Ok, so in my quest to find a new sub, I have come across a Paradigm PS-1000 for $540 or an Energy S10.3 for $499.
Does anyone out there have an opinion as to what they think I should do? This is to replace a somewhat damaged JBL PSW D110. Thanks!!

I used to have the PS1000 and for home theater, its pretty good. It doesn't go very low, but it had a decent amount of output in my room. For music, the bandpass design left a little to be desired as it seemed to be a lot of the one-note bass...I usually turned it off for music. I've never heard the Energy, but I would asssume the more simple vented design would be a little better for music, but wouldn't have as much output for home theater.

I used to have the PS1000 and for home theater, its pretty good. It doesn't go very low, but it had a decent amount of output in my room. For music, the bandpass design left a little to be desired as it seemed to be a lot of the one-note bass...I usually turned it off for music. I've never heard the Energy, but I would asssume the more simple vented design would be a little better for music, but wouldn't have as much output for home theater.

Thanks for the input!

No question for me....Energy all the way. It is a very good sounding sub

No question for me....Energy all the way. It is a very good sounding sub

Have you noticed any problems with distortion or cutting out during use? My current sub clips and pops and sounds like crap basically, so I want to make sure when I get a new sub I don't have to always be listening for the inevitable pops I hear with my current setup.....

$499 for the s10.3, are you in canada or something? I have two I am selling (perfect condition), let me know if you want to save a little more than half that price.

Have you noticed any problems with distortion or cutting out during use?

never noticed anything of the sort with any of the Energy/Mirage subs. I do find that the auto on threshold is kind of high, so I usually force mine to ON instead of Auto.

interesting......

never noticed anything of the sort with any of the Energy/Mirage subs. I do find that the auto on threshold is kind of high, so I usually force mine to ON instead of Auto.

Have never had that issue with my Energy subs but remember reading about it from other members. They may have corrected the issue but I never looked into it much since I never had to deal with it.

I think you guys may have sold me on the Energy.....THanks a lot!!

I used to have the PS1000 and for home theater, its pretty good. It doesn't go very low, but it had a decent amount of output in my room. For music, the bandpass design left a little to be desired as it seemed to be a lot of the one-note bass...I usually turned it off for music. I've never heard the Energy, but I would asssume the more simple vented design would be a little better for music, but wouldn't have as much output for home theater.
Very well spoken here. I too used to own a PS1000 v.4 and found it to be decent at ht BUT awful with music. It was so slow and sloppy with music that I had no choice but to get rid of it. I also owned a Mirage S12 that was stellar with music-lots of tight punchy well articulated bass that also was very good with ht. My vote would be to go with the Mirage. Hope this helps and good luck in your decision.

Very well spoken here. I too used to own a PS1000 v.4 and found it to be decent at ht BUT awful with music. It was so slow and sloppy with music that I had no choice but to get rid of it. I also owned a Mirage S12 that was stellar with music-lots of tight punchy well articulated bass that also was very good with ht. My vote would be to go with the Mirage. Hope this helps and good luck in your decision.

THanks for the input! I really didn't want to have to buy from the place that's selling the Paradigm anyways..... ;-)

i purchased the ps1200 (12" version of the same sub) and would *not* recommend it for music. it was decent sub a decade ago, but subs have evolved quite a bit, you can do *much* better.

Alright I made my decision today and picked up the Energy S10.3. So far so good. I was expecting a bit more, but I am deffinitely affraid of running it too loudly right out of the box. (Something about a break in period?). So if anyone has any tips or reccomendations about settings etc, please feel free to share your wisdom? Your help has been great thus far......

Did you calibrate it with your system or just plug it in and go? How big is your room? Shouldn't need to worry about a break in period, supposedly will open up a little more after soo many hours.

