Paradigm DSP 3400

Paradigm DSP 3400 is a 14” sub woofer for HT (Home Theater). Now on this entry I will blog about my HT sub woofer & how I end up with Paradigm DSP 3400. Have a look at the pic below:-

It shows three sub woofers (Yes! I got three sub woofers, more about that in the later part of the post. Me being a smart Alex! )10” Roger Sub Woofer ASB100, 12” Sherwood Newcastle SP-312W & 14” Paradigm DSP 3400. See the size get bigger & bigger! From 10” to 12” & now to 14” (which is a very odd size as in most other brand of sub woofer it is 15”). Now sub woofer is a very important component in a HT audio set up. It denote the .1 part as in 5.1 (5 speakers), 6.1 (6 speakers) & 7.1 (7 speakers) set-up. Now if u want a good bass reproduction then size is important. The bigger the better! A good sub woofer has the abilities to add breath & depth to your music & movie watching session.

Another view of the three subs. As u can see the Paradigm DSP 3400 is one very big size sub, the size of a small safe, u can even play poker on it. Space plays a very important role in sub woofer design. Space as in the size of the sub woofer & the space which the sub woofer is place in i.e. for e.g. your living room space in cubic feet. Since my living room has a space of 5,000 (20'WX20'LX12.5'H) cubic feet, I have no choice but to buy a big sub with at least size 12” X two & above. Best will be 15” but 15” sub woofer is very rare & very expansive (In most case 15” sub woofer are mostly uses in top range model. This applies to Paradigm sub woofer as well; 15” is only use in their servo & reference sub woofer.) in my small town. Now the Paradigm DSP 3400 is most suitable for mid size space to large space up to 10,000 cubic feet, thus it can give good bass pounding performance without running out of steam.

The above pics show the three subs with the grill on. As shown in the previous pic the Paradigm DSP 3400 employed the ‘ported’ system to achieved good bass with low frequency respond down to 19Hz (although I believed it can go much lower than that as there are no distortion at all when I play some blu ray with good LFE effect), hence it got two very big port in front! Because of this two very big port (big enough for me to poke in my big hand) I think I have no choice but to put on the grill as it will be very bad if some mousy decided to crawl in & build a big nest inside (He! He! Before it did that I am sure the high sound pressure will kill it!) & the very real danger of some kids poking in his hand inside & worse still leaving his toys inside (This did happen to my front speakers which is also ported!)! But it does look very nice with the grill off, especially watching the huge Paradigm DSP 3400 14” woofer in action!

This is the backside view of the three subs. All the three look similar & very simple. Both Roger ASB100 & Sherwood Newcastle SP-312W are 100W RMS using class AB amplifier, while the Paradigm DSP 3400 use a 300W RMS sustained with peak power output at 900W digital amplifier which Paradigm called ‘Digital Sound Processor’ hence DSP. Now apart from size, if u wants to have good heart pounding bass the other factor to consider is power! The more powerful the sub amp is the better will be the bass performance! Now most new top range sub woofer employed powerful digital amplifier usually 1000W & above, as digital amplifier are more efficient (almost no heat at all). This is necessary as all top range sub woofer employed the ‘sealed’ enclosure type of sub woofer. The advantage is smaller size sub woofer, an important factor as ur ‘home minister’ (wife/gf) might not like the idea of a big black box being place in the living room! Actually for me size is not a problem as I do prefer a big size sub woofer to a small one as I got to brag to all my friends that I got a big sub woofer that can kick ass, & it did kick ass!

As mention before ported sub can give good bass respond minus the huge power needed to drive the sub woofer. Now being a cheapskate why should I pay extra (cheaper electric bill) for the huge power (1000W vs 300W) when I can have a better & more economy sub woofer with similar bass pounding performance? Hence that is why I buy Paradigm DSP 3400. Ok how is the performance? I will compare it like 10” vs 12” vs 14”.

