Paradigm Sub 12 & Sub 15 - Page 26

I got my Sub 12 a month ago and loving it. I PBK'ed and also ran Audyssey from my Integra DTR 40.3 (maybe upgrading to MRX-500 and its ARC in 2 weeks). It blends in very well with my 60s fronts and most bass notes feel like they are coming from the fronts. It's a whole new experience going through my music collection again. My room is 25x15x12 and I'm adding a second one in the future, but now it has to wait.

Congrats on the Sub 12. It's an amazing sub. I've been enjoying mine for a year and a half now.

I'm doing the Sub 12 or 15 debate in my head atm. My primary focus is a musical clean tight sub. With that said, low frequency capability isn't inconsequential for the odd movie. So my question, with the same power for both subs would the large 15" driver tend to be less tight or accurate then the smaller and theoretically more agile 12"?

Thanks, Ryan

Yes we have had both in our showroom and the 12 is all around better and tighter in our option, but everyone thinks differently so go to your dealer and have a listen see what you like.

How does one tweak the phase on a sub? The limited info that I read somewhere in one of the threads mentioned using a SPL meter (I can get it on my iphone).

On my Sub12, it is now set to "0". It sounds fine for most music I listen to and movies, but for the songs with a fast bass beat (eg. techno), I feel the phase might be a little off.

Thanks in advance.

It took me 2.5 yrs to build my current system, v.5 studio 60, avr-4311, studio10/cc490 in that order, .....just finished my system with the matching rosenut sub 12 in december, what a fantastic addition. sb12-nsd was used for about 1 yr before that, no comparison at all, this sub is excellent in every way. I am 90% misic 2.1 channel listening.

Congrats on your first sub 12! I just made up my mind to get another one. My gf thinks I'm crazy to think I need another one.

Edited by RandyDee - 7/1/12 at 7:17am

Congrats are in order! For that size of room in the picture, Sub12 will rock it to the bottom.

Did you also get PBK? The price has dropped to $100 and it really is a bargain for this sort of quality software.

If you're in San Jose CA area, I can borrow you my PBK if you don't have one and save $100.

Thanks, kzhtoo, I'm up north in Canada (not far from actual Paradigm factory), so I'll pass on your offer, but I appreciate it. I'll get PBK for sure...soon. I've heard it's "a must" toolkit to get max out of this beast.

Yes, it's a must. You will be amazed how tight the bass gets before and after PBK.

Keep us posted about your Sub12.

I also notice you have hardwood floor like mine, for that adding some sort of coupler between the sub and the floor also helps, at least in my experience.

I used Harmonic Resolution Systems Nimbus Spacers and Couplers. Each is about $100 and I use 3 of them, but honestly I think 2 is good enough. Subdude or other similar product should help too but they aren't aesthetically appealing.

Yes, that seems like a good idea. My previous sub was down-firing "Paradigm SE Sub" that liked to move a lot when cranked up. It was really lightweight (8.73 kg / 19.25 lb) and the hardwood floor was too "slippery" for it. I often found it touching my AV cabinet...

Guys, what isolation platforms are you using with your Sub 12? It looks like Auralex Subdude is too small, it's 15x15 and the sub's feet are exactly 15 inches apart... Would Auralex Gramma (15x23) be a bit better fit? I don't have the space for two of them...

...and so I rather built my own subwoofer isolation riser, nothing fancy or scientific, but it works very well! Here is the post. I definitely reduced/eliminated the rattles I was getting with bass-heavy music.

This may have been mentioned on here before but I thought I would share my experience. My Sub 12 recently developed a very loud clattering that would appear on the lowest of bass notes. I discovered, to my relief, 3 of the 4 small black feet were loose. I tightened them up and the problem disappeared.

This may be a stupid question but its been bugging me, i just recently purchased a Sub 12 and the PBK. I have noticed though when i am watching movies (blu ray)i am not getting a lot of bass. However i can see that the driver is moving and its pushing out a lot of air in front of it. But when i am listening to music off of my ipod (usually a lot of up beat current music) i am getting huge amounts of bass, doors are rattling in the frames and what not. So i was wondering how come i am not seeing the same results in movies?

Before this i had 2 much cheaper klipsch subwoofers

Dunno if its important but its running off a Onkyo TX-NR1009 receiver and i have studio 100 V5 and CC 690
Edited by shadydevil102 - 10/17/12 at 4:18pm

I only have 1 Paradigm dealer in my area and I went in 4 times before they budged off of list price. On the 4th try I lucked out and got the sales manager, he offered me a significant discount. For those of you guys who are unable to get your paradigm dealers to move on price try asking for the sales manager right off the bat. Let him know you've done your research and know what other guys are paying. Then see what kind of price he can do. I've used this method several times for different purchases and it has worked quite well.

I don't like to chisel them though, if they say that's the best price I either like the deal or I don't, and buy or walk away.

