Excellent sounding sub with lots of slam in a small package.

Price, reliability, and customer service.

Well it has been nearly a year since I last posted a comment. The sub has been performing excellently since the repair of 2 years ago. I have raised my rating for performance but not for value. Velodyne has a long way to go in customer service to be considered a top notch competitor in this field.

Size, good bass when it works.

Reliability and Velodyne's customer service.

I purchased this piece in 1999 and had been happy with it. However, it stopped working in 2002. I emailed Velodyne without a response. My subwoofer is still sitting in the repair shop because Velodyne hasn't responded to their parts request. If this is what one can expect from Velodyne, perhaps I won't spend money on fixing it and just buy another brand.

Similar Products Used:

None.

Great performer, compact size.

Reliability, expensive, poor customer support.

I was one of the unlucky ones that had the unit blow last year at this time. Sent it back to Velodyne who repaired at my expense and has been working flawlessly since.(Knock on wood) That being the case, I am increasing my rating.

Tiny size, an 11"" cube Produces real 20Hz

Auto-on doesn't work reliably Long-term reliability is suspect Velodyne doesn't answer e-mail

This subwoofer produces mor bass than you would ever expect from a small box. I hid mine behind a videocassette cabinet, although it wasn't the optimum location for best bass. You can really hide them anywhere. Don't use the internal crossover. I recommend the Audio Control Richter Scale. It has a steep crossover, a bass equalizer and a sound level meter with calibrated microphone. Despite the bad location, I was able to equalize the sub flat to 20Hz with the Richter Scale. The equalizer gives more placement flexibility. I'm using it with Infinity IL-40 mains. The preamp is a Dynaco PAS4 and the main amp is an ODL HT-2. According to the sound level meter on the Richter Scale, the system is now really flat, +/- 2dB from 20Hz to 1.5 kHz when playing the Stereophile Test CD 2. The system does sound a little weak for HT. I use it mainly for music, but movies seem to lack some bass impact. I believe HT systems should have some peaks in the response to match the speaker systems in real theaters. This could easily be fixed with some equalization (I believe most HT receivers have some presetequaization built in), but I mainly anted something flat for music. If you have an LP with deep bass, it's all there. Organ music is impressive, if the recording was good. These may not be a good buy at $1600; despite the high-technology they seem overpriced. Try to pick them up used, but watch out for very early ones that might be unreliable. I haven't had major problems, but the auto-on feature doesn't seem reliable. Sometimes it takes a while to kick in and makes a thump

Similar Products Used:

None (listened to cheaper Infinity and Velodyne subwoofers at Circuit City)

Fast, smooth and accurate. A fabulous sub which blends well with my speakers and system. WAF is 5 stars due to its'''' piano black cabinet and diminutive size.

Servo amp generates low level noise (which is normal) which I can hear (I hear bugs walking)during quiet passages in movies.

Bought this unit from Myer Emco which was a demo, built in April 99. I assume it was on the floor for a couple of years. After reading the reviews here I jumped at the 4 year warranty for $120.00. This sub makes my B&W CDM7 sound fantastic on 2 channel music and it is awesome for HT as well. This sub has been selling since 1997 and there are many negative posts here about reliability, though they have probably sold hundreds, if not thousands of the HGS10. I have inquired about this issue from 2 local dealers and they both claimed they had seen few or no units come back for service over the last few years. If I encounter problems, I will repost here. But I love this little sub.

Similar Products Used:

B&W ASW100 which is very musical (and very large)

Brand Name (prior to purchase) Small size Smooth and accurate bass response, when working

Class D amplfication doesn''t work Product reliability Customer Service Optional remote control

It is all finally making sense after reading the reviews. For the record, I am on my third HGS-10. First one was bad out of the box, the second one lasted about two months, then practically expoloded, and the system wasn''t even on! The third one lasted about two years, and then the snap, crackle, pop, and their cousin humm (with power off) joined the party. I have submitted a letter to Velodyne, and have heard no response. If I do not receive a new woofer, or, a fully repaired one at no cost, I will start a anti-Velodyne campaign in local papers. We all bought the Velodyne, because they are a leader in woofers. What we got was a nightmare. My friend is a SunFire dealer. I will be purchasing one. I could get others as well for a great price if anyone is interested.