The 10” Roger ASB100 is an entry level sub woofer. Previously I am using a Pioneer HTIB (Home Theater In a Box) with a 6” sub woofer so buying a Roger 10” sub woofer is a very big ‘improvement/up-grade’ for me!

Its performance? Well let just say it is like eating a plate of chicken rice with some chicken meat! Chicken rice without chicken is just like HT without a sub woofer! The Roger 10” did do what it is supposed to do that is bass production. Now this will be OK if u has a small space but my space is big so I end up cranking the sub at full blast. This resulted in heavy distortion & Ompppprarrarar! Ompppprarara!!! Most frustrating for me! So the Roger ASB100 to me is just like a plain plate of chicken rice!

Now I went & have a audition of my friend 12” sub woofer (Velodyne CHT-12R) & wow! It is good! Just an extra 2” but it make a big different! Being a poor fellow & a ‘smart Alex’ I go looking around for a cheapo 12” & I manage to find a ‘new old stock’ Sherwood Newcastle SP-312W 12” sub woofer! Well it performance is much better than the Roger! It can produce bass much better than the 10” Roger! It is now a Boom! Boom! Now it is like having a plate of ‘special’ chicken rice! Taste much better!

Should I be happy with my HT audio now? Well by right I should if I have stay at home & do what a man should do! But noooooooooo I got to go & listen to some sub woofer in action & that is what happens to me & the result is a big black ‘safe’(Paradigm DSP 3400) hiding in the back corner of my living room! Now when I listen to a really powerful sub woofer in action I not only get to hear the BOOM, but I also get to feel the BOOM! Well after some ‘consultation’ & the parameter (5,000 cubic feet) & my sub woofer usage (99.9% movie) the recommended sub for me is at least a 15” preferably a big power sealed enclosures type like for e.g. Velodyne SPL1500R, Velodyne DD15, Paradigm Servo 15” or Paradigm Reference 15”………..Wow! All these are top range sub woofer, buying it will cost me my arms & legs plus my ‘didi’ as well! Well out of my budget! Then I get to know about the Paradigm DSP 3400 which is the top range in the DSP series, the other in the range are the DSP 3100 10” & DSP 3200 12”.

It performance is I should say excellent! Perfect for mid to large space! It is really powerful & can produce a very big bass without distortion down to below 19Hz. Now I get not only to hear BOOOOMMMM! BOOOOMMMM! But also get to feel all the BOOOOMMMM! BOOOOMMMM! It did rattle all the glass panels & even the ceiling board! Now to me the Paradigm DSP 3400 is just like having a plate of very special chicken rice with all the added spices up chicken meat plus side dishes of strew pork leg!!! The sort of chicken rice which make u feel happy & satisfied after eating & which will make u want to eat some more!

That is how good the performance of Paradigm DSP 3400! So good in fact I am now re-watching all my blu ray collection! U-571 deep charge explosion is most addictive…..so are all the LFE effect in most of movies.

So the conclusion is? Well as mention before this is a sub for medium to large space! Definitely not suitable for those living in Condominium or those with fuzzy neighbors (it has the abilities to vibrate floor & wall as well). Size! Very big & heavy (29.5kg) so ‘Home Minister’ (wife/gf) might not approve! Simple control! In fact not control at all just the normal adjustment like cross-over, gain & phase! Not even a simple power-on switch! Everything is in ‘auto’ mode. Well I don’t really mind as for me being a lazy bum I just prefer to forget about the sub presence & just sit back to enjoy & feel all the BOOOMMM!!! Now to me being simple is also a plus as fewer things to broke down. Beside I am sure it will be more reliable as it is ‘Make In Canada’! So I am happy with Paradigm DSP 3400. In fact it get ‘award’ as one of the Home Theater-2008 Products Of The Year !

Phew!!! What a long post! I do hope my dear readers’ u r not bore reading this post! Well if u r bore how about reading an ‘alternative vision’ similar but different. However this ‘alternative vision’ is ‘unrated’ (horny) & not suitable for ‘holy’ reader!

Chow for now ………..I got to watch ‘Transformer’ against at full blast!!!