So I got a last minute booking for a boat party last night and didn't feel like bringing my 15" sub due to narrow staircases and such so I decided to give the new 12" Parasource sub a try as it was only $14 to rent at my local shop.

Listed Specs:

1800 watt peak / 900 watt RMS

Max SPL: 129db

Freq range +/-3db: 45Hz - 100hz

Weight: 65 lbs

Size: D/H/W: 23" x 22" x 14"

Cost: $1099USD (retail)

First thing that I noticed was the shape - most subs I'm used to are either closer to a cube shape (like JBL PRX subs) or a flattish square (like KW181s). This one looks like a long, squat rectangle. Dimension-wise, it's closest to the DXS12.

At 65 lbs, it's not the lightest thing in the world, but because it's such a skinny sub, it's very easy to move around because you can get your hands on both handles easily unlike wider subs that are awkward to carry with just one person. Got it up and down stairs with minimal effort although it's definitely got a heft to it.

Fired it up during soundcheck and I'll have to say I was impressed. For such a compact box, it put out clean, that was surprisingly loud and deep. Could definitely feel the bass as opposed to just hearing it and the long-throw driver easily filled the empty room with bass.

Paired it with my Yamaha DXR10s had everything basically at unity and it sounded and felt pretty balanced. When I turned everything up, I had to pump the sub up a bit more, but it was loud and I never saw the limit hit even once. Because I didn't have too many details for the party, I was just told there would be 100-150 there. Assumed it was just a christmas party with not everyone expected on the dancefloor so I figured the 12" should be enough. Ended up, it was more of a college party-type deal and pretty much all 150 packed in the small room and were all dancing. I was nervous because I didn't expect a single 12" to be able to keep up, but everything sounded great and balanced, although i didn't have too many chances to walk around the room while I was DJing. Room wasn't too large and it had very low ceilings so that probably helped a bit.

Was playing mainly top40, EDM, and hip hop. Most of it sounded great paired with my Yamaha's although some of the low, low notes did struggle.

Placement wasn't optimal - just put the sub under the table so I didn't have it wall or corner loaded.

Likes:

Sound quality: really clean sound. I've had the same experience with the bigger PS15S sub. While not the lowest sub in the world (45hz limit), it goes lower than most of the competition in terms of compact 12" subs. The Ksub is listed at 44hz at +/-10 db which means it's probably closer to 48 or 49 at +/- 3db (they don't list it) and is larger and heavier. The ZXA-1 sub is like 53hz and doesn't get anywhere near as loud. The Yorkville LS200P is loud, but bottoms out at 50hz. The DXS12 lists at 47hz for +/- 10 and is 8 lbs heavier.

Throw: the long-throw driver really delivers. Can really feel the bass even near the back of the room. You won't be powered gyms or anything with these, but for most wedding style gigs, they would probably be plenty.

Size/weight: Although only 10 lbs lighter than my 15" NX720S subs, the small size makes it much more manageable

Dislikes:

Mixer section: The back/mixer section of the Parasource subs aren't anywhere as robust as the Elite series. All you get is a single XLR input and output, and a single 1/4" input and output pairing, and a volume knob. No adjustable high freq cutoff or boost knob like in the Elites.

Crossover: It's also has a fixed cutoff at 100 hz which I kind of felt a little steeper than most curves as higher bass notes tended to play much quieter than low notes. I've never had this issue with my NX720Ss.

Low notes: Definitely struggled a bit with low, low notes - when I was playing stuff like Drake - Started From the Bottom, or Major Lazer - Bubble Butt, you could definitely hear it bottoming out at high volumes.

Price: At $1099 retail, it's more expensive than the ksub, but I'd say it's a much better sub that's smaller and lighter, goes lower, and throws a lot further. I'll bet some of you haggling masters could get a better deal on them though.

Overall thoughts: Very impressed with the performance of such a compact sub. One or two of these paired with some good 8" tops like DXR8s or QSC K8s would probably be a banging system at a very small size and weight footprint. I would wager you could easily do a 200+ party with a pair for a wedding style gig with bass you can actually feel (as opposed to a ZXA1 system).

Only thing that makes me hesitate would be the price as you can get bigger, louder subs for less (like say the EKX15 or 18). But for those looking for a small-size, compact sub that really bumps, I don't think anything else on the market comes close right now at that price range.