Velodyne Acoustics CT-100 Subwoofers

Velodyne Acoustics CT-100 Subwoofers 

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-10 of 117  
[Jan 28, 2004]
jorgillo
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

GREAT WITH MOVIES EFECTS, GOOD WITH MUSIC ,HAS THE ENOUGH PUNCH AND DEEP TO SATISFY A ROCKER APPETITE.

Weakness:

COULD BE A LITTLE BETTER WITH MUSIC ,BUT WE HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT THIS SUB WAS MADE MAINLY FOR HOME THEATER.

I REMEMBER WHEN THE SALES PERSON TOLD ME THAT THIS BRAND IS THE BEST AT U.S.A.( WITH MILLER AND KREISSEL) AND HE WAS RIGHT, THIS SUB HAS A GREAT PUNCH,WITH ONE OF THE DEEPEST BASS I NEVER HEARD AT THIS RANGE OF PRICE, BETTER WITH MOVIES THAN WITH MUSIC, BUT IF YOU CONSIDERED THE PRICE IS A REALLY GOOD BUY.

Similar Products Used:

POLK AUDIO,ENERGY AND CERWIN VEGA

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jan 07, 2004]
aargonaut
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Good solid musical bass end down and lots of power

Weakness:

Cheap spring loaded wire connectors, crummy black box appearance.

My system Harman Kardon Signature 2.0 preamp/processor Harman Kardon Signature 2.1 5 channel power amp Harman Kardon Citation 22 power amp Harman Kardon 670 (Used as phono pre-amp)Harman Kardon ST8 turntable with Shure M97xE (Couldn't afford the V15) Nakamichi RX505 cassette deck Tascam 202 Mk III dual well cassette deck Sony DVD-NC650V SACD player JVC XV-FA95GD (DVD-Audio Player) HK Citation 13 speakers 1 pair Koss CM/1030 (Formerly used as subwoofer) 4 Koss CM/1020s (one for center channel, two as rear surrounds, and one which is used as a computer printer stand) The problem: I have an audiophile's appetite for audio, but my budget doesn't include money for an audio system the price tag of a Mercedes. Until now, I have been using 25 year old Koss CM/1030s with 10" woofers to handle the bottom end. These were designed for music reproduction, and not for the sound effects of movie soundtracks. They just didn't have the rumble of a friend's $20,000 HT system. Not only that, but given there is no such thing as a room large enough in a house with a price of less than three-quarters of a mil in all of Los Angeles for a really good HT system. So, I needed more umph at the bottom. The Solution: So, I started looking for a good budget Subwoofer. I had been considering 12" subs by JBL, Infinity and HSU when I found a used Velo CT-100 in the Recycler, a magazine in Los Angeles which provides free classified advertising. Veoldyne has a reputation as one of the best subs on the market. I called another friend who used to be a rep for Harman Kardon about 30 years ago and asked his opinion. He said I'd like the driver. I immediately pulled the money out of the bank and drove the 150 mile round trip to buy the sub. Impressions: I got it home and attached it to the LFE out on my pre/pro. I stuck it between my main speakers in the middle of the room -- positioned all wrong, and it still sounds good. I played Pink Floyd Dark Side (SACD), Govi - Andelusian Nights, The Who - Tommy (SACD), Fourplay (DVD-Audio), and Steely Dan - Two Against Nature (DVD-Audio). This sub proves to be very musical. Setting my preamp to pump out everything below 100Hz to the sub gave the bottom end a great deal of authority, even though my main speakers are supposed to be flat to 30Hz. It is neither boomy nor a 1 note wonder. And I was able to pump all 400 watts of power from my Citation amp into my main speakers, and the Velo kept up pretty much effortlessly. Next, I tried to find a DVD with a good LFE track. I tried Gladiator, Harry Potter - Chamber of Secrets, and X-Men 2. None were satisfactory for a real workout. Finally, I found a use for Star Wars II -- Attack of the Clones. All those marvelous Lucas space ship engines. And things getting blown up, cut off by light-sabers. It isn't as good as the one in my friend's $20K system with something like 1000 watts into 3 subs, but it was close enough. All in all, I'm very happy with the sound and build of the unit. I think I'll keep it.

