Velodyne vs. Pardigm

[Tomorrow]

Hi again....your misguided newby here. I'm still struggling with adding an 8" sub to my setup. A quick reminder...I'm in a very rural location and can't easily get to a stereo shop for listening/shopping/comparing.

Do any of you have an opinion of the tightness or musicallity comparison between Velodyne and Paradyne?

Thanks in advance.

RJ

 

[hammong]

You didn't make mention of which specific models of sub you're looking at, but Velodyne makes several 8" subwoofers to choose from.

The DRS-3500R is their lower-priced 8" offering, and provides 160 watts RMS and 34 Hz (-3dB) frequency response, and has average build quality.

The SPL-800 Series II is their higher-priced 8" offering, has a 1000 watt RMS Class D digital amplifier, goes down to 28 Hz (-3dB) and has excellent build and audio quality.

There is a pretty steep price difference between the two, the SPL-800 being several hundred dollars more than the DRS model. I can't imagine anybody being disappointed with the SPL-800 Series II though... it's a fine sub, especially considering the size of the driver and enclosure!

How big is your room? How low do you want to go? How much is your budget?

Greg

 

[Tomorrow]

Thanks Greg, for your comment. I see my spelling is attrocious this morning...of course I meant to compare Velodyne to 'Paradigm'. Geez. I've posted before, trying to fix my setup here. I have a huge room (22x27) with vaulted ceiling, and currently have a 400W JBL sub. It's too boomy and sloppy, tho' powerful. So I'm trying to fill in with a second sub, one that has some tight, musical attributes.

The caveat is that if I spend too much more (my system is rather new), the missus will take a cleaver to me in the middle of the night! ;-(( So, I'm looking on eBay for a cheap, used, but 'kinda' good sub at around 150 bucks.

But ya know, I'm wondering if I'm just throwing away my money, p.o.'ing my wife, and not adding anything to my system. Confused and wishing still that I'd discovered this forum before I spent thousands a few months ago.

RJ

 

[annunaki]

It sounds to me as though you may have a placement issue. Especially since you claim that the bass is "boomy" and "sloppy". Have you experimented with placing the sub in differing locations for best performance? Where is the crossover set in your system? Depending upon the slope of the crossover, it may be set at too high of a frequency. Either way, an 8" sub is a little small to be putting in that big of a room. If you are looking for a lot of output any way.

 

[Tomorrow]

Thanks, Annnunaki.

I have tried placing the big sub in a couple of different parts of the room...and it does make a small difference. I'm slightly limited to where the missus will let me put it, lol. But in each case, the sub still ignores some of the sharp, deep sounds. No matter where it has been placed, a cannon sounds like.."thuump", when I expect a "boom". The collision of starships in Star Trek: Nemesis sounds more rumbly than defined and thunderously explosive, if that makes any sense. There is no definition of the sound, like I hear on some way cheaper systems than mine. And it seems I get nothing at the higher ends of the range, say 100hz.

I have my fronts and surrounds set to 'small', and the receiver sends all <100hz to the sub. The only reason I was thinking of a small, additional sub was to fill in the snap with the short throw low hz sounds I "think" I would get out of a little 8 incher. Please educate me if I'm wrong with this wild hare.

Thanks.

 

[jaxvon]

Well, with that large of a room, I'd get another larger sub. An 8in driver can't move enough air to fill the kind of volume you have, even with another sub helping it. You're definitely going to need a couple of subs. I'd suggest that you look into the 10-15 inch subs (most like 12-15) that are offered around the 'net. For a good, inexpensive sub that I've lots of good things about, you may want to try a 10" or 12" kit from Parts Express.

Other companies to look into are Outlaw, Hsu, SVS, and Rocket. Of all the subs listed, the prettiest you can find are the 10" Rocket Subs from AV123. A pair of the nicer models (reviewed here at Audioholics]) can be had for $1000.

 

[Tomorrow]

Many thanks to everyone for this wisdom.

I have come to the conclusion that rather than adding a small sub, I will sell the S120PII, and invest in one of the recommended subs. Many here have recommended one or more of the 'pop-for-price' subs, like SVS, Hsu, Rocket, etc. Since I'm so rural and can't actually hear these units, I'm gonna just pick the one of those with the most features for my budget. Those space saving SVS tubes look kind of enticing, though, I must say. And it also seems that 15 inches is the way to go for my room. I guess I need the John Holmes of subs. (It's true that I have to crank up my JBL to get much 'feel' and movement in the room floor and walls.) ;-(

So again, thanks peeps. This is a great b-board.

 

[nm2285]

I've never heard any of the subs you're considering, but from what I've read, SVS will be your best bet in a large room. They seem to have great SPL and the largest home theater sound of all the brands.

It seesm to me the rocket would be too small for your room. HSU may do well if you bought one of the larger models. Good luck!

 

[anamorphic96]

This is just a thought but maybe purchasing an SPL meter, frequency test disc, Behringer Feedback Destroyer and learning about how to set it up manually will probably get you better results and the bass tightness and explosiveness your looking for. SETUP is everything with subs. This is why so many subs sound bad. Poor setup.

Cheers,
Glenn

 

[Tomorrow]

96,

Can you recommend a disc to use? Perhaps one of the HT setup dvd's?

Thanx.

 

[jaxvon]

If you like the SVS tube subs, you might want to eventually look at getting a pair of them. You have a lot of volume to fill.

Also, you may want to look at some LFE shakers found here and here. If you want the mega version, check out a Butt Kicker. They're good for adding the tactile feedback of big bass impact. I'd say some of those combined with a pair of SVS tubes would yield awesome effects.

 

[bjornb17]

Velodyne also used to make the CHT-8 which is pretty good, although you would have to get it online. Still i think it would be too small for your room. 12" is the least i would want in a room that big.