Price Paid:  $1500.00 from Dealer

Summary:
I agree with the former reviewer and the “hum” problem. When I first got mine; it hummed so bad I sent it back to the dealer (5 hours away I might add) they said it worked fine and sent it back. It still hummed. The dealer suggested it was a wiring issue and that I should have a “dedicated’ circuit. $ 300 spent on the electrician putting in a dedicated circuit and it still had the hum.

At this point I tried it out on 2 other residences at friend’s places. Still had the hum. I finally got fed up; the dealer was useless and I parked it in storage out of sheer frustration. Recently decided to give it another try. Now it still humms; however the remote power trigger no longer functions. When manually turned on it powers up, but no sound. Basically it was a $ 1500 piece of garbage and it will be the last Paradigm prodcut I ever buy.

On my next trip to the dealer I think I will drop it off to get it “fixed”. Maybe it can be “fixed” now that the warranty is up and it is on my dime. Who knows. I just want something that works.

Strengths:
Compact size.
Very adjustable

Weaknesses:
See desc. Build quality and electrical issues galore.

Similar Products Used:
Velodyne, Boston, SVS, Cerwin-Vega, Mirage.

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Price Paid:  $1500.00

Summary:
An incredible subwoofer, or at least another incredible subwoofer, finally, that can be intended for music. Paradigm did an incredible job creating a subwoofer that is extremely tight, and integrates very nicely with fast speakers.

Strengths:
Very tight, plenty of power and then some, phase alignment, contour (best set at flat) and there are balanced inputs. Build quality is nice too. For those whom love music, you may know the Vandersteen 2W is outstanding because it is indeed so fast. For years, it has paired well Magnepan planars. I have 3.5R's and I had an older Vandersteen, and it was time for something different in my new listening room. I chose the Paradigm for several reasons: 1.) Power is not a problem (300Watt Vandersteen vs. 1200 with lower harmonic distortion on the Paradigm) 2.) I can actually use a high end Interconnect rather than parallel speaker wire designs the Vandersteen has, and 3.) The music - the paradigm, when set correctly, gives you music, and not the boom. It has Home theatre capabilites beyong my knowledge, my interest lies within 2 channel audio, and this subwoofer is impressive. I cross it over at 40, and let the Maggies do the rest. It's CERTAINLY worth an audition, at the very least.

Weaknesses:
Well, there seems to be an issue with these things having a 60Hz hum, not comming from the speaker, but rather the amplifier. I have a newer home and a dedicated circuit, and still, there must be a ground loop problem somewhere in the house. Once I find it, the hum should be eliminated, but this is the first time i've experienced a hum in my system. I've seen other complaints on this issue, something Paradigm should take into consideration, which I'm sure they are aware of. I've since corrected the issue, and it's perfect.

Similar Products Used:
Vandersteen 2Wq Subwoofer