To give you a little background, my system consists of Klipsch Chorus II mains, a Klipsch KLF-C7 center, and Klipsch in-walls for my surround. I also have a couple of Klipsch KG 1.1's that are my front effects speakers. My receiver is a Yamaha RXV-2095 which supports 7.1 channel DSPs hence the need for the front effects speakers. My subwoofer that I upgraded from was a Klipsch SW-12II. It was the second generation of their powered subwoofers with a 150w amp, a forward firing 12" driver and a rear firing 12" passive radiator. It was supposedly flat to 28hz with a maximum output of 107db (Klipsch specs). My living room where the sub sets in the corner is 20' x 18' with 12' ceilings but opens up into a large entry area, dining room, upstairs landing, etc.
Now as to my comments on the Velodyne. In a word WOW! The Klipsch seemed to have pretty clean bass and play pretty loud but it is not even in the same league as the Velodyne. The F-1800XR's bass is extremely tight and extremely deep. It has no problem shaking the whole room (and house) during the appropriate scenes. The Klipsch could deliver deep bass but you had to play it loud to do it. Not with the Velodyne. Its deeper bass extension is very apparent. I haven't had a chance to play alot of movies through it yet but the ones I have sound great. Some of the ones that I have listened to with it are as follows:

Tomorrow Never Dies DVD - Opening scene where bond steals jet with nukes sounds awsome
Jurassic Park DTS LD - T-Rex scenes are phenomanal
October Sky - Space shuttle taking off shakes the whole house
5th Element - Whole disk sounds great. Diva scene has excellent punch
Star Trek Insurrection - Ship fly bys are very clean and shake the whole house

It is also worth noting that I used AVIA to calibrate the sub. I get very good response all the way down to 20 hz based on the AVIA test tones and my SPL meter.

The sub is very tight and accurate. I do not hear any boomyness. I have a friend that has a Velodyne FSX-12 Servo and my 18" sounds just as tight as his but has much more umph in the low end department. I actually called Velodyne and talked to ther Technical Rep about the F-1800XR. It is a 18" driver out of a ULD-18 and the amplifier and electronics out of a FSR-15. It is servo controlled with the the voice coil mounted accelerometer. If fact, I compared the book that came with my F-1800XR to the one that came with my buddies FSX-12 and the books are basically identical (including all of the discussion about the servo mechanism and how it improves sound quality). An inconsistency with what OneCall showed on the web site was the rated frequency response. OneCall showed 18-120 HZ versus the book showing 19-120 Hz. Not really significant but interesting.

The finish in the F-1800XR is not as nice as the finish on the FSR-15. Instead of using the woodgrain black vinyl it is plain black vinyl like Klipsch puts on their newer down firing subwoofers. Also the fake granite trim piece is also black vinyl. The unit still looks nice, just not as good as the FSR's.

A good review on the F-1800XR if you haven't seen it is at:

http://community.etown.com/buy/theater/surround/articles/velodynef1800xraca.html

I am extremely happy with my purchase. For $937 it is a no brainer.

Price

amp

This sub is a pretty good deal for an 18" sub. I have been using it for over a year. Beware that an 18" sub goes lower than any 10" or 12" could ever dream of. With that in mind make sure that everything is secured in your listening room. At the low frequencies this sub will shake the drywall, recessed lighting, doors, doorknobs, etc..... It is not as adept at reproducing some of the higher frequencies from say 60Hz-80Hz. For that reason I have another 12" sub to fill in the hole that I have at 60-80Hz. I also have set my main speakers (Klipsch RF-5) to large so that they too can fill in the holes. My main complaint about this sub is the underpowered amp. This amp is from the Velodynes 15" sub. The amp really struggles when pushed. I am at the point where I am considering purchasing the amp from Velodynes regular 18" sub (FSR-18????) as this amp really shouldn't be pushing that huge 18" woofer.
I will give it a 5 for value becuase it is an 18" sub for $1000. For overall I will give it a 3 because better subs can be had.

