Paradigm PW600 wireless speaker
MSRP $599.00
“Paradigm’s PW600 reads your room to deliver superior sound quality tailored to your home.”
Avg
-
Great sound, including rich and powerful bass
-
Works with any Play-Fi speaker
-
Elegant design
-
ARC fine melodies sound in every room
Against
-
Picky setting
-
ARC is not compatible with Mac
In the expanding wireless speaker market, DTS’s Play-Fi system is one of the few real challengers to the reign of Sonos and its impressive line of multi-room speakers. Unlike Sonos’ walled garden, which can only connect Sonos-branded speakers, Play-Fi’s open-source approach licenses its Wi-Fi streaming technology to a wide range of manufacturers so you can mix and match speakers throughout your home to suit your needs.
High-end speaker manufacturer Paradigm has added a new member to the Play-Fi family in the PW600. In addition to multi-room Wi-Fi streaming, the Paradigm PW600 has a secret weapon that gives it an edge over many of its competitors: Anthem Room Correction. This feature allows the speaker’s stunning sonic skills to shine regardless of the acoustic shortcomings of your listening room for great sound anywhere – as long as you have a computer close at hand.
Out of the box
The PW600 is a solid 10″ tall 2-way speaker, with a 6.5″ x 5.5″ footprint, meaning it won’t take up as much space, but will still be noticeable. The front grill is a solid black panel, as are the side panels that house the volume, power, and other controls, all of which are LED-backlit. On the back are the usual ports, including power and Ethernet ports and a 3.5mm analog input. Less familiar is a subwoofer output for wiring a separate subwoofer, as well as a left/right/center switch, for assigning speakers to a stereo setup with another PW600.
In-box accessories include a power cable, an Ethernet cable, a pre-calibrated ARC microphone with a mini-USB connector, a USB-mini to USB cable, as well as three setup brochures based on the operating system (iOS, Android, PC), a user manual, and a brochure about setting up Spotify Connect.
Set
We initially had difficulty connecting the speakers to our home network. Although the Ethernet connection is as simple as plugging the included cable into an Internet router, the PW600 took more coaxing than other Play-Fi speakers to connect to our wireless router. After downloading the DTS Play-Fi app and following the instructions, it took a few laps through the process (and a factory reset) to finally get the speaker up and running. We had a similar experience connecting the speakers to our dedicated home theater router in the office, although it was easier and didn’t require a reset. Once connected, however, the speaker played music consistently throughout our testing.
Features and design
Beneath the PW600’s somewhat plain exterior, the speaker houses three drivers in a two-way design, including a five-inch midrange below and dual one-inch ferrofluid-cooled tweeters above. The system is powered by class D amplifiers that pump out a solid 200 W RMS. Dual-band wireless connectivity enables connection at 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz via 802.11g/n, and the speaker supports high-resolution audio at 24 bit/192 kHz. This beats Sonos’ CD-quality resolution limit (16bit/44.1kHz), which might appeal to those with a computer or storage drive loaded with hi-res tracks.
As mentioned, the speaker can be paired with another PW600 for true stereo sound. The switch on the back must then be turned from the central position to the left or right to indicate the individual channels. A subwoofer output also lets you add a powered subwoofer to your party. Additionally, the PW600 includes a significant step forward that can elevate your listening experience from just “good” to “excellent” in the form of Anthem Room Correction.
Anthem of a generation
The main feature of the PW600, Anthem Room Correction (ARC) adapts the speaker to its acoustic environment to achieve the best possible reproduction quality. We’ve been vocal in the past about our admiration for Anthem’s correction technology, which works by measuring the sound in a room with a specially calibrated microphone and then making corrections based on the acoustic anomalies it detects. Although the process is prone to flaws, Paradigm/Anthem’s process still reigns supreme, delivering desired results time and time again.
Anthem Room Correction can take your listening experience from “good” to “great”.
For the PW600, the process involves connecting the included ARC microphone to a Windows computer, then moving the microphone to different locations in the room while the speaker emits tone. The microphone picks up the tone and the data is processed by your computer with a third-party ARC program, allowing the speaker to adjust the sound through digital equalization. The PW600’s ARC technology is simpler and slightly more modern than what you’ll find in a full-featured Anthem receiver, but it can still achieve impressive correction quality. We’ll talk more about this in the performance section below.
