One comment on the VA1012x that Ronnie has made in comparison to the PSB. You can't compare these two products side by side. The VA1012X is the middle
of the road subwoofer that Velodyne offers. It was geared towards a select
group of audio/home theater users that do not want to spend alot of cash for
products. I think you have to take the PSB subwoofer and compare it to the
foundation models Velodyne has to offer. Here I think you will find that the
foundation models simply out perform the PSB sub. The Velodyne VA1012X is a
good performer for the price in its intended segment of the consumer market. I
agree with everyone who states that there is a mis-representation of the PSB
and Velodyne comparison made here. Based on price and market intention I give
the Velodyne 4 stars within its product class.

I've had this subwoofer for over six months now. I purchased it for $400. After doing some research, my short list consisted of the Velodyne VA-1012XII, the B&W ASW1000, and the M&K 12" 75 watt. I wanted a sub that would go low and play loud, yet was reasonably tight. The B&W certainly played loud, but it was a little messy and boomy. It was also very large, and the dealer wouldn't budge from list price, as he had only the demo in stock. The M&K was excellent. It went low, rumbled great, yet was pretty tight for music. I almost went with it, except the dealer also would not go below $650 (a whopping $25 off list price). The Velodyne was my second (but very close to first) choice. I got it because of the killer price. The dealer was clearing them out because most of his customers were going for the new CT series (I listened to the CT-120 and it was not as tight as the VA-1012XII). Overall, I am very happy. The sub plays low and loud enough (the volume is only set at 3 (adjusted with music) on the sub and the LFE on my pre/pro is set to -15!). For my medium-size room and modest associated components (B&W speakers, Harman/Kardon amp, Sherwood Newcastle pre/pro, Panasonic DVD, and Mitsubishi 40" TV) the Velodyne is a great sub. It also silent at idle. Highly recommended. However, if you can afford the FSR series from Velodyne or the better M&K subs, you are in the next league.

I purchased this sub at Circiut City on close-out($400.00 new). I am extremely satisfied with the performance of the sub.

Excellent. Very low distortion and no background noise. This sub made a huge difference on both movies and music.

I have to admit that this is the first sub I have ever purchased. I did audition a few before making the purchase and this one does everything it is supposed to. I did have to move it around the room a few times before I found the ideal location but I guess that is a part of using a sub. You can't go wrong buying this sub - just don't pay list price.

Good performer for the price

Size and a transformer hum (more later) often Boomy and mushy at higher volumes

***THIS REVIEW IS FOR THE VLF-1012***

This is almost the best sub in it's price rang. It performes rather well if you have the time to fiddle with it while trying to enjoy your favorate music or movie.

I was Quite happy with the unit until one night I was walking past the room (it was very quite) and notice a hum.
I should note that I first heard it from about 8 to 10 feet away. Once I knew it was there I could notice it up to 20+ feet away. Kind of like having a slinter in your finger, it will drive you NUTES if you can't fix it.

OK full blown problem solving mode. I confirmed it was coming from the sub, I confirmed that family and friends could hear it so it wasn't just me. I put a power conditioner on it I tried it in three different rooms (just in case it was the curcit) and nothing made a difference.

Alright, I know, Maybe it was a ground loop. NOPE!, No ground on the plug and the hum came from the amp not through the driver. SOoo, Back to the dealer. We both heard the noise there also (totally different power grid, so it was not the power Co.) I checked a different unit in the store and found the same hum but much less noticalbe. Vel sent me a replacement amp. Same hum with a sightly different tone.

We took the back off of the amp (it is enclosed in a plastic box). and indeed traced the noise to the one and only trasformer in the unit.

I called Vel to get some suggestions or a little more help, Figured a direct call might carry a little more weight, At first they said they wanted to make things right and that they were working on it. However, they offered no suggestions or advice and failed to return my calls. (I did hear on the grape vine, from a Vel employee, that there have been other such complants). Looks like Management and Engineering are in denial on this issue.

Thank goodness for a good dealer who is turely devoted to customer satifaction. They game me a refund.

I beleave that a H/T or audio componet should not draw attention to it's self at rest and the dealer agreed.

Thanks to Velodynes poor customer service, I started looking again. I found SV Subwoofers at (SV Subwoofers.com) read the review and deside to try one on the 45 day money back policy. I have had it for about 3 weeks and OH MY!!!! This thing blows the doors off of the VLF-1012 and everything else in it's price range and far above. This unit (SV 20-39 PC) with a 200 watt built in amp hangs with units costing 3 times as much. It never sounds boomy,mushy or over bearing. Just firm clean base the way it is ment to be heard at any volume.

Yes the SV unit cost about 100 more but it is SOOOOOO worth it. IF YOU WANT WORLD CLASS BASS, you owe it to yourself to look at one of these,there is really nothing that comes close under 2500.00 (NO BULL!!)

Good luck in your search.