Great bass response, nice and smooth with just enough slam to keep you interested

A bit pricey

I''ve enjoyed my HGS-10 for about 2 years and had a weird thing happen over the weekend. Since others have reported problems, I thought I''d at least share mine to maybe help someone else down the line. Went to listen to music and watch a movie Sat. night and noticed the subwoofer output was really low. Turned on the tone generator in my B&K Ref. 30 and as I dropped the tone down below 80Hz, the volume level dropped like a rock as the freq. response of the FL/FR/C dropped below those speaker''s capabilities. Scratched head. Verified subwoofer cable tight at both ends. Took HGS-10 downstairs to basement system and hooked it to my Denon AVR-2700. Worked just fine. Took it back upstairs, reconnected it, and it worked just fine again. Guess some weird capacitance problem occurred in the cable to the pre/pro but have no idea how/why that should have happened. So, no problem with the product, just gremlins.

Can deliver very deep and accurate bass at high volumes. Very small size. Black gloss finish is very nicely done although easy to chip.

I hate to admit it, but along with quite a few others here, I agree that reliability and customer service are big issues. There is no LED that lights up when unit is operating, so it can be sometimes unclear whether the unit is on or off. This can be a problem if you don't use the auto on/off feature.

I bought my HGS-10 early in 1999. It played well for 2 1/2 years until it broke down last October. As with Aaron below, I was told the amp was blown and repair charge was $400. This is a very expensive repair considering that it is 1/3 of its original cost and I only used the unit less than 3 years! I understand several other posters had considerably less luck than I did, but 2 1/2 years is unacceptable. Velodyne not offering to fix the unit for free is also unacceptable.

I have not experienced similar unreliability or poor service from other audio products I've owned. When I bought QUAD 99 components last year, the preamplifier stopped working after about a week. QUAD's US distributor not only offered to replace the unit for free, but paid for all shipping costs, including that of returning the damaged unit! Now that's customer service.

Since I got my HGS-10 fixed, it has been working flawlessly. It is beautiful and its bass is very strong. It melds well with my main speakers. But considering its unreliability and (more importantly) poor customer service, I cannot full-heartedly recommend it.

ps. I am wondering if a power-line conditioner or A/C regenerator will help solve the reliability issues, since many damaged HGS-10s are supposedly the result of power line "problems". It may be worth a try. Monster Cable and PS Audio sell good examples of PLCs and regenerators.

Similar Products Used:

Genesis Technologies, Quad, Bang & Olufsen

None

Use with NAD 701 and Paradigm Studio 20s.

Wired using RCA cables through pre-amp out on NAD and back to power amp in on NAD.

Bass extension is incredible. The ability to go down to 20hz really shows best with well recorded organ music. You can really *feel* the 32' or 64' pipes!

Bass is extremely tight - so it's also not there when you don't want it, which in my book is as important as having the bass available when you do want it. No signs of distortion.

Cabinet size also makes it very spouse friendly!

Expensive, but well worth it.

The HGS10 certainly belongs on any short list of high quality, low profile sub options. I've owned mine for two weeks and am quite satisfied with it's ability to seamlessly integrate with my mains (B&W 7SE's). I simply installed in in the right front corner, dialed in a suitable crossover point, and sat back and enjoyed.
Build quality and setup flexibiltity are superb, as expected in a high-end sub. Musicality is first rate, really quick and punchy. Shines in HT as well, though I'm not sure if could carry the load by itself in very large rooms (mine is a modest 16x12x7).

In sum, a great sub for music in smaller rooms where space is at a premium, and a more than capable HT performer. Its audiophile performance and compact dimensions comes at a price, however, and most casual music fans and HT buffs
should certainly consider less expensive alternatives.

So how do you rate this small wonder?

Performance: 5 stars
Value: 3 stars
Average: 4 stars. Seems fair enough.