Price Paid:  $400.00 from used

Summary:
I love Paradigm PS-1200.

I had a PS-1200 version 2 for a couple of years, on loan from a friend while he was living in a smaller home with no space for it. It was in a stereo only system - no surround - music was the main application. Also on loan were Dunlavy SCIII main speakers ($5000!) powered by Conrad Johnson. It was a great system. I'm a musician, audio engineer, and music enthusiast and I loved hearing music so clearly.

I returned the system to my buddy a year ago when he moved into a larger house. I decided to finally go with surround. I went out and bought a used Paradigm system with Monitor 7 front end (older version), CC70 center, PDR-10 sub, and crappy no-name surrounds. I recently replaced the surrounds with Jamo E600.

The PDR-10 sounded nice, but seemed outclassed by the rest of my system. It was good for HT and video games, but high volume listening for music, it seemed to be limited, I sounded strained. I decided I needed something bigger so I bought a Klipsch 12' downfiring sub (model # forgotten but not high end). It was nice, but not much better than the Paradigm PDR-10 so it went back to the store. I decided to go with what I knew: that PS-1200 I has used previously was my target.

I found a used PS-1200 Version 3 on Craigslist. I plugged it in tonight and it is exactly what I need. It feels right and sounds good at all listening levels from quiet to blazingly loud.

I think the closed box design keeps it sounding pretty tight and punchy while the 12 inch size gives beefy bottom. The Klipsch I had seemed to ring a bit, it seemed less controlled, less musical.The heavy weight of teh PS-1200 probably helps keep it tight.

I see many reviewers say PS-1200 sounds good for HT but not music. I love mine for music. I wonder if people's experience depends on their room, placement, crossover, front end, etc. HT is less important to me. Now my Monitor 7's are outclassed by my sub. I would recommend this sub to anyone, as long as their main speakers were reasonably up to the task.

Strengths:
Great sound for music and home theatre. Deep and punchy. Good at any listening level. All the connections that are pretty standard on any decent subwoofer. It's Heavy.

Weaknesses:
It's Heavy.

Price Paid:  $632.00 from 1300 Portage

Summary:
I have always wanted a sub because of the music i listen to.I have an uncle who has had a ps-1000 for a few years now and i always liked the bass it delivered.
i looked at a few subs but found this one to my best likeing plus paradigm is a reputable company and its canadain. also there warranty is very good.

and in this price range it couldn't be beat.
i only use this sub for music no HT and would recommend it.

makes my living space feel like the club.
i got the sub going with a pair of old philips deforest speakers and they compliment each other well.

Strengths:
loud defined bass good for techno and rap and country and heavy metal .
only gets better with age.
gives a desent vibration massage when needed.

Weaknesses:
very hard to posistion and to get in phase with my speakers.
had to move my cd player because of the vibration.

Similar Products Used:
ps-1000
jbl 8" sub
two 12" type R's

Price Paid:  $600.00 from Stereo Showcase

Summary:
I have had this sub since 98 (purchased new) and I have upgraded around it with B&W's 800 series speakers. I don't dare upgrade this sub.....Why should I? It still rocks the basement and sounds great while listening to 1812 overture, What else can I say?

Strengths:
Deep Deep bass. Great value

Weaknesses:
Not big enough:) If you want to move air and sound clean doing it, mass is the only way to go. Small subs don't compete.

Similar Products Used:
Never owned any other sub but I have heard them in show rooms and friends houses and I never have had the urge to upgrade!

Price Paid:  $540.00 from Canada HiFi

Summary:
I have nothing bad to say about this sub. It looks great, it's built well, I love the heavy wood shell and sound great.
I have the volume set relatively low, I set up my speakers and sub using a sound meter(75db). I know can crank this baby up and it's a ground shaker.
I had a little trouble setting it up with my Titans. I couldn't seem to get a good sat/sub phase, at least I wasn't happy with it.
It's great now, I am more pleased with it's sound playing music over movies?
I have heard people say the opposite.

Strengths:
Great bass
Good price
Sturdy well built
Made in Canada

Weaknesses:
Large, need a good room to place it.(It's not a problem really but need to write something)

Price Paid:  $600.00 from Stéréo Plus

Summary:
THIS IS FOR THE 2004 PS-1200 V4

When I went at some stores (5-6 different), I heard quite a lot of subs. They were some that had a very good bass quality when u hear at them but when I heard the PS-1200, I wasn't only hearing bass but I was feeling it! This huge monster delivers serious bass performance. I think it's been built to achieve 2 things: destruct houses and give heart attack to your grand-ma! I would say that for a 12' sub, it's very tight but most of all, it can go extremely low and deep. That's the kind of bass that shakes your heart. In the V4, I never heard any humming sound of any kind, I think it was a problem of the older versions. I would say this sub is for people who listen about 60%/40% movies/music. If your a music audiophile only, you may go with the PS-1000 which is a little faster, but for movies, nothing compares to the PS-1200. You will fall of your chair when T-Rex runs after you in Jurassic Park! I need to say that the PS-1200 is still extremely precise for a 12' in music. Last thing, it goes so low that you can put it on the left or right or whatever, it's very difficult to say where the bass is coming from when you close your eyes, nice envelopping effect. Before buying this sub, I heard other brands like: Energy (ok), Polk Audio (good), B & W (very good), Mordaunt-Short (extremely good for speakers but not for subs), Sony (should have burned it so no one can lose his money with this piece of sh**) and PSB (good one). Nothing compares to the PS-1200 for the price for a 60/40 movies/music listener!

So be prepared to have to reconstruct your house when you use it to it's full limits (which seems quite hard to find!)

Strengths:
Ground shaking effect
Extremely deep and low
Low cost for the quality
Solid construction
No humming sound

Weaknesses:
Throw the pictures off the walls! :)

Similar Products Used:
for the price range, nothing compares!