Velodyne's NEW "Digital Drive" Subs (1 Viewer)

[Bill Law]

Just cancelled my HGS-18 order!
Talked to Curt at Velo.
He said the HGS line will be discontinued in 3-months.
It will be replaced with a "Digital Drive" line which is:
1. improved
2. maintains THXUltra2 certification
3. is available in REAL piano black, maple and cherry
4. has automatic room correction computer where graphs will be shown on your TV as it calibrates.
5. No this is not confusion with the 1812
6. The price will increase approx $1,000.00USD retail.

SHOULD be available in June 2003 timeframe.
DANG IT, and I was excited, now more waiting.
Oh, well good things come to those who wait

 

[Bill Law]

Quote from avforums.com in UK from UncleEric:

"A UK press release in the next week or two will highlight some interesting new products from Velodyne.

VX-10
First off, Velodyne have now launched the VX-10 subwoofer. This is a small high performance budget model. The VX-10 will carry a 10" driver powered by a 100 watt RMS amp (peaking at 150 watts for short intervals)
This will be a ported model which will help boost the LF. The models come in Cherry wood and Silver finish.
The high street retail price of these will be a storming £249.

Digital Drive,
The now infamous Velodyne 1812 will herald other "Digital Drive" products from Velo. This mother of all subwoofers (which I've already nicknamed King Kong ) is constructed using solid cast alluminum with cavities for extra weight loading of it's off the shelf and already not so light weight of over 400 Lbs.
As some already know, it has a single 18" driver and a single 12" driver. Both are powered by a 3 kilowatt (3000 watt) amp.
I'm told that such is the draw of power at switch on, an (approx) 30 amp spur socket is a necessity for the installation of this animal.

The key feature of the 1812 is the EQ capabilities which will be passed down to a line up of Velodynes new premier "Digital Drive" range. These will be DD-10/ DD-12/ DD-15 and DD-18

The DD-15 and DD-18 as they will be known feature modified amp's and drivers of which exact details will be released shortly.
They will also have a composite video out, microphone, mike stand, and 20 meter lead. These subs will contain an onboard parametric room EQ system that will smooth out the frequency range in given listening positions. Sidetracking here a little. As mentioned in a previous post, the size of these optimal listening positions will still very much depend on the manual placement of your sub. Regardless, the user will have the opportunity to punch in (via video display, hence composite video out,) eight different presets.
Incredibly, this means that if you have to give up your sweetspot for a guest, you can actually take it with you
Hit a button on the remote, it's over at chair number 3
The DD range even has an RS232 port for future software upgrades.....


These products are targeted to launch at the end of June. Keyword here is targeted. Certain aspects of sofware and programming are not yet finalized and "could" lead to delays. We don't know.

What we do know is that the hugely successful HGS-15 and 18 (which both passed the Ultra 2 spec very recently) will carry on for at least 6 months and possibly longer."

 

[Ray Gutnick]

Keep us informed if you get any more info!

 

[Arron H]

This is interesting news, thanks for the informative post. I wonder if significant discounts can be expected for the HGS series subs. I wouldn't mind grabbing an HGS12 if I could find one at a significantly reduced price.

 

[Claude M]

I recall reading on this board a post from someone who purchased (from 6th Ave) an FSR18 for $800 when the HGS series was released.

 

[Bill Law]

One more update:
There will be digital input.
I wish I could elaborate (not sure of the implementation.)
Seems like computers are in everything.
Who thought a subwoofer would ever have an on board computer?
I bet the "good" subs could crash the hard drive .
Actually the rattling can't be GOOD for the electronics:frowning: .

 

[Randy G]

"Rattling can't be GOOD for the electronics..."

Funny, just thinkin' that myself. Sounds like a good marketing niche for subwoofer "black boxes", no?

 

[JeremyFr]

my god they just want to take all the fun and guess work out of it dont they! hehe

 

[Bill Law]

Where the heck are these?
I'm STILL waiting!
Anyone seen one?
Even the website has no decent pics.
Frustration...

 

[Bruce Hall]

Bill,
Sorry for your frustration. The DD subs are out and about, although very little has gone internationally at this point (not sure where you're posting from). We "officially" launched in July, and it takes some time for the dealers to see the product and get their opening orders in, shipped, and on display.

For information on the subs, check out this thread:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...=&pagenumber=2

We'll have a more detailed PDF on the site in soon.
If you need more specific info, email us at [email protected]

Hope this helps,
Bruce

 

[Bill Law]

Bruce,
Thanks for the reply!
I actually placed my order for the DD-18 before they were available (February 2003). Order was placed through Soundtronics in Wilmington, NC, USA. I'm not sure who they work through (AVAD Southeast?) to get Velodyne.
One final question.
Will one be enough for my room? 4,020 cubic feet listening area that opens to 8,270 cubic feet (no rear wall)
Ceiling is 8'-6".
I narrowed my decision between the REL Stentor III and the DD-18. Hope I did the right thing choosing the DD-18 to match my Vienna Mahler/Oratorio/Waltz setup!

 

[Bruce Hall]

Checking on the dealer, but also couldn't read the file. Could you email it to [email protected]?

Thanks
Bruce

 

[terence]

Velodyne showed their new Digital Drive subwoofers, which have digital control for EQ (removing room peaks). (At CEDIA)



The Velodyne Model 1812 has an 18" driver along with a 12" driver. The 12" driver takes over for the frequencies where the 18" cone is too massive.



The rear panel of a Velodyne Digital Drive subwoofer.

 

[MingL]

The mic looks like a Behringer ECM8000 measurement mic.

 

[terence]

The mic looks like a Behringer ECM8000 measurement mic.

As much money these things cost it probaly is.

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Had an HGS-10. Loved it. Had an HGS-12, loved it too, but wasn't a big enough improvement over the 10. Now have a Vandersteen V2W, which has 3 x 8" drivers which is close to a 15 inch-er. Feed Forward Error Correction for limiting distortion. Also like it a lot. But I wish the new Velodyne DD subs were cheaper...

 

[Bill Law]

DD18 Pic
http://www.avforums.com/forums/attac...&postid=704824

 

[terence]

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attac...chmentid=12473

DD18 Pic

Something happen to your pic Bill so i thought i would help out.