Velodyne Acoustics FSX-12 Subwoofers

Velodyne Acoustics FSX-12 Subwoofers 

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-10 of 16  
[Sep 08, 2007]
dinon
AudioPhile

Strength:

Extremely fast and acurate, it could go loud with no distortion
Solid built quality. Very nice looking

Weakness:

The sealed design (that's how servo control is) limits it to go as loud as other ported designs

This sub was probably one of among the first servo controled subs ever made. It gives you plenty of clean, tight and acurate bass. No matter how I try to push, it always produces so clean and tight bass. The sub easily out-performs it's 12' competitors in terms of clean and tight at low frequency. it's sealed design allows it to go faster than most of 12' subs I have ever heard. Klipsch subs (Reference line) are jokes compare to this FSX-12. I compare side-by-side some Klipsch Referecen subs and some Def Tech subs against this FSX-12 sub, none of those stand up close to this Velodyne in term of fast and acurate. I could say all Klipsch subs are muddy and slow. Def Tech overly over states specifications of all of their products and subs are their most over-stated specifications.

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch Reference RSW-10, Velodyne CHT-12, Velodyne VA1210, Polk PSW505, Definity Technolody PF15

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Apr 14, 2003]
roberto350z
AudioPhile

Strength:

fast, accurate, clean, blends well

Weakness:

no SPL contest. Took a couple time of moving it while on and worrying that I broke it.

THis poor sub needs some better reviews! This sub is servo driven and intended to be accurate and fast. It does the job quit nicely. If you are running good electronics, make sure that your speakers are fast and accurate in the lower register, if not, then the overlap will sound muddy. With lesser electronics (like ANY receiver) the resolution will not be good enough upstream anyway, so no worries there. When people say that you cant hear a good sub, this is the sub they are talking about. Its fast enough to blend clean with any small speaker like a bookshelf, and will even reach down in to the depths of the inaudible abyss (~15HZ). This is a sub for fanatics about music reproduction (it does movies perfectly as well!) but is by no means a DJ sub thats gonna rock the neighborhood. It does not have the excursion capabilities like a regular sub speaker like JL audio or adire. Oh, DONT EVER MOVE IT WHILE ITS ON. DONT EVEN BUMP IT OR LEAN ON IT. IT WILL STOP WORKING FOR AWHILE.

Similar Products Used:

PSB, paradigm, B&W

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Apr 12, 2003]
jjc01
Casual Listener

Strength:

High quality musical sound

Weakness:

none

Fantasitic sub: very musical. While not as powerful as the HGS series, its sound quality is superb, and it will astound you on occasion with its dynamic ability. As far as sound quality goes, it puts my SVS 16-46CS+ (which cost me more than twice as much with the amp)to shame...

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Aug 05, 2002]
Cameron
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

True bass, very deep response. Tight. Bargain at $400 for a $1200 sub.

Weakness:

Not ported, so the wall-shaking boominess many people expect is not present. (Actually a positive to me).

While shopping for new sub, I compared the Velo to equivalent sized NHT, Velo CHT10, JBL and KEF. Of all of the subs, this one had the tightest, truest bass. As others have stated, this sub goes deeper than most where you subtly feel the bass at times rather than hearing it. While testing, this sub didn't seem to have the "punch" that the others had, however instead of rumbling and booming, this sub complemented the speakers and overall sound experience much, much better than any other sub (under $1000) that I've listened to. I wasn't positive that this sub would mate with my Energy C-4's and Energy surrounds, but once I got it home and went through several movies, I was completely in love with it. Using my receiver's crossover (HK AVR75), the sub transitions seemlessly and the bass never overpowers the movies' other sounds. The Velo's apparently had an amp problem because there are many factory refurbished units available -- I was fortunate enough to get an Open Box unit without any problems whatsoever (so far).

Similar Products Used:

JBL 10, DBX 15 Passive.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Apr 12, 2002]
Robin B
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

deep bass good for music or movies

Weakness:

It is a large unit, but that doesn''t affect me.

