place in a domestic setting, although it can also be installed out of sight.

The front is covered by a full-size, easily removable grille, behind which we find the leading player in any subwoofer: the woofer itself. In this case it is a 10-inch unit (255 mm cone diameter), but it is no ordinary driver: it is one developed in-house to a very demanding specification, optimized for subwoofer frequencies. The motor that drives it consists of a 55 mm voice coil which is actually dual and made up of four layers to maximize heat dissipation (that is, the power it can handle). The magnetic field in which this coil is immersed is generated by a heavy, powerful ceramic magnet, and the whole system is held by a cast basket (again designed to dissipate heat and withstand high continuous power).

Two bass-reflex ports open onto the front, also hidden by the grille. On the back are the control panel, the connections and (inside) the amplification. The truth is that it is very simple: just two RCA inputs (for a stereo line signal or for the LFE signals from a home theater processor), a USB input (for measurements and configuring the internal equalization system), the power input and three control knobs: level (or volume), frequency (where the crossover is set, from 35 to 150 Hz, or bypassed) and relative phase with respect to the main speakers (continuously adjustable between 0 and 180 degrees). There are no other connections and no remote control, although it has an automatic on/off system that activates when it detects an audio signal at its inputs. Behind this rear plate are the electronics, of higher quality than is usual in other subwoofers, including a dedicated 200W rated Class D amplifier (with a linear power supply, curiously using a transformer) as well as the line control section (the external knobs) and the equalization system with a dedicated chip.

TEST

I would have liked to begin this part of the Lab by telling you how the PBK room correction and subwoofer setup assistance system works... but it does not come as standard with the DSP-3100 (the kit costs €300) and did not arrive in time before this issue went to press, so I tested the Paradigm as an ordinary subwoofer in the literal sense of the word; that is, let's call it a "non-intelligent" active subwoofer. Because that is where the advantage of that system lies: it provides intelligence so that installation is less problematic. Although its complexity sometimes makes people believe acoustics is a kind of magic, it really is science; it is just a question of being able to understand and apply it (having the knowledge and measuring instruments).

Using traditional methods, then, I first tried the subwoofer in my stereo system, normally featuring a pair of monitors but in recent weeks replaced by the pair of Audiovector SR6s we tested last month. Since it was precisely time to take them out and pack them up (all good things come to an end, folks), I wanted to try the Paradigm with them first: if a subwoofer could bring something to a pair of speakers with such good bass capability... that would be a good start!

So after placing it and leaving it playing for a day and a bit to break it in (it reached me brand new, and the bigger a driver is, the more break-in it needs to loosen up), I started with my usual tone disc to see how low it really went. The good news is that the 30 Hz tone was still reproduced with authority (some subwoofers costing far more than this one have failed at that frequency, believe me); further down, to 20 Hz, there was a response, but very weak and possibly with too much distortion. I liked it less that some specific tones (45 Hz, for example) were reproduced with noticeable noise from both the driver and the reflex ports, something unusual and due, I gather, to a coincidence with internal tuning frequencies (the test tone is a pure sine wave, not music).

Then I did some first tests with the Audiovectors, connecting the subwoofer to the output of the same preamp that drove the power amplifier feeding them, and setting the filter as low as possible: 35 Hz; the Audiovector SR6s need no more help in the bass than that... if even that... After delicately adjusting the volume to that perfect point where the subwoofer seems not to be there, yet if we switch it off it is obvious we have lost something... that is when the surprise came: despite the SR6s' ability to reach down to extremely low octaves, the Paradigm was contributing "something". In addition to greater impact on drums, there was more body in double basses and the soundstage gained slightly in depth and presence, all of them common effects when a subwoofer is added to a stereo system and properly adjusted. Trying disconnecting one and then the others, I was surprised by the Paradigm's ability to blend in: its notes did not seem any less precise than those of the speakers.

The second test, in the same environment, I carried out with monitors, my pair of Merlin TSMs (a sealed enclosure with a relatively small woofer). The very different bass of these speakers, super-precise and extremely fast but somewhat shy, was harder for the Paradigm to keep up with, though it did give the reproduction a very good foundation for the soundstage. It would not be the one I would keep for this system, but it was not unpleasant.