Similar Products Used:

None

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
4
[Oct 29, 2002]
Wireworm5
AudioPhile

Strength:

accurate,clean bass,musical

Weakness:

direcional,controls on back

This review is for CHT-10 model. My room is 10'x25' mostly concrete walls and lively. I have the sub placed against the wall in the middle of the room firing at the far wall.The bass is seamless,accurate and hits with authority and is not boomy sounding (like my previous sub).I wanted a musical sub and this one does the job. It's front firing with a sloted port hole in the bottom front.Rated for 27hz,150 watt Rms and weighs 54 lbs.It also has a direct crossover feature. This lets you use the crossover from your receiver/processor rather than its own internal crossover. My music tastes, new age,heavy metal,guitar rock, electronic and pop. My system: Yamaha rxv-2200 JVC r-s77 (bi-amp) Panasonic DVD CV-52 Creative Lab Soundblaster Platinum Paradigm CC-370 v.3,Monitor 9&7 v.2 Velodyne CHT-10 If your in the hunt for great sub in $700 cdn price range be sure to add this one to your short list.

Similar Products Used:

Cerwin Vega LW-10

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
4
[Sep 22, 2002]
NickWH
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Fast, accurate deep bass entension. High power 375w peak amp. Solid construction (weighs over 50lbs). Steep, 24db/octave low-pass crossover.

Weakness:

No subwoofer direct input. This was added to the CHT line, which replaced the CT.

I picked up this sub after hearing it in the store. You really can't go wrong with a name like Velodyne. I was surprised at how affordably their entry-level line was. It sounded pretty good there, but it was even better at home. I was afraid that the 10" driver would not be strong enough (I was moving up from an 8" sub), but the 10" proved to be plenty powerful. I would reserve anything bigger for the biggest of rooms or if you don't value your hearing. This sub is fairly tight for having a slot-loaded cabinet. My listening habits are 50/50 between home theater and music, so I liked the forward-firing woofer design. Downward-firing drivers seem less musical and better suited to theater only. The anti-clipping and over-excursion circuitry works very well, this sub never bottoms out. The 150w RMS amp has oversized heatsinks in the back, and the controls are solid and well placed. All in all, a great package for under $400. You would have to spend at least $1000 to get a substantial increase in performance.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha YST-SW50

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jul 22, 2002]
NightFlyerGTI
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Seamless, clear and pristine bass with a Polk Audio 5 channel setup. Pounding, ear numbing bass, no distortion (even with the LFE-heavy 'Depth Charged' scene from the DVD movie, U-571, cranked up!) that I can tell so far. And this is only a 10" driver? Above-par performance.

Weakness:

Minor knob adjustments have to be made for best performance under movies or music. No biggie.

Got a steal of a deal on my CT-100 a few weeks ago at Circuit City. It was a unit that had been on display (open item) for 3 months, and for some reason nobody bought it. The reason it was priced so low is that it was recovered from a company raid of a now ex-employee's apartment, where he had smuggled $5k worth of stuff out the back door over the course of a week. Because of negligence, the unit had a missing rubber foot on the bottom, several minor nicks on the edges, and a couple minor scrapes on the sides. Satisfactory cosmetic shape. The store rep hooked it up for me and it played just fine, so I took it. Back home, I wiped it down with a damp rag and touched up the nicks with a Sharpie marker- looks as great as it sounds now! Just have to locate another rubber foot, or replace them all with spikes. My first Velodyne experience has me enjoying my CDs and favorite DVD scenes all over again, and genuinely curious dorm room neighbors are very impressed and jealous... that they don't have anything to drown me out with.

Similar Products Used:

Sony SA-WM40 12" 120w subwoofer. Was considering a Polk Audio 10" or 12" unit at the time of purchase when I happened upon the deal.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[May 31, 2002]
craig
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

massive bass that is very enjoyable, more powerful than the other 2.

Weakness:

CC carries it, not GG. NOT A FAN OF CC!! Tend to have jerks for salesmen.

I will keep this short and simple. I tried the Polk 10" sub, the Klipsch 10" sub and the Velodyne 10" sub (CHT-10, which is the replacement for the old CT-10). All sounded good a the stores (good guys and circuit city). Bought all three in the same day and took them all home to do a side by side test in MY house. After all, that is where "how it sounds" is most important. The Polk was $319, the Klipsch was $349 and the Velodyne was $399. The bottom line was that the Velodyne out performed the other 2. While I like GG better than CC, I will be returning the POLK and the Klipsch speakers to their respective stores tomorrow morning. If you have the chance to go out and by a sub for your system and want a good sub for the $...spend the extra cash and save yourself some running around time and just get the Velodyne.