I just got this sub a few days ago, and I am really impressed. I sounds great for both movies and music. It produces room shaking bass that you can really feel. I got a good deal at One Call, and shipping was prompt. I ordered it on Sunday and recieved it on Wednesday. This is a great sub.

Similar Products Used:

none.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Feb 23, 2002]
ScottJ
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Fairly good musical subwoofer. Solid build quality.

Weakness:

Lacks the impact needed for good home theater usage. Slight transformer hum. I don''t care for the blue power-on light on the front of the sub.

This is a descent sub for music. It is tight, warm, and goes fairly deep. For HT however, it lacks the punch I expected. I simply do not get that deep-in-the-chest impact that I want in an HT sub. I paid $599 for the sub and feel that at this price it is a pretty good value if you primarily listen to music. At full retail of $1200, it would be a huge disappointment.

Similar Products Used:

First Subwoofer.

OVERALL
RATING
3
VALUE
RATING
3
[Jul 23, 2001]
jason
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

tight base, big sound for a 12"

Weakness:

none

Big sound from a tiny box. When I hooked it up I also got a humm that I couldn't get rid of. I replaced the sub cable with a higher end cable made speciffically for subs and no problems and it is 75 feet from the amp. I think the cause is because pre amp is so senstive. I like this more then my 15" Velodyne. I thnk the base doesn't quite go as deep but boy can you feel it. The only issue I ever had is that they are foward firing which I think makes them much cleaner then back fireing but they do like to be in the correct spot in the room.

Similar Products Used:

velodyne 15", NHT

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
4
[Feb 05, 2001]
Steve
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

smooth blend with mains; goes as low as I would want a sub to go

Weakness:

awful buzz from the amp

From the moment I turned on this unit, the amplifier emitted a bad buzz through the speaker. I'm not talking a subtle "golden ears only" type of thing. It was audible 20 feet away. And it occurred even when no inputs were plugged into the amp, so it had nothing to do with the rest of my sound system.

I presume the amp inside the FSX-12 must have been poorly designed and picked up AC line noise. I have two other amps plugged into the same AC circuit, with no audible noise through their speakers (the mains), even with my ears right up to the cones. The Velo's buzz was totally unacceptable for any subwoofer at any price, and this thing is by no means the least expensive sub on the block. It is totally irrelevant how it sounded otherwise. I returned it after a couple of days.

Obviously many other buyers have not had similar experiences with the Velo. Maybe mine was a defective unit. But this whole experience has me thinking that I should be looking for a passive sub to use with a separate high quality amp.

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
2
[Aug 01, 2000]
Patrick
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Warm, resonant tone, punchy when it needs to be but smooth overall. Reaches lows I've never heard before.

Weakness:

Unit is large. Doesn't impact me, but for those with space considerations - it may.

I tested many subs, and the FSX-12 clearly stood out. The warm tone and smooth response won me over immediately. After listening to a variety of musical genres, it was apparent this unit could handle all. Don't have a DVD player, so the verdict is still out on home theater response.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jul 03, 2000]
David
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Distortion Free
Reach 20hz
Looks
Easy placement

Weakness:

Cost

First I want to say that I'm really puzzled by the poor review for the FSX-12 verses the FSR-12 which is identical to FSX with addition of a remote.

The FSX-R are the best subs for music, they are enclosed box with 120 W. of class AB amplifier. The sub greatly blend with my Magnepan MMG planner speakers which are tough to match due to there ultra fast bass. The F series are one of the easiest subs to place since it shooting to the front only and since they are do not move a lot of air.

You probably think by now that it can not handle movies very well; WRONG it is just as good, it will not break your windows, or move your furniture but the bass will be clean distortion free something that you will mostly feel and not hear.

Music Performance: 5+ Stars
Placement: 5 Stars
Home theatre: 4+ stars
Value: 4 Stars (I don't think subs should not cost so much)

P.S. I do give 5 stars for both to confiscate Jon. Z unrealistic review.

Similar Products Used:

REL Stara..., Sunfire Subwoofers..

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 1-10 of 16  

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