The moment of truth comes when taking the subwoofer upstairs to the home theater system, naturally, since most people will use it for that. Fortunately, in my case I know the acoustics of my living room quite well, and therefore I know where it is best to place a subwoofer and which areas to avoid so as not to have bass problems. Once it was connected, the setting I liked best was with the filter open (bypassed, that is, fully up) and the volume in the middle range, although this meant raising the level slightly in the processor to match it with the other speakers in the system. But if I turned the volume up further on the subwoofer itself, a slight background hum appeared, to which I am very allergic... This problem rarely occurs in this system, and I must say in its defense that the Paradigm subwoofer is very quiet in itself (some are not), so I will have to find out where that faint noise was creeping in.

A few days earlier I had watched the new version of the classic "Tron" (or rather its sequel, "Tron: Legacy") with my usual system, that is, a B&W ASW855 with its tremendous 15-inch driver, and I was very impressed by the soundtrack of this effects-laden movie, which makes such good use not only of the side and rear effects but certainly of the subwoofer's ".1" channel (if you don't have it, I recommend it, if only to impress others, or yourself, because you really cannot remain unmoved...). Well, with that impressive memory I set about watching it with the Paradigm, and it surprised me with a level of impact that had little to envy my reference. Then came a run-through of the usual scenes for these tests: the Yetis and the avalanche in "The Mummy 3", the drum dance in "House of Flying Daggers", the third part of "Star Wars"... The Paradigm was always very good and, in practice, never made those noises I mentioned in the synthetic tone test.

CONCLUSION

I am left wanting to know how much it could improve using the internal PBK equalization system. In a way, I have only been able to test "half" a subwoofer because of this, because I am sure it could not only reinforce the impact of the bass but, above all, make it even better integrated and transparent, faster and more agile, by avoiding room interference. Even so, the Paradigm earns a good rating, and seeing in the catalog that this is the smallest of them all makes me tremendously keen to try one of the big ones, those certainly using their internal equalization as a matter of course.

WE LIKE

Good impact for its size, recommended for movies.

Very good bass response down to 30 Hz.

Very quiet, automatic power-on.

Excellent setup possibilities with the company's microphone and software (sold separately).

COULD BE IMPROVED

It could include the measurement and calibration microphone and software.

More complete connectivity.

Remote control

A SCIENTIFIC PARADIGM

Paradigm is "the" Canadian high-fidelity brand, with more than a quarter of a century of history, and thanks to the success of its loudspeakers it has formed an industrial group that includes Anthem electronics (we recently tested a receiver from that range) and the legendary Sonic Frontiers brand. Curiously, one key factor lies in the help the company has received from the Canadian government, thanks to agreements that began, at the time, on an almost experimental basis with a university but which have borne a great deal of fruit thanks to the NRC (National Research Council Canada). Many of the company's loudspeakers are designed precisely on the basis of the acoustic research carried out by that body, and that knowledge underpins the acoustic correction and room equalization system in Anthem receivers.

You may wonder what all this has to do with a subwoofer test. Well, Paradigm's subwoofers are much more than a "dumb box" with a woofer and an amplifier, since inside they hide a processor very similar to the one in its receivers, to adapt their response perfectly to the room in which they are installed, with the help of a microphone and software available as options. As the brand states in its manual, even the best speakers in the world, perfectly placed, are subject to the effects that the room, acting as an additional sound source, will have on the sound coming from them.

Paradigm's subwoofer range is very large, extending from the three models in the DSP range, whose entry point (the cheapest, that is) is the 3100 we review this month, up to real beasts such as the UltraCube or the Reference series. All of them include the PBK (Paradigm Perfect Bass Kit) equalization technology we have described, although only the top-of-the-range models come with the special measurement microphone in the box.

Paradigm DSP-3100, Hidden technology

Specifications

Dedicated active subwoofer in a bass-reflex enclosure with two front ports.

Active driver: 10-inch CAP type, with ceramic magnet, 50 mm diameter dual voice coil and cast basket. Line inputs (stereo RCA).

USB connection for use with the PBK (Paradigm Perfect Bass Kit).

Level adjustment by potentiometer, continuous phase adjustment from 0 to 180 degrees, and filter adjustable from 35 Hz to 150 Hz plus bypass, with a detent at 80 Hz.

Minimum frequency response 24 Hz DIN (-3dB point measured in-room). Built-in 200W RMS amplifier (dynamic peaks up to 600W). Dimensions 311 x 413 x 425 mm.

Net weight 18.2 kg.



DISTRIBUTOR Stil Son (963423465)

Price: €660