However, there is one major caveat, and that is the lack of Mac compatibility. The only way to use the ARC features if you’re a Mac user is to boot your hard drive to install Windows as a secondary OS – a completely unnecessary and tedious operation if you only need Windows for ARC. While ARC is impressive, the lack of Mac support shuts off a good portion of the PW 600’s potential users from its best feature.
Play-Fi application
While the Play-Fi app is an impressive way to connect speakers from different manufacturers like the Martin Logan to Polk Audio, it leaves something to be desired when it comes to versatility and ease of use. Like Sonos, Play-Fi supports Amazon Prime Music, Pandora and Spotify, as well as streaming from media hubs on your network or audio content on your mobile device. Absent, however, are Apple Music and Google Play Music, both of which are supported by Sonos.
The app’s interface is also a bit clunky, making grouping multiple speakers more work than it should be. The desktop version of the app is simpler but more restrictive, only allowing playback on one speaker at a time, and you’ll need a $15 upgrade to sync audio playback with video.
On the other hand, switching between multiple speakers in the mobile app is easy — just tap the name of the speaker you want to control. Delegating different speakers to play content from separate services is also easy (and convenient), done by tapping the speaker and selecting the app of choice. We were also able to group the PW600 together with the Polk Audio Omni S6 and listen to the same music at different ends of the house.
Performance
Out of the box, the PW600’s bass response was punchy and a bit overpowering, drowning out the mids, especially on heavier guitar tracks or hip-hop. This is not to say that the bass sounded bad – it was tight and powerful – there was just too much of it and it affected the overall balance of the music. Take a song like the Chance the Rapper one No problem for example, which features lots of sampled choruses and a subtle melody in the high end. Those subtler elements were overshadowed by the PW600’s bass and lower mids, and highs (such as cymbal hits) sounded washed out.
The PW600 handles heavier music genres with impressive power, especially in the bass.
We then proceeded to calibrate the PW600’s EQ with ARC and were amazed at the results. Once we ran the process, the PW600’s woofers tamed and tightened, revealing the previously crowded and muffled mids and highs. Those previously hidden elements were more easily recognizable and helped add texture to the mix.
The PW600’s $600 price tag puts it in direct competition with Sonos’ impressive PLAY:5 ($500). Comparing it side-by-side, the PW600 is slightly outmatched by the Sonos Play:5, especially in terms of balance in the mix. The gap in quality between these two speakers is less obvious when ARC is factored in. However, there are some very clear differences. The upper register of the Sonos PLAY:5 offers a warmer touch and better detail than the PW600, while the PW600 boasts a fuller bass. We noticed a much more subtle playing of a song like that of Run the Jewel DDFH on the PLAY:5, but the PW600 handles heavier genres like death metal with more pizzazz. Everything is still heard through the Sonos, but the PW600 offers more oomph.
Our download
A few quibbles about the Play-Fi app aside, the Paradigm PW600 is a fantastic piece of equipment, and the versatility of the Play-Fi brand might make it worth the somewhat clunky app interface. The incompatibility of the ARC software with the Mac is a significant drawback, but even without the fine-tuning offered by ARC, the PW600 is a great-sounding speaker.
Is there a better alternative?
The Sonos PLAY:5 is an obvious alternative, and the PW600 falls short in certain aspects of sound performance (albeit minimally). However, we enjoyed the more powerful bass of the PW600, as well as the versatility of adapting to the acoustic environment. While Sonos’ Play:5 is better than the PW600 when it comes to ease of use and overall sound quality, those looking for a speaker that adapts better to changing environments will want to give the PW600 a shot.
How long will it last?
With the superior build and sound quality you’d expect from Paradigm, the PW600 should last a long time. It can also be mixed and matched with any other Play-Fi speakers, allowing it to easily stay in your wireless speaker setup even if you decide to switch brands – provided you choose one of the many Play-Fi partners, i.e. adding Anthem Room Correction means the PW600 can easily transition to new locations.
Should you buy it?
If you’re looking for serious versatility with premium sound, yes. With ARC and Play-Fi, the PW600 can adapt to any room and connect to a wide range of speaker options, making it one of the most adaptable speakers on the market. But when it comes to overall sound quality and ease of use, Sonos’ Play:5 is still the speaker to beat.
Editor’s recommendations
Categories: GAMING
Source: newstars.edu.vn