Ben

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.56 of 5, 9.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
Not much at writing reviews but I wanted to let you know, as your considering this Sub, just do it!! I have a room with one wall that is made of glass - sliding double door and a large plate glass window thats on an angle. It used to be the door out to the patio which was converted to family room years ago when the only people with 'Home Theaters' were really rich and in Hollywood. This room has to be a terrible room for acoustics. I've a set of B&W 9nt floorstanders and used a DD-10 prior with them with terrific results. The EQ tamed the room and I was absolutely amazed how much better a sub it was then the one it replaced. I was a very happy camper.
Then the opportunity came to obtain (obtain is a good word, as if I 'obtained' the Hope DIamond) a DD-18 at a great price so I did. This was over WAF objections based on size (in a word, BiG) and need - as in Didn't.

Once this amazing piece of gear was installed and tuned to my room and speaker set up. I immediately knew this 'acquisition' was THE best upgrade to my gear I could ever make. It totally transformed my existing speaker set to something rivaling sound made by ones I've heard at three or four times the price. Rock solid low end so musical but never drawing attention to itself. It blends. Blends into the room (WAF isn't an issue, turns out my wife is a bit of a BassHead plus it just sits in the corner and behaves itself untill called upon by a dynamic LFE track) and into my gear so well. The sub seems to just fill in the lower end that was missing and give such a firm base (or Bass?) to my gear.

I can tell you too my neighbor, an recording studio engineer of some note, now has one too! He isn't easily impressed by anything audio having spent so much time in the studio. He laughs at my esoteric cables and the lenghts I go to making my room sound right. But, he bought this too because it also transformed his existing gear to a rather high level of competance.

For both of us, this sub is expensive at retail and probably costs more then our speaker sets. I know it does mine. But what it does to them is simply amazing. And, when watching movies, this sub will make my couch move - and its on a concrete floor!!

If your at all adept at these things, the set-up isn't that complicated now with the version 2 software. It equalizes itself to the room. For most, that is suffcient. However, if you've the means to spend 5 large on it, you may want to also spend a couple bucks with an installer to have it set-up just right so you get the most out of your purchase. With prices used (always wondered why ANYONE would sell off one of these unless it is to get a DD 1812!) on various sites around 3 large, it will save you plenty, so again you may want a pro to set it up. Velodyne does have excellent customer support on this product and are easy to get ahold of.

This review may be weak if you wanted technical stuff but I really wanted to let you know how satisfied I am with this product. Adding it up, my other speakers cost $4300 at retail (5.1 system) so this ONE thing costs more (at reatail) BUT worth every penny for me! Consider this, many will spend really big bucks on cables, power cords, power conditioners and the like... Don't!!!!!!! Buy this instead. None of that other stuff with have anywhere near the impact on your system as a great sub and this has to be one of the very best.

Strengths:
Blends seamlessly into any system.
Limitless power, never strains, always gives you more then you ever expected watching movies.
Flawless Fit and Finish. Black gloss finish on mine that Stienway would be jealous of.

Big and heavy.

Weaknesses:
Big and heavy.

Whimpy power cord included in box! But that made a great upgrade to my wife's toaster in the kitchen. Our toast now pops up with real authority along with low octave highs that melt butter.

Similar Products Used:
DD-10
Klipsh 10"

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
Not much at writing reviews but I wanted to let you know, as your considering this Sub, just do it!! I have a room with one wall that is made of glass - sliding double door and a large plate glass window thats on an angle. It used to be the door out to the patio which was converted to family room years ago when the only people with 'Home Theaters' were really rich and in Hollywood. This room has to be a terrible room for acoustics. I've a set of B&W 9nt floorstanders and used a DD-10 prior with them with terrific results. The EQ tamed the room and I was absolutely amazed how much better a sub it was then the one it replaced. I was a very happy camper.
Then the opportunity came to obtain (obtain is a good word, as if I 'obtained' the Hope DIamond) a DD-18 at a great price so I did. This was over WAF objections based on size (in a word, BiG) and need - as in Didn't.

