opinions on Velodyne subs?
 

I just bought a Velodyne subwoofer from Circuit City last night $500. 12" 170Watts. It sounds pretty good so far. What do you guys think of these subs and how do they compare to JBL, Infinity, Bose, etc?

This is probably not what you want to hear but I am going to say it anyways. I purchased a velodyne sub based on the recommendations of many others on audioreview site, it sounded great and the price was right. However, around 9 months into it, it cooked itself. I exchanged it for a new one, and 9 months later, it too went up in a cloud of smoke. Mind you, this was not being overdriven or anything remotely like that. I had the gain on the sub set to less than halfway up, and was not playing it excessively loud. 2 in a row convinced me. I had it repaired under warranty, and immediately traded it in on a Klipsch sub. I haven't looked back since. The Klipsch is now 1 1/2 years old and never gives me any trouble. This has been my personal experience, so you might want to take it with a grain of salt. Ask around the forums and see what everyone else is saying about the velodynes. The reviews always seem to be good. My experience with them sucked.

At $500 I would suggest you consider looking into SVS Subwoofers based on everything I have read about them. If you have any questions you can email them and you will get a response and a very helpful one at that. Look into their PCi line.

Edit: typed one too many "s"es and got hit with pop-up hell. Sorry.

Also, to counter wmunn.. I have had 2 Velodyne's for over 6 years without any issues. But I will go with a SVS when/if I upgrade.

I bought mine from CC also after suggestions by folks here, of course I already had my mind made up, but everyone was very positive in my choice, at which time I went and auditioned a few more. Some more pricey, some more powerful. In the end the Velo sounded the best. I just LOVE mine and CC will let you upgrade within a year so what have you got to loose??? Mine is going on about 4-5 months now, and I haven't had a single problem with it even though I am one of those window shaker, overdrive the sub type of folks. The auto power on/off was my only concern but it has worked flawlessly. I have it hooked directly to the sub-out so I'm not sure how well the crossover does it's job but the sub itself does an excellent job in anyway I have driven it so far!!

Thanks for the replies. Speaking of the Auto ON/Off switch, what does it do? I don't understand what they mean by auto on/off. Also, this sub has a "power on/off" switch. Will leaving th sub turned on all the time damage it in anyway? And what's a good volume to keep it turned at?

Auto on/off is just that, it comes on when it receives a signal and off after a set time of not getting one (not sure what that time is on each). When it is off it runs in idle like a night light.

I don't believe there is any reason not to use the auto on/off unless you rarely use it, conserve energy, etc.

As for volume level, you would want to calibrate it using a SPL meter and one of the calibration disks (the same way you do your others). See the FAQ for more details.

Well there are two different lines to Velodyne.

The F-series are the better ones.

I would second the suggestion to look into SVS subs.

My Velodyne sub has been going strong now for 7 years. no problems whatsoever. It still rattles stuff off of shelves and occasionally a picture. It handles the soundtracks from movies easily and has no problem keeping up with the bass in music. I wouldn't trade mine for anything.

I love my Velo. Handle bass with ease in movies and smooth
bass in music. Absolutely no regrets.

my dad's had his for a few years now without ANY problems. well, its a little weak for the room so now he's upgrading, but its still very nice. (the room is around 400ft2 with 9 ft high ceilings).

but its a great little sub.

Thanks for the advice guys...

I was wondering. There is a switch on the back of the sub that says 0-180 phase. What does this do? Then there is another switch that lets you toggle bewteen "direct" \ internal X-over"(WTF?) Can you tell me which one of these options is best for the sound of the sub? Thanks:)

Re: opinions on Velodyne subs?
 

Infinity - Decent
JBL - Iffy
Bose - Really, really crappy. Not worth a dime.

Velodyne - These are actually really nice subs, at least the ones I have heard, but I think you paid a little much. For a similar price I purchased an Acoustic Research ARS500 (a 15" sub pushed by a 500 watt Carver amp) that really kicks. Another outstanding sub I have heard in action is the NHT SubTwo - two 10" drivers pushed by a 500 watt Carver. Unless you are 100% satisfied with your sub I would consider returning it and trying something else.

I love my Paradigm sub...and a friend has a nice Hsu Research one that kicks pretty well. I also hear that the DIY "Titanic" kit from partsexpress.com is a killer for the price...

Velodyne subs are very nice. You could have easily done worse. The price is a bit high at Circuit City, but probably worth the conveinience if you ned to return your unit in the future. Subs from SVS and HSU are also nice if you want to go the online route.

J

Thanks:)

For those of you that own one, can you please address my quote below?

I assume that the direct is having the receiver set the crossover and the internal uses the crossover built into the sub.

The crossover is the place(in HZ) that the bass is sent to the sub versus going to the speakers. so a 80 Hz crossover would mean that all sound at 80 Hz and below will be routed to the sub and any sound above 80 Hz will go to your speakers.

You will need to know what the specs of your speakers are and then adjust based on that.

If you use the internal crossover all the sound(speaker wires) goes from the receiver to the sub then from the sub to the speakers. If you use the receivers crossover you have the speakers wired directly to the receiver and use the sub output of the receiver to go to your sub.