Similar Products Used:

Polk and Klipsch 10" subs.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
4
[Mar 16, 2002]
jorge belchez
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

EXCELLENT WITH MOVIES ,GOOD ENOUGH WITH MUSIC.

Weakness:

A LITTLE SLOW WITH MUSIC

AN EXCELLENT PRODUCT BETTER WITH MOVIES,NOT SO MUCH WITH MUSIC BUT ENOUGH TO LIVE WITH IT.THIS SUB CAN GO DOWN TO 28HZ ,IS AMAIZING FOR THIS PRICE.

Similar Products Used:

I AM USING THIS SUB WITH: DENON AVR 2800 SPEAKERS:B&W 601s2 CC6(CENTER CHANNEL ) SAME BRAND ,AND DENON CD PLAYER DM260.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Feb 22, 2002]
donterutherford
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Nice clean bass

Weakness:

None

WOW!!! This is a great sud and i got a good deal on it at circuit city. The sub produces very clean bass and is great for moives and music. It hits hard but tight and clean. Its a wonderful sub for small and mid-size rooms. I had the Klipsch KSW 12 but it was very load and uncontrolled. The CT 100 is a great sub and can compete with sub twice its price. Its a real sub.

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch KSW 12

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
4
[Jan 30, 2002]
Farley
Audiophile

Strength:

This subwoofer has many strong attributes and fortunately is very accurate for both music and movies. In my setup is is used more for movies and therefore I have it tuned for that. Often it will need adjusting for accurate music reproduction but does an excellent job either way. One of the best qualities a subwoofer should have is that you will not actually be aware that it is on and working until you turn it off and leave your main speakers on. It should seemlessly integrate with your main speakers and extend their useful bottom end down an octave or two. This subwoofer (with careful placement and tuning) can do this very successfully. My main speakers are Polk RT55s and this sub blends well with them.

Another very strong attribute to this subwoofer is its ability to play deep, accurate bass even at low volume levels. Many subs do not do this well. The main crutch of most subwoofers is distortion. Even low levels of distortion can seriously degrade subwoofer quality. Fortunately, this sub maintains very low levels of distortion even when pushed hard. Also, distortion will help you to localize a subwoofer, which you do not want. You want all the imaging to appear to come from your main speakers.

Acoustically, this subwoofer has few faults in a modest size room and setup. If you want more bass then buy two, but be careful on placement. If two are placed poorly then you will have huge dips and peaks and very inaccurate bass.
I dont recommend the CT-120 if you want more bass. Without the servo-feedback it can get quite sloppy.

Weakness:

Very weak manual as many reviewers have stated. It really needs to be updated and more thoroughly explained (especially the setup procedures). A bad setup can make the best subs sound horrible.

If you are using speaker level inputs then you will be very disappointed as it uses spring terminals. Otherwise the controls are first rate. (I have an updated model with better quality switches and dials).

Pretty plain finish but thats minor. In most situations you can hide it or dress it up to look like a piece of furniture.

No ability to continually adjust phase, only 0 or 180 degrees.

Overall this is an excellent subwoofer for the money. It plays accurately at all sound levels and is great for music or home theatre. It cant keep up with the big boys although you can easily spend three times as much and get only marginal improvement in performance. Take the time to set it up carefully and dont just stick it where it fits, placement is soooo important to performance.

If you want more bass then I recommend buying two instead of going to the 12 or 15 inch models. In most rooms and setups though, this subwoofer will knock your socks off on its own. Excellent subwoofer!

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm passive sub

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Apr 09, 2000]
Florian Wiegand
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Very Powerfull Bass, Clean sounding, and for the price unbeatable!

Weakness:

None that I have heard and felt!!!

This sub is just awsome. I have it hooked up to an
Onkyo TX-DS555 with the Infinity RS3's as front speakers.
I think that for the price their is absolutly no competition. The bass is deep powerfull and clean. You dont know a sub until you heard a Velodyne. This sub rocks!!!!!

PS: Bose , Polk, Infinity Subs dont even come close.

Florian Wiegand

Similar Products Used:

NEC SW300

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 1-10 of 117  

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