The P3 fits into a standard cutout for a 12" subwoofer. This is great for a cast-frame sub, because it will fit into most pre-made enclosures, making the P3 very installer-friendly. A heavy-duty trim ring gives the P3 an ultra-clean look-very distinctive. I popped the sub into a 1.1ft3 enclosure and wired its dual 2-ohm voice coils in series to achieve a 4-ohm load. At this load my strapped reference amplifiers are capable of delivering in excess of 1,000 watts of RMS to the P3. The built-in crossovers and subsonic filters of the amplifiers were bypassed. An Alpine PXA-H701 processor was used to set levels and to actively divide the frequency range to all of the speakers.
Listening Session
Randy Newman Lonely at the Top
I started with some old-school recordings from Randy Newman's Lonely at the Top album. Newman's early music is pretty sparse, with minimal bass information. This would be a test of the P3's sensitivity and accuracy for use. On the oldest stuff like "Mama Told Me (Not to Come)" and "Political Science," the P3 was fast and tight with no overhang on the bass line. Note changes were very audible and the bass guitar and bass drum were clearly defined from one another. Even on "Short People," where there are more layers to the bass line, all of the instruments were plainly discernable with clear note shifts.
Score: 7.5/10
Lenny Kravitz Believe in Me
Shifting to a more modern male vocal recording, I slipped in Lenny Kravitz' Believe in Me. The impact was good, but I immediately heard a "boxiness" to the bass notes that I did not like. There was an overtone to the bass notes that just wasn't right. I moved the enclosure to see if the tonal problems were related to its environment. Once I got the enclosure onto my trunk's floor with the subwoofer loading into the B-pillar and rear seat padding, the overtones were eliminated and the P3 no longer sounded boxy. In most installations, the P3 would either be installed in the trunk of a car or behind the seat of a truck. In both of these installations this situation most likely wouldn't occur. With the P3 relocated, the deep bass notes, tonal shifts and clothes-shaking impact in the music were back to being fabulous.
Score: 8.5/10
Diana Krall Love Scenes
The tonality was so good listening to Diana Krall's Love Scenes album that I found myself fiddling around with the head unit controls, playing with the balance and levels and completely forgetting that I was evaluating a sub. In other words, I like the way the P3 sounded; it was doing a great job. I was completely relaxed and in "enjoyment mode" as I let the music consume me. The big string bass note shifts were great. You could hear the musician moving up and down the neck of the bass while the kick drum from the drum kit was tight and punchy. Imaging was very good and the impact response was excellent with no blubber-just hard-hitting impact.
Score: 8/10
Lyle Lovett Joshua Judges Ruth
I love DTS 5.1 recordings. With that in mind I listened to Lyle Lovett's DVD-A of Joshua Judges Ruth, a wonderful recording where you can hear all kinds of details in the music. The bass drum hits sharp and taut. The bass guitar was tight and sounded luscious. The P3 was very impressive in its ability to reproduce note shifts and tonality of each instrument.
Score: 8/10
Bach "Air"
Finishing up I went with another DTS 5.1 recording, Bach's "Air" off Suite No. 3 in D Major. The bowing of the big string bass was deep, smooth, sustained and well controlled. The plucking was fast and tight. As with all of the music I listened to on the P3, the note shifts were fantastic. Again, I enjoyed the music and had a good time with the P3 bumping along.
Score: 8/10