Paradigm DSP-3400 14-inch Powered Subwoofer - Product Review and Rating

The Paradigm DSP-3400 Powered Subwoofer delivers powerful, clear, tight, and undistorted deep bass response from the combination of its large front facing 14-inch driver, dual front ports, and 300 watts of continuous power from its built-in amplifier. In addition, the DSP-3400 offers an array of controls that allow the user to tweak the performance parameters to specific room environments and listening tastes. To find out whether this subwoofer is right for your system, keep on reading...

Here are the features and specifications for the Paradigm DS-3400:

1. Design: bass-reflex, built-in amplifier, dual high-velocity low-turbulence resistive ports, 14-inch diameter single driver.

2. Amplifier Output: 300 watts RMS Sustained/900 watts Dynamic Peak.

3. The Amplifier Design Features Automatic On/Off function - when you turn rest of system on, the subwoofer is active

4. Low Frequency Extension down to 19 Hz. Subwoofer Cutoff Frequency Variable 35 Hz - 150 Hz; Bypass option.

5. Bass Driver (14 inches) CAP™ Carbon/Aramid-Fiber Polypropylene Cone, ceramic/ferrite magnet, 4-layer voice-coil.

6. Input Connections:

Low Level Input (Line Input) - This subwoofer features a stereo low-level input. However, if you only have a single subwoofer line output on your receiver (which is the most common), you can simply use an RCA Y-adapter to connect the single line to the DSP-3400.

High Level Speaker Inputs - Left/right speaker connections from receivers or amplifiers that do not have a dedicated subwoofer line output can be connected to the DSP-3400's Speaker Level Input connections.

7. The included controls are as follows:

Subwoofer Level Control - This allows you to set the subwoofer volume output. This is also commonly referred to as a Gain Control.

Subwoofer Cut-Off Frequency Control - This control sets the point at which you want the subwoofer to produce low frequency sounds, against the ability of the satellite speakers to reproduce low frequency sounds. This control is also commonly referred to as a Crossover Control. This control is defeatable if using the subwoofer crossover control on a Receiver.

Phase Control - This control matches the in/out subwoofer driver motion to the satellite speakers. This control is continuously variable from 0 to 180 degrees.

8. Dimensions: Height 22-1/4 in (56.5 cm), Width 15-3/4 in (40 cm), Depth 20-15/16 in (53.2 cm), Weight: 64.8lb (29.40kg).

9. Finishes Available: Cherry, Rosenut, Black Ash

10. Suggested Price: $899

For an additional close-up look the features and connections of the Paradigm DSP-3400, check out my supplementary Photo Gallery

Set-up and Installation

For this review, I opted for the common subwoofer pre-out connection available from several Home Theater Receivers (see Hardware section of this review) that is used in the majority of home theater setups.

Also, I placed the subwoofer in the front of the room, just to the right of the front right channel speaker in each of the home theater systems used.

The DSP-3400 was tested in two rooms with the following dimensions: 20ft x 15ft, and 12ft x 12ft.

The next step was to hear how the subwoofer sounded in its "straight-out-of-box" default settings. Although I was getting powerful and deep bass repsonse, it was apparent that futher adjustment was needed, as outlined in the DSP-3400 User Manual.

Home Theater Receivers: the Onkyo TX-SR705 7.1 Receiver (used in 5.1 channel mode), Harman Kardon AVR147 (5.1 channels) .

DVD players: OPPO Digital DV-983H and OPPO Digital DV-980HD Upscaling DVD players with DVD-Audio/SACD playback capability.

Blu-ray Disc/HD-DVD Players: Toshiba HD-XA1 HD-DVD player, Sony BDP-S1 Blu-ray Player, and LG BH100 Blu-ray/HD-DVD Combo player.

Loudspeaker setups used with the DSP-3400:

System #1: Klipsch F2s, 2 Klipsch B-3s, Klipsch C-2 Center .

System #2: 2 JBL Balboa 30's, JBL Balboa Center Channel, 2 JBL Venue Series 5-inch Monitor speakers.

Additional Subwoofers used for Comparison: Klipsch Synergy Sub10 Powered Subwoofer , Polk Audio PSW10 Powered Subwoofer.

16 Gauge Speaker Wire was used in all setups

TV/Monitors: A Westinghouse Digital LVM-37w3 1080p LCD Monitor, Syntax LT-32HV 32-inch LCD TV.

All Displays were calibrated using SpyderTV Software.

Audio/Video connections were made with Accell, Cobalt, and AR Interconnect cables.

Level checks for speaker setups were done using a Radio Shack Sound Level Meter

Blu-ray Disc soundtracks used included scenes from the following: Alien vs Predator: Requiem, Across The Universe, Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, The Witch, and Wardrobe, Cloverfield, Crank, I Robot, Master and Commander, Ratatouille, and Shakira - Oral Fixation Tour.

HD-DVD soundtracks used included Scenes from the following: 300, Batman Begins, Beowulf, Bourne Ultimatum, Serenity, and Transformers.

Standard DVD soundtracks used included scenes from the following: House of the Flying Daggers, The Cave, Kill Bill - Vol 1/2, V For Vendetta, U571, Lord of Rings Trilogy, and Master and Commander

For audio only, various CDs included: The Beatles - LOVE, Blue Man Group - The Complex, Eric Kunzel - 1812 Overture, HEART - Dreamboat Annie, Joshua Bell - Bernstein - West Side Story Suite, Lisa Loeb - Firecracker, Nora Jones - Come Away With Me, and Spyro Gyra- Collection.

DVD-Audio discs included: Queen - Night At The Opera/The Game, Eagles - Hotel California, and Medeski, Martin, and Wood - Uninvisible, Sheila Nicholls - Wake.

SACD discs used included: Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon, Steely Dan - Gaucho, The Who - Tommy.

Content on CD-R/RWs was also used.

Proceed to Page 2: Evaluation, Pros, Con, and Final Take