SVS or Velodyne


Which would you buy? I have a choice.

Best regards-Henry
henry14
Which velodyne? I have the ct-100 matched to a pair of B&W cdm1nt's and I think it's a little boomy. I have seen nothing but good reviews on the SVS, and for the price it seems to be a good buy, but they are sooooo big. Alot of people are now saying that the REL is one of the best subs out there now so before I buy my next sub, I'm gonna listen to one of those.
Haven't hear SVS, but plan one when I get enough $$$. There are so many Velodyne's and some will sound good/bad depending on the room/setup.

Good luck deciding.
Henry,

You should check out:

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/main.html

This link is to the Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity. There is a new subwoofer shootout posted there in which the reviewer tested a bunch of subs, including the big $3,000 Velodyne and the SVS Ultra.

I thought about buying an SVS, but in the end I didn't like the looks and they aren't the most flexible--no crossover, phase, etc. However, if you are looking for reference SPL levels for film soundtracks, they seem like serious subs.

I ended up with a Von Schweikert S/3 and I'm very happy.

Good Luck
vmps - no x-over, no amplification. you get to choose your own, it will be far higher quality, far more flexible, & the total cost of the set-up will be a fraction of anything sonically equivalent.

doug s.

i heard a rel in my house (strata?) 1-note boom, veiled electronics. i wouldn't trade my two vmps larger subs, marchand xm-9 x-over & 2 adcom gfa555 amps for a pair of rel's top-line subs. my sub's system cost was <$2.4k, btw...

ymmv, doug s.

The only REL that would "boom" would be one not set up correctly. How can someone judge a REL when the only one he has heard is their entry level model, which happens to still be better than many subs regardless of price. Since it takes a $2500 vps to out gun a $1000 Stratus, REL must be good.
retail price on vmps' top-line sub is $700. compare the specs of the vmps larger subwoofer on spl, frequency response, & distortion to that of *any* sub, including rel's top-line $3k model. re: the stratus, i would prefer *no* sub, to the stratus, regardless of price. the reason i had a chance to hear it in my house at all, is that my brother-in-law brought it over after failing to get it to integrate w/his proac 1.5's, in his ~13x17 room. they were on the way back to the store. too much loss of transparency & imaging...

i *have* heard the more expensive rel's & the top-line velodynes, but not in my house, only in stores. i have yet to hear a set-up w/seamless integration, or where the bass frequencies didn't draw attention to themselves. perhaps all the stores are incompetent, but for ~$2.5k-$3k *each*, for these subs, i'd expect a bit better.

ymmv, doug s.

Read the reviews at Positive Feedback, Soundstage and Bound for Sound. Do searches at AA and AR. This is a phenominal sub. The Titan II is excellent competition for the REL Stadium III.
I just bought a pair of B&W cdm1 NT speaker.I need help for choosing right subwoofer or matching with b&wcdm1 nt speaker.some one help?
Velodyne makes lots of different models/series. They perform very differently, one to the next.  It's been a while, but IME the large cabinet models are pretty good, the little guys less so.

Sealed SVS subs (along with Rythmik) tend to offer great measured performance for the $.  I replaced a pair of small Velos with a pair of 12" Rythmiks five or six years ago, and I'd do it again In a heartbeat.

REL would require some research, as I think they've substantially re-worked their older designs,. Those models were usually audiophile favorites, but performed poorly on deep bass tests. (For whatever that's worth to you - measurements mean different things to different folks).  The newer models may well test better, anyway.

htshack.com has a pretty comprehensive database of subwoofer test results if you're interested.
I have had Velodyne DD-15's for years. They have an on board EQ that shows you exactly what is going on in the room. The setup is not very difficult and makes the subs disappear. I have them set to 3 out of 100 on the volume. The biggest problem with subs is that people tend to crank them up too much.

Tim
I have a Rythmic 15" in a custom cabinet built by Salk Sound. Great, super tight base that really digs deep. Of course the cabinet is probably a 30" cube made from 1" MDF with enough bracing inside so you can set a turntable on top it and never skip. Weighs about 220 lbs too. Nobody ever accused Jim of cutting any corners building speaker cabinets. 
Those Salk built Rythmiks are great. You can also buy the DIY F15 kit and build an enclosure yourself, bracing the hell out of it as does Jim. The Salk wood finishes are really beautiful.
I thoroughly enjoyed my SVS’ for home theatre effects.I stopped using them with music I wasn’t happy with there performance. Rythmik gets a big yes from me. 
Try and listen to the Hsu  VTF-15H MK2 if you can.
Amazingly good and a lot of flexibility.
I have a SVS sound cylinder in my home theater setup. I like it for music and movies, but never tried it in my 2 channel system. 

Rythmik seems to be very well thought of around here, fwiw.