Once this amazing piece of gear was installed and tuned to my room and speaker set up. I immediately knew this 'acquisition' was THE best upgrade to my gear I could ever make. It totally transformed my existing speaker set to something rivaling sound made by ones I've heard at three or four times the price. Rock solid low end so musical but never drawing attention to itself. It blends. Blends into the room (WAF isn't an issue, turns out my wife is a bit of a BassHead plus it just sits in the corner and behaves itself untill called upon by a dynamic LFE track) and into my gear so well. The sub seems to just fill in the lower end that was missing and give such a firm base (or Bass?) to my gear.

I can tell you too my neighbor, an recording studio engineer of some note, now has one too! He isn't easily impressed by anything audio having spent so much time in the studio. He laughs at my esoteric cables and the lenghts I go to making my room sound right. But, he bought this too because it also transformed his existing gear to a rather high level of competance.

For both of us, this sub is expensive at retail and probably costs more then our speaker sets. I know it does mine. But what it does to them is simply amazing. And, when watching movies, this sub will make my couch move - and its on a concrete floor!!

If your at all adept at these things, the set-up isn't that complicated now with the version 2 software. It equalizes itself to the room. For most, that is suffcient. However, if you've the means to spend 5 large on it, you may want to also spend a couple bucks with an installer to have it set-up just right so you get the most out of your purchase. With prices used (always wondered why ANYONE would sell off one of these unless it is to get a DD 1812!) on various sites around 3 large, it will save you plenty, so again you may want a pro to set it up. Velodyne does have excellent customer support on this product and are easy to get ahold of.

This review may be weak if you wanted technical stuff but I really wanted to let you know how satisfied I am with this product. Adding it up, my other speakers cost $4300 at retail (5.1 system) so this ONE thing costs more (at reatail) BUT worth every penny for me! Consider this, many will spend really big bucks on cables, power cords, power conditioners and the like... Don't!!!!!!! Buy this instead. None of that other stuff with have anywhere near the impact on your system as a great sub and this has to be one of the very best.

Strengths:
Blends seamlessly into any system.
Limitless power, never strains, always gives you more then you ever expected watching movies.
Flawless Fit and Finish. Black gloss finish on mine that Stienway would be jealous of.

Big and heavy.

Weaknesses:
Big and heavy.

Whimpy power cord included in box! But that made a great upgrade to my wife's toaster in the kitchen. Our toast now pops up with real authority along with low octave highs that melt butter.

Similar Products Used:
DD-10
Klipsh 10"

Price Paid:  $1300.00 from Velodyne

Summary:
Where do I start? I have been running 2 FSR18's in my system for about ten years now and they have performed perfectly. Three years ago I managed to destroy one of the drivers, (the actual woofer itself). By no fault of Velodyne, just my own stupidity. So I drove the four hundred plus miles to Velodyne to have my driver replaced. I was informed by Pete ( I hope I got his name right), that the driver is no longer availible. He suggested I upgraded to the DD-18. I could not refuse giving the deal he offered me. Two days ago I recieved my DD-18 and installed it to my system. WOW!!! I can not begin to explain how impressed I am with this sub. Let's just put it this way. For ten years I had 2 FSR-18's, this 1 DD-18 performs so well sonically, that I have put my remaining FSR in the box that the DD came in and stored it in the garage. The self adjusting EQ, the on screen menu options. The ability to personlize my home theater is unbelievable!!. This one 18" sub has replaced 2 previous versions of the same sub more or less. Enough said! If you are looking for a sub that can dip into frequency so low that you can't here them but feel them. Look no further. This sub is cosmectily perfect and sonically unbelievable. And the support from the folks at Velodyne is unmatched! They stand behind their products..

Strengths:
Flawless Finish and function. Sonic perfection. Room equalization using supplied Microphone. infinite EQ adjustments. Way way to low frequency reproduction.

Weaknesses:
Huh? The cabinet is a bit large. But who cares?