Similar Products Used:

Velodyne, Klipsch, Boston Acoustics

Last week received the f-1800xr from one-call (they ship 2nd day fed-x for 60 bucks) for 997.80. Never heard the unit since it's made for mail order co in WA before buying it (took a chance). Was in the market for a fsr-15 and heard it at a 6th ave electronics. The fsr-15 was 1299 on the net, 6th ave wanted 1499.Its hard to tell which unit sounds better. If I could switch between the two I'd be able to tell. They each sound incredible. I'm afraid to crank it too much
since my house is an old colonial. I had to place small pieces of foam in my radiator covers from the vibration. The bass is clean and tight not mushy or boomy. The remote is nice for muting when watching tv/news. The xover can be adjusted to blend it with the fronts. The best 1000 bucks I ever spent!!

Clean Present Bass. Blends amazingly with mains.

none.

I needed a sub that could move a lot of air and would match my mains. I knew I wanted a velodyne because of the servo control and experience to listening to it in large rooms. I also wanted an 18" because of my room size (cathedral ceilings and open design of the house). I originally wanted the HGS but then found a deal on this "made for one-call" model. I got it because of the reviews posted here.

As for performance, you hear and feel the bass but don't hear where the subwoofer is. It is room shaking when needed and tasteful when expected. Not only am I yet to be disappointed with a velodyen product but this sub surpasses anything I could ever expect. If you can find it, get it. This is one heck of a sub.

Similar Products Used:

None

Raw Power, Unable to detect source of sub

Too powerful? - maybe...

This sub is such an overkill for my 18x24 foot room, with a 10 foot ceiling. I basically keep the level at 1.5 to satisfy my wife's concern for the integrety of our custom home.

The sub is "over-the-top" for ANYONE that has a listening room less than a large warehouse - my F1800RII (1200 watts) that was special from ONECALL. I have had it for almost two years now and COMPLETELY satisfied with it. If you desire to scare anyone that comes over or would like to impress your neighbors - hell, your whole cul-de-sac, this is the sub!

Listening or owning one is really believing! The best!

Similar Products Used:

Non

Effortless extension, acoustic suspention allows for smooth performance at high levels. VERY high output capability, servo controlled

Size- this thing is HUGE! It's even a monster in my dedicated theater, I can't imaging trying to get this thing to blend into a living room's decor.

This sub delivers the goods when it comes to home theater. It's also very clean when it comes to music reproduction. For an 18" to be considerably more accurate than my previous Def Tech 10" says alot about this sub...a MUST HEAR when shopping for a new subwoofer!

Similar Products Used:

Only smaller subs from Definitive Technology- not a failr comparison to the larger Velodyne unit.

Price, Power

Size

I've had this subwoofer for a little over a year and have had nothing but pure enjoyment out of listening to it. Carrying it up the three flights of stairs to my appartment was another thing though. The only problem I've had with it is the power it has. I have to keep at 3 or below out of 10 in my appartment or things start to fall of the wall, and I know the neighbors don't appreciate that. Onecall was a pleasure to do business with, I reveived this along with the Atlantic Technology 350THX 2 days after I placed the order in perfect condition. Paired with the Denon 5700 this is a kick butt system, that really shakes the house.

Deeeeeep bass! Very nice tonal quality. Good dynamic range.

Very big subwoofer makes placement somewhat problematic.

This is a terrific subwoofer. The extremely deep bass matches my NHT 2.5 i's very well, providing the last octave of response. The bass is tight and articulate. Note that I am using this subwoofer in a music-only system. I ordered this unit fom One Call and found them quite helpful. A solid upgrade if you like bass and your main speakers can get down to about 50 Hz.

Similar Products Used:

NHT, other Velodyne

Bass
Price

A big black cube

I spoke with a a very informed person within Velodyne corp. about this product. 250 watt amp and their older 18" driver is in this unit. I don't want to get someone in trouble for what he told me. Suffice it to say, buy this subwoofer (unless you have the bucks to buy their 18" sub with the bigger amp) and know that you got their 2nd best subwoofer and the best bargain in subwoofers that exists. I've had mine for six months and it's fantastic.