Velodyne DD15 - worth repairing the plate amp?


The amp in my 2008 Velodyne DD15 is dead as a door nail. 

How good is this old marvel compared to today's offerings?

Worth investing another $500 (to have amp repaired, incl roundtrip shipping, tax, etc)? Or just use as passive sub?

How does it compete to modern subs, for example SBS SB-2000 or SB-3000 (both under $1k pre owned)?

kraftwerkturbo
whart Those Class D plate amps with 'electronic' (can't think of the term) power supplies (without the huge/heavy transformers and coolers) are very light and cheap to ship. My LT1300 plate amp is 40 lbs, this one is maybe 5 lbs. 

I just picked up an Earthquake MiniMe DSP P12,  at $640 ($1300msrp) it was a great value and perfect for movies and non critical music , but my brother's HGS 15 walks all over it.  

Those big Velodyne have great pitch definition and really dig deep.  

CORRECTION: My Velodyne Plus subwoofers have been in my service for 12 years, not 22. Velodyne CA. Digital Drive Optimization technology may be over 20 years old beginning with the SMS-1. My apologies.

["On the other hand my current Plus 12’s and the 10 Plus are over 22 years old."  "set between +1 - +5dB between 38Hz - 15Hz for the past 22 years."] 

@kraftwerkturbo ,

It is not push pull kraft it is push push and totally relevant to this topic if you want the best performance. Take any subwoofer and play a bass heavy number at highish volume. Put your hand on the subwoofers enclosure. You will feel it vibrating, even if it is spiked to the floor. This is distortion. Ideally you should feel nothing. A sub like the Martin Logan will have 90% less vibration = less distortion. If you like distortion go with a single driver design, even s servo driven single driver design is going to have more distortion. 

 

mijostyn Yes, the single mass accel/decel of the driver's mass 'moves' the sub. But the push/push also causes movement (flexing the outside walls of the enclosure) in the same way. So also imperfect.

Not relevant, because this post is not about the best subwoofer design principle, but if the $400 repair of a DD-15 is a better investment and creates a better result compared to a similar budget ($800 total investement) other solutions. And how well a vintage 2008 DD-15 compares to sub $1000 new technology subs.