Similar Products Used:

Polk, Difinitive Tech, SV Subwoofers

Very musical, strength, extension to subsonic, match for my B&W CM2

none that I've noticed so far

After a few months of listening to bookshelves, recievers, and DVDs, I found myself at my buy date with no clue what I wanted for a sub. I had listened to some Paradigm and Klipsch when I was deciding on my loud speakers, but I didn't really listen. So I first listened to the PDR10. Don't get me wrong, it sounded decent, and probably matched the B&W 602 well. The same went for the PS1000, but it would be better off with the 603. But for the CM2, and their amazing clarity, they weren't nearly musical enough. (the CM2 are a gem. The closest that gives them a run are the 800 nautilus imho, and maybe some lower KEF, but I didn't listen to them much)

I then moved on to the KSW10. What a steaming hunk of ****. It was far too boomy, and couldn't even distinguish between notes much. BTW, I test with Hepcat, Scientific, 4th and 5th tracks. It has very musical base, that extends into the middle of just about every subs range. I turn the volume down so I can put my ear right up to the front/side driver. That way, I've found, you can hear much more detail than any other method I've seen. I've seen too many people in my months frequenting Sound Pro's listening room, look at speakers for half an hour, listen to a set for 30 seconds, and walk out with a box in hand 15 minutes later.

Anyway, I had tested all the "decent" subs in my range that Sound Pro had, the only good dealer in Flagstaff. So I was about to make the dreaded trip down to Phoenix. As I walked over to take another look at the Mitsubishi Diamond I've been eying I noticed a sub sitting behind it. Apparently Sound Pro used to carry Velodyne (why they stopped I'll never understand), and hadn't really tried to sell this demo. It's been on the floor for about 3 years now, but has been sitting behind this TV unplugged for about half that time. As soon as I listened to it I knew it was the one. I didn't even have to listen with the CM2s, it was that obvious.

Well I got the first wave of my system home, at least partially. They didn't have most of my choices in stock, so I have to wait for my Denon DVD 2800, the 4 CM2, the CMC, and my Monster Power Station 3500 to come in. So right now I'm running on my Denon AVR-3801, a Denon DVD-1000, and 2 demo CM2. I don't have the demo CMC or demo 602s2 up yet due to a bad crimp and some cable miscalculation. But for music this is plenty to test on. The cable, from DVD to AVR is Monster Interlink 400MKII, from AVR to sub is Recoton ADC501 dig RCA, and from AVR to louds is typical Monster high res w/ duraflex with Monster 24k bananas.

Once I got things up and running first thing was some Long Beach Dub Allstars, My Own Life. All I can say from this is, the sub keeps it's accuracy under powerful bass. With some more Hepcat I was simply amazed. Once in my own home I noticed even more detail to the sounds around 40-60hz. It's not like a lot of subs out there where it plays the initial sound of a chord and then all the rest is lost. I don't know the terms very well yet, but I can best describe it as feathering. You truly hear every last alteration made to the sound, and with very smooth transitions. After all this, I decided I had to try a DVD. I've been saving Blade for the 5.1, so I decided to go with an old favorite, The Matrix, until I get my system fully setup. I immediately started up on the chapter with the security/swat scene, and the elevator explosion. In the gun fight portion of the scene everything got lost, but that's the movie at fault, not the sub. When the elevator exploded though... my dear ****ing god, simply breathtaking. As we all know, the explosion is done in slow motion, so you really get a chance to hear/see detail. Let me just say, up until now I thought the explosion was all blended together as far as tones go. With this sub you hear individual crackles and pops from burning wood.

I'm sure the newer Velodyne offerings are even better than this. But given my location, this sub was definitely worth the cost, even 5 years after it made it's first appearance. Most people will probably get it for much less than the $500 I paid at this point, but even at that cost, I think it was well worth it. I don't regret this decision at all.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm PDR10, Paradigm PS1000, Klipsch KSW10

Deep clean bass

Hum when amp pushed

I bought the VA-1012XII in London in 1997 for £700 so it's a bit gauling seeing people picking it up for the equivalent of under £275. Nevertheless a great product, although I did experience the hum mentioned by another reviewer.

I got around this by using one of the tape loops on my amp to connect another amp which only feeds the sub. The second amp provides volume adjustment for the sub allowing the subs amp to be run at a low enough level so that it doesn't generate hum, plus this gives me a remote control sub !

It sounds like a cliche but this thing really generates bass you can feel as well as hear.

Similar Products Used:

REL Strata and REL Storm

Great for movies and music

Its BIG!

Compared to my old Yamaha, this is a 100 fold improvement. Movies come alive and music now has the right "punch". The fully adjustable crossovers, auto on, line/speaker inputs and the rest of the variations let you tweak the sub for your applications. Always thought that Velodyne was the best. Now I know.
Besides, I got it on Ebay (Demo, in box) for less than $400.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha yst 120

powerful, musical, acoustically undetectable

none at this price

Needed a sub for my NHT SuperZeroes and the NHT sub just didn't do it for me, it seemed comparatively lifeless.

I always wanted to own a Velodyne and it brought a warmer, more musical sound to my satellites. This sub has plenty of power and goes pretty deep without audible distortion.

Do not use the speaker wire connections if you can help it, they don't seem to work as well. Also do not use cheap interconnects, they will rob this sub of its bass and power. Even the least expensive Monster Cable interconnect makes a noticeable improvement.

Similar Products Used:

NHT SW2