Well, I have been trying to figure out which Crossover mode to use (im not sure what type of "bass management" my receiver has; its a Yamaha HTR-5560). The high pass filter on the Energy goes up to 110, but on my old JBL it went way higher......im just fiddling around right now. Its placed in the front right corner of my room, behind my right main (tower), with the driver facing the right wall (about 5 inches away from the wall). I get the most bass that way, I find. I tried a bunch of different placements in my room, and that seems to be the best one. My room is about 15'x22'. I think i am just used to the levels at which my old sub used to bottom out, and i am affraid of putting the Energy at anything MORE than that (even though I am sure it can play at those levels). Right now I have the high pass at around 100, the phase at 0, and the volume at half. I usually listen to my movies at around -37db (a bit higher on HD DVDs). Do you think that sounds right? Or is there anything I am overlooking??

THanks for the input! I really didn't want to have to buy from the place that's selling the Paradigm anyways..... ;-)

Your welcome. Based on my own experiences AND from info on various forums the Paradigm Servo 15 is a very good sub. Not really sure about the Seismics/Ultras. Chances are given the price range you set I would say the Mirage would be a better fit. Good luck in your choice. Happy hunting!!!!!

I assume you followed the normal setup procedures?

Your receiver should be set so the speakers are all "Sml", and your bass is "SWFR". Set the receiver so the crossover is around 80hz if you have small bookshelf speakers and maybe lower if you have larger ones. Use a sound meter and run your receiver's test tones to set the levels for your sub against your main speakers.

You guys are not going to beleive this......My front right speaker blew while I was setting up the sub. sound stopped coming from it and when I took the grille off, there was a chunk missing from the surround around the midrange cone. This had nothing to do with the sub, just a very, very sad coincidence. :-(

As warpdrive already stated, you need to calibrate the sub to your main speakers with a sound pressure level meter (SPL). You can do this with either your receiver's test tones or a calibration cd such as Avia. If you don't have a SPL meter, you can get an inexpensive one from Radio Shack which alot of forum members have.

Don't worry about the crossover level going past 110, for the most part you shouldn't need to go beyond 80hz. Not sure about your particular receiver but most have bass management these days and should be used to set the crossover (bypass subs crossover - make sure you set this on sub).

I would suggest taking a look at DrPainMD's Home Theater Setup 101 links (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10118822#post10118822) and scroll down to subwoofer setup section.

Thanks for the great link. I deffinitely had some things switched on that shouldnt be. With my old sub, I always found I had more bass when I had my AVR set to "both" setting. The other options were mains, or swfr. I should set it to just swfr then??

Setting it to SWFR is correct. That is the way 5.1 surround is supposed to be configured. You will get more bass if you choose both but that's because you are doubling the bass. Unless you have very good main speakers (I mean $$$$ floorstanding towers with built-in subs), you should always send the bass to the sub only. If you want a bit more oomph, adjust the level of the sub through the receiver a bit higher (say 4-6 dB)

Ahhh, ok it makes sense now. We were watching the Phantom of the Opera yesterday on regular DVD and I was hearing (and feeling) low end stuff I didnt even know was on the disc! The Energy sounded fantastic, and it goes down to 21 hrz I beleive, where my old JBL went only as low as about 30. Unfortunately, my front right speaker blew. I'm running Axiom AX 5 Reference monitors Series II (my dad bought them in 1987, and to this day they have still sounded amazing). but Now I have to look into repairing/replacing them. I have no luck with my hometheater it seems!

OK, speaker problem fixed. Now back to tweaking the sub...

Any advice on placement??

OK, speaker problem fixed. Now back to tweaking the sub...

How did you fix the speaker? Order a new woofer?

Given that the room you're in is too big for the S10, i'd say stick it in the front right or left corner for the maximum bass.

he bought new speakers.

For placement....I'd also try corner placement first

Given that the room you're in is too big for the S10, i'd say stick it in the front right or left corner for the maximum bass.

Room shouldn't be too big for the S10.3 if his ceilings are only 8ft. If they're 10ft it's pushing it but will still do fine. I had mine in my new house which is well over 6000 cubic feet when you include all the other attached rooms that aren't closed off. It didn't have as much of a punch but still did pretty damn good.

My ceiling is 8' with a lower part where heating duct runs across the room (the basement is finished though, so its not a plain metal duct in the middle of my room). When I first set the sub up, i had no base unless standing beside it, then as soon as i put it in the corner, the entire house was shaking. Thanks for the advice.