paradigm ps 1000

[Supravista]

Someone gave me a paradigm ps 1000. The woofer is completely encased, with only ports (3) on the side. I understand sub placement is a whole can of worms, but with an enclosure like that, do I face the ports towards a wall where I'm placing it, or towards the listening spots. Again, worms, but generally speaking.

Thanks guys/girls

 

[j_garcia]

Ports are really just for air to move in and out of the cabinet, not to reproduces sound, so generally speaking their orientation shouldn't matter.

 

[Supravista]

I understand they are to move air, but sound does in fact emit from them. With a completely enclose woofer where else would the sound come from??

 

[Seth=L]

I have that same sub, I absolutely suggest facing the ports toward the wall. It's a bandpass enclosure. I've tried it with the ports facing away from the wall and there is a significant difference. Having them near the corner and facing toward the wall loads the hell out of the room.

If you get bored find something to plug all but one of the ports and see if you like what that does for the subwoofer's performance. You'll lose a minute amount of overall output, but it tightens up the bass and the lower frequencies the subwoofer can play become more pronounced. It's fairly impressive for a 10" sub.

 

[Supravista]

Facing a corner? I thought that was a no-no. But definitely going to give it a try!

The thing has output that can shatter my walls, so I'm not too concerned about that. I think the biggest problem is with the mud, somewhere around 100hz I think. Also, coverage throughout the room. I even thought of nabbing a second one for this purpose (Thoughts).

I definitely want to tighten up the base, and I'm am definitely going to try plugging a couple ports.

 

[Seth=L]

I think the biggest problem is with the mud, somewhere around 100hz I think.

Yeah, plugging 2 ports may well rectify that issue.

Facing a corner? I thought that was a no-no. But definitely going to give it a try!

Well, yeah, it kind of is. You get better definition by placing it mid-wall. You'll get more oomph by putting baby in corner.

 

[Supravista]

I'll give it a try. Thanks.

 

[Supravista]

Yeah, plugging 2 ports may well rectify that issue.



Well, yeah, it kind of is. You get better definition by placing it mid-wall. You'll get more oomph by putting baby in corner.

OMG... this is where I snugged it and it sounds INSANELY better. I used excess latex foam from a mattress I'm building to fill two ports. Wow what a difference repositioning and port work did to the setup. The bass is way tight, not muddy at all, and fills the space much more evenly. I can safely set the sub crossover way up to 150 (where it needs to be based on the limited rage of the other speakers) and the stuff from 100 to 150 isn't muddy.

I have to redo some other calibrations, but this made a HUGE difference.

Thanks a ton!

 

[Supravista]

Note: the very low frequencies rumble so hard now. Like, shakes the floor. I feel sorry for my neighbors.

 

[Seth=L]

Guardians of the Galaxy? Great demo material!

Enjoy!

 

[Seth=L]

Note: the very low frequencies rumble so hard now. Like, shakes the floor. I feel sorry for my neighbors.

Yeah, mine is unplugged right now because of that very reason. I'm using a Paradigm PDR-10 in its place until I can figure something out with my arrangement. With the way my room is now arranged the PS-1000 is an all or nothing beast (it's like they accidentally made something far beyond what they expected). It only really works well in one spot and it works a little too well there.

 

[j_garcia]

Sounds like it works well in a specific range? I found a slot loaded sub sounded better with the port facing the corner as well.

Where does the sound come from though? The WOOFER, not the ports some sound does emanate from the port, but this is going to be based on the tuning frequency.

 

[Supravista]

Of course it comes from the woofer, silly. What I mean is, there has to be air movement caused from the movement of the woofer cone for there to be any sound. With an open speaker cabinet , where the front of the woofer is not enclosed, the cone pushes and pulls the air directly in the room. The fluctuation in air waves is what humans perceive as sound. Therefor the manipulation of air from the a port generates sound. If there is no ports, and the the woofer is completely enclosed, the only thing the movement/pressure of the woofer cone has to act on is the cabinet material. And sound would only be produced by the resulting movement of the cabinet material.

Yes? No?

 

[Supravista]

Just to clarify, it's a bandpass box, so the woofer isn't exposed at all. The only connection the woofer has to the air in the room is dem ports.

 

[Supravista]

Sounds like it works well in a specific range? I found a slot loaded sub sounded better with the port facing the corner as well.

Where does the sound come from though? The WOOFER, not the ports some sound does emanate from the port, but this is going to be based on the tuning frequency.

"In a bandpass box design, the woofer no longer plays directly into the listening area. Instead, the entire output of the subwoofer system is produced through the port or ports."

http://www.jlaudio.com/header/Support/Tutorials/Bandpass+Enclosure+Characteristics/Tutorial:+Bandpass+Enclosure+Characteristics/287538

 

[Seth=L]

Where does the sound come from though? The WOOFER, not the ports some sound does emanate from the port, but this is going to be based on the tuning frequency.

What if the woofer is entirely enclosed?

EDIT: Nevermind I see Supra found out for us.

This is what I thought. One time as an "essperrimint" I plugged all three ports. The subwoofer produced a very tiny amount of output that a set of PC speakers could have outgunned. If you plug a typical bass reflex subwoofer you'll certainly lose significant output, but it still has useful output.

 

[j_garcia]

Didn't know this was a bandpass box, so yes, the sound is only coming from the ports. That explains the less than stellar performance in certain ranges and excellent performance in others, since it relies almost entirely on the tuning of the ports.

 

[Seth=L]

Didn't know this was a bandpass box, so yes, the sound is only coming from the ports. That explains the less than stellar performance in certain ranges and excellent performance in others, since it relies almost entirely on the tuning of the ports.

That would explain why it sounds so much better after plugging two of them as well.

 

[j_garcia]

Also explains why placement is important for that sub.

 

[Supravista]

Didn't know this was a bandpass box, so yes, the sound is only coming from the ports. That explains the less than stellar performance in certain ranges and excellent performance in others, since it relies almost entirely on the tuning of the ports.

Precisely (at some point I figured you might not have known it was a bandpass)

Based on the complete reliance on the ports, I didn't know if all the theory I was reading applied with a bandpass design.

But it DOES sound much better with the new placement and after I plugged two ports. Right now the things hammering out ultra lows very smoothly. It's doing very well at and under 80hz, and its rumbling very well in the 40-50hz range.