Test Report: Paradigm MilleniaOne Speakers & MilleniaSub Subwoofer Page 2

Setup

Attaching the MilleniaOne satellites to the table stands or the wall mounts is a no-tools task. Robust spring clips hold speaker cables firmly in place, but they work only with bare-wire connections. I placed all of the speakers on stands, 8 inches to 1 foot from the walls behind them.

The MilleniaSub proved just as easy to deal with. I stood it vertically on its stand and shoved it up against the wall in my room’s “subwoofer sweet spot.” Flush-mounted controls on the side let me set the volume level, bypass the internal crossover, and adjust the phase.

An RCA jack on the bottom of the sub is the sole input — but I didn’t use it because Paradigm also supplied its PT-2 wireless transmitter ($149). Once I connected the transmitter to the subwoofer output on my Denon receiver, hit the transmitter’s Sync button, and plugged in the MilleniaSub, the two instantly connected.

A USB jack connects the MilleniaSub to a computer so that you can use Paradigm’s optional $299 Perfect Bass Kit, a calibrated microphone with computer software that equalizes the MilleniaSub’s response to suit your room’s acoustics. After listening with the MilleniaSub for a couple of weeks, I eventually pulled out the PBK. Suffice it to say the PBK worked well; for details, check out the extended measurements here.

Paradigm doesn’t specify an optimum crossover frequency for the Millenia system. Considering the little 4-inch woofer and the small enclosure, I chose 120 Hz as my crossover point. This relatively high crossover point often results in the bottom frequencies of male voices emerging from the subwoofer sounding bloated, boomy, and annoyingly indistinct. But this problem didn’t emerge, possibly because of the MilleniaSub’s excellent upper-bass response.

The MilleniaOne’s magnetized grilles look really slick — which is a shame because I recommend you throw them in the trash. The speakers look nicer without them, and the grilles cause a mild dip in response between 6 and 12 kHz that saps a bit of the MilleniaOne’s vigor.

 

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