Can't wait to add a Sub 12 hopefully next year.

Overheating Sub 15

Got a Sub15 that I've had for about two years. It hasn't been used much as we were building a house last 18 months so it sat in storage.
Recently I found it keeps shutting down - I suspect thermal issues as it gets VERY hot on the amp back plate.
It's certainly too hot to keep your hand on the plate amp for extended period of time.
I have the gain at about 50% and listening to around 100db in room. I'm not exactly pushing it to silly levels and this is watching a movie not test tones.
It's not clipping and it merely shuts off for about 5 seconds and then back on but unless I turn it down substantially it merely enters a cycle of 5 sec on / 5 sec off.

I moved the Sub from auto to trigger as I felt even while 'idling' the amp got warm. However it stills appears to be pulling significant current from the wall socket as the amp
is cooler than 'auto' but not by much. This has always bothered me as I had a Servo 15 for 8 years without a hiccup. The marketing claims and I quote
"Dual Efficient Ultra-Class-D™ Amplifiers with Switching Power Supplies. Boast more than 90% efficiency!" are surely impossible with this much heat being generated.

I have a Rotel 1575 Class-D amp (5x 250w) and it can takes hours of abuse and never gets nearly as hot as the Sub15.

If I'm doing a system demo (pushing over 110db) the Sub15 really battles and often within 60 seconds it shuts itself off.
I have equalized the system and running the EQ off a SVS AS-EQ1.



At reference 0 volume on Yamaha receiver - speakers are at 77db + Sub15 is at 80db.
Sub level on Amp is -9 (Range -10 to +10)
Everything seems okay to about 90db in room (Radioshack SPL Slow-C) but totally unstable at higher volumes.

Room size - 5.8m x 5m
Ceiling height - 2.6m
Ave Room Temp - 25 C / 77 F (summer here now)

Any owners out there in warmer climates having thermal issues with Sub15?

Anyone have any ideas that I can try - My three year warranty expires on the 8th of February but I need something substantial that I can get the dealer/distributor to
test and confirm is an issue.

hi

any one in this thread... need a SUB 12 Rosenut... im selling mine.... did't use much.... i have 2 sub 12.... im only need one... i want to sell my 2nd sub 12...

any interested.... just PM me... im in queens ( NY) i can also ship.... give me your address first...

thanks

Do you still have sub12? If so, is anything wrong with it and do you have pictures?

I was looking at the Sub15, but my dealer has offered me a Sub1 floor model for a very low price. I don't think they're in the same league really, different design, etc., but what are everyone's thoughts here? Has anyone compared them?

I had both in my room and thought the Sub 12 was weak compared to the Sub 1 or my old Mirage bipolar. I did not crank the level, I play all my subs at the correct CALIBRATED level.

Ah, just realized you said Sub 15. Well that would be more interesting, but I never got a chance to see one.

Sub 1 will trounce the Sub 15. It moves significantly more air due to multiple drivers, and will play louder at the 30hz and below range. It is also faster and more musical due to the smaller drivers. If price is close enough to consider the Sub 1, I would definitely get it over the Sub 15... plus you can use it as an end table since it looks like a piece of furniture and is built like a tank!
Edited by boyce89976 - 2/13/13 at 11:08am

The Sub 1 is an outstanding subwoofer and can play with the big boys. I owned a Sub 15 (and servo 15 before that) and now moved to twin JTR S2 subwoofers. As much as I loved my Sub 15, subs like the JTR (and Seaton Submerssive for example) are the next step up in both how musical they are but also in sheer output. My personal issue with Paradigm is they were a good bang for the buck speaker across the whole line up for many years. Heck, I owned various model from 1993 all the way until last year. The price increase of the last few years have just been too much. TO ME, they are no longer a good buy. Still a good speaker...just not a good buy.

Thanks all for the feedback. Dealer is selling the out of box (full warranty) Sub1 for 3299. Still a bit more than the Sub15, but I'm leaning Sub1. It's for a new theater, where I may move my old Esprit Bipolars from the den where they're not really being utilized fully. I still think they sound pretty good. They do tend to be on the bright side, so my thinking is the Sub1 being more musical than the Sub15 would give more than just pure bottom.

Thanks again.

I would lean towards the Sub 1 too, but I always put music before movies when building a system. Music you can trust, with movies there are too many variables.
Edited by AVfile - 2/15/13 at 8:13pm

I called a dealer and they mentioned that the Sub 15 is $3500. Is this true? Did it really go up $1000 since it was introduced?

I did a quick web search and came up with this. I know nothing about the company, but they seem to have good prices. Oddly, some of the prices (like the Sub1) are higher than the retail price.

http://www.newaudiovideo.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=35_34&products_id=9300

Hmmm... have to assume it's USD.
No address.
Blank pages for "About Us, Shipping & Payment, Sales Tax Policy, Online Security, Authentic Dealer".

I would not do business with a company that doesn't even identify itself.