Subwoofers: Velodyne DD, Revel B-15

[Fidelity4Me]

<font color='#000000'>Are there any members currently using either of these subs and who might have comments + or -?  I know they are ridiculously expensive, but if I can find one used for the right price the ideas of &quot;tuning&quot; the sub to the room and evaluating different speaker placement positions relatively easily are very appealing to me.  The DD Series is so new there appears to be no information about their reliability compared to, say, the previous HGS line.  I am aware of the Revel recall issue, but not terribly concerned there. &nbsp;Any comments are appreciated.  Thanks!

    Paul</font>

 

[annunaki]

<font color='#000000'>I own the HGS-10 and it is a very impressive sub to say the least. As far as subwoofer setup is concerned placement is key. Once the sub is placed for optimal response adjustments or tweaking can easily taken advantage of. An EQ cannot supplant a null in frequency response for a given room. It can help a little but will NOT fix the problem. Check out http://www.guidetohometheater.com &nbsp;and page down to &quot;Site Features&quot; click on &quot;The Seet Spot&quot;. This is a good tutorial reguarding subs and placement relating to room response. Also check into back issues July/August 2003, October 2003, November 2003, December 2003 and look into the &quot;Home Theater Architect&quot; section.
The Velodyne DD series appears to be a slightly tweaked HGS amplifier with a built in EQ and different cosmetics. I could be wrong...</font>

 

[Fidelity4Me]

<font color='#000000'>Annunaki,

    Thank you for the response and links.  Unfortunately in using my living room for both 2 channel and HT, I have a VERY difficult space to &quot;calculate,&quot; which is a major reason I wanted to measure response with some form of spectrum analysis.  My room is apporoximately 15'x18' with a shed cathedral ceiling slanting up to the right, 3 exposed windows and 5 covered with wood blinds.  Oh yeah, and one wall opens into the kitchen/dining room while another space is completely open to a staircase the full height of the cathedral ceiling.  Ouch.

    I will definitely use this site's &quot;Crawling for Bass&quot; article hints as best I can, but thought a little extra feedback from the sub itself about optimal speaker location in this fairly restrictive space would be worth some extra dough.  I'm glad the HGS-10 is serving you well.  If I cannot find a good deal on a DD or B-15 I will likely &quot;settle&quot; for an HGS 12 which I'm sure would be plenty of sound for the room and intended use.  My only hesitation is that I know of several units that have suffered electronically from shipping, so buying used with no warranty could be more risky.  (I also have heard a great deal of criticism of the 15&quot; model in particular, for whatever reason.)

    Thanks again for your suggestions!

         Paul</font>

 

[annunaki]

<font color='#000000'>If your ceiling slants from one side to the other in a cathedral type manner, I would take a simple average from the high sde to the low side in order to plug it in. E.g. low side - 8ft. ; high side - 15ft. = Avg. of 11.5ft. It also does not matter what your walls are made of or how many windows you have. It is showing you where your resonances occur to avoid placing the subwoofer in a resonant area. The July/August 2003 issue is &nbsp;very informative on sub placement and your room's main resonant peaks. The formula they use can help a lot. I would suggest that first.

The program does give you a &quot;spectral&quot; type response. However, it does not do it with fixed frequency settings to show you where the gaps and/or peaks are. It simply states what frequencies they (peaks and dips) are at, but doesn't elaborate enough to show you how much it affects the other frequencies around it.There is definitely room for improvement with the program, but it can help give you a better idea.

Cheers!</font>

 

[Fidelity4Me]

<font color='#000000'>Annunaki,

    Thank you for the follow-up.  Based on your recommendation I will not give up entirely on using calculations as a good starting point for my sub placement.  I appreciate the links and advice.

    The only question remains whether the Velodyne DD-15 has a better (although extremenly limited) track record for durability compared to the Revel B-15 or the &quot;older&quot; Velodyne HGS-12.  If anyone has personal experience + or - with these subs, please advise.  Thanks!

    Paul</font>