Paradigm PDR-10
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CNET Editors' Review
The good: Hot-blooded sub; 10-inch woofer; built-in 100-watt amplifier.
The bad: Limited connectivity options.
The bottom line: This powerful sub is the ideal partner for Paradigm's well-respected satellites.
Not so long ago, subwoofers had it easy. All they had to do was dish out down-low muscle for home theaters. But nowadays, they're also called on to provide tight and musical bass accompaniment for SACDs and DVD-Audio discs. Paradigm's $349 sub, the ambidextrous PDR-10, can do it all.
Cosmetically, the PDR-10 is nothing special. The midsize cabinet measures 14.25 inches high, 13.5 inches wide, and 16 inches deep, and it's finished in vinyl-wrapped light cherry, rosenut, or black ash--all pretty standard fare for a budget sub. However, the unit's 33-pound heft tells you ... Expand full review
Not so long ago, subwoofers had it easy. All they had to do was dish out down-low muscle for home theaters. But nowadays, they're also called on to provide tight and musical bass accompaniment for SACDs and DVD-Audio discs. Paradigm's $349 sub, the ambidextrous PDR-10, can do it all.
Cosmetically, the PDR-10 is nothing special. The midsize cabinet measures 14.25 inches high, 13.5 inches wide, and 16 inches deep, and it's finished in vinyl-wrapped light cherry, rosenut, or black ash--all pretty standard fare for a budget sub. However, the unit's 33-pound heft tells you that Paradigm spent the money where it counts.
While most subwoofer manufacturers make do with generic, off-the-shelf amplifiers, the Canada-based Paradigm designs and builds its own fully discrete, high-power, and high-current amps; the PDR-10's delivers 100 watts. The company also crafts this sub's 10-inch woofer and cabinet. In a $349 model, all of this is a really big deal. By eliminating subcontractors' margins, Paradigm keeps the quality up and the prices down.
Flanking the rear-mounted port are the onboard amplifier's finned heat sink and a no-frills connectivity contingent that includes a single line-level RCA input and a pair of wire-clip speaker-level ins. Surprisingly, Paradigm left out a phase-reversal switch, but you can work around that omission by manually swapping the satellites' positive and negative speaker leads. Keeping your sub and your sats in phase is simple enough and vital to their synchronization. Another nitpick: The PDR-10's grille is nonremovable.
A subwoofer's performance isn't all about bass prowess--a sub stands or falls on its ability to blend with satellites. We evaluated the PDR-10 with a bunch of small speakers: Energy's little Take 5.2s, NHT's SB-1s, and Paradigm's very own Atoms.
On our test jazz CDs, we really heard the stand-up basses--instruments, not just booming sounds. Pitch definition was excellent; bass textures and "air" came across well. And boy oh boy, at the opening of Led Zeppelin's "Since I've Been Loving You," the rolling thunder of John Paul Jones's bass line fully exercised the PDR-10's woofer. As for full-tilt home-theater bombast, the Saving Private Ryan DVD shook our listening room with a vengeance. In other words, this sub is equally adept with music and home-theater hijinks. Hide Review
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Ex-movie theater projectionist Steve Guttenberg has also worked as a high-end audio salesman, and as a record producer. Steve currently reviews audio products for CNET and works as a freelance writer for Home Theater, Inner Fidelity, Tone Audio, and Stereophile. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET.
User Reviews
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Showing 3 of 4 reviews
"Quality and Longevity" By bigal9000
Pros: Good performance, great build quality
Cons: Minimal Controls, only 100W
Summary: I've had a PDR-10 model since 1997, and it's still going strong. Looking at pictures and specs of new ones, it hasn't changed much if any. It has been kicked around all through college, and about 10 apartment moves. You could probably get bigger thump out of ... Expand full review
"this sub is a testimate to paradigm's quality, engineering and value" By paradigmrules
Pros: cheap, clean, tight, accurate, not boomy at all
Cons: only goes down to 27 hertz, which really is more then low enough for 90% of the music out there
Summary: i cant tell people enough how much i love this sub...and i think for the most part it speeks for itself...u just have to hear and u will want it...
its no seismic 10 but its like 4 times cheaper and nothing in the PDR-10's price range ... Expand full review
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