After reading some positive reviews about this product, I took the plunge without listening to it (didn’t have the chance to listen) and ordered it online.
I got the product in few days but upon unpacking I found some of the speaker grill holders were broken. This means I have to remove the grill when using the sub else it will start to give a vibrating sound.

My main speakers are polk RTi A9 which has pretty good bass response and is very tight, which does not sound boomy or sloppy by any means. My receiver is Denon AVR-3805, which still sounds very good and powerful enough.

After adding the sub to the system, my first impression was disappointment as I was expecting a bit more depth and extension for movies. I tried all sorts of room placement, ran the auto eq, tweaked everything I could to improve the sound. Whatever I did, I just could not get rid of the faint boomy nature of the sub. Perhaps I should have gone the sealed way.

The sub does not allow you to push it too hard as it’s been designed that way to avoid distortion. When you increase the volume and try to watch some bass heavy scenes, it goes only so much deep and sounds a bit underpowered.

Some might wonder what I’m talking about, as many might find the sub does shake up the couch at times but the bass quality is very ordinary if you set it up that way.

A good sub should just expand the sound stage and not call attention to itself, which this sub does to a reasonable extent but not satisfying for me.

This velodyne doesn’t dig deep enough either, I tried playing U-571, War of the worlds, Jurassic park, 300 and few others. The sub just doesn’t pick up the low end notes loud enough. When the track demands more power from sub, it just limits itself (distortion limiting system) and is very obvious that it just won’t play any louder or deeper. Also when there is sustained bass, you can hear the sub's amp soft clipping. This is really ridiculous as the sub and amp is supposed to be made for each other, not sure whats the deal with the clipping. I think they use the same amp for the 8, 10 and 12 inch models and only changed it for the 15 inch model. Just look at the power ratings across the models and you will see the steep spike in power rating only for the 15 inch sub.

For example the earthquake scene (chapter 14) in 300 sounds pretty powerful with a decent sub but the velodyne failed to create enough impact with it. It sounded very ordinary. If I put the sub in near the wall, the tightness goes for a toss and all other EQ mode other than Jazz is a waste of time to try as only the jazz sounds right, everything else sounds too muddy.

I have a cheaper unit, Wharfedale sw-150 which does not go as loud or deep as the velodyne but that sounds more integrated into the system without noticeable boom.

Also I had the chance to play with Polk DSW Pro 500 and 600. I found the pro 500 to be, louder and deeper than the velodyne (played the same tracks with that) and it costs less than the velodyne. Also the polks have a remote too. But they are not so very tight either compared to their sealed models. But its very good for the money.

Perhaps I should have gone for a more powerful sealed sub and this might not be a sub for my listening tastes. Maybe this sub might sound better in a acoustically better room.

For music this adds decent bottom end and is not bad at all for a ported sub. Dont expect too much for complex recordings though.

Sometime back, I had tried the Definitive technology Supercube 2 and boy, was that thing powerful or what. Literally felt the air being moved in the room and dived super deep into the sound tracks, I heard things in the sound track which I never knew it was there before. I could not afford the cost of the sub at that time, so had to return it.

Maybe I'm expecting too much for this money.

I do believe in break in period, so I will continue to listen and see if there is any improvement on the sound. I will edit my review if things change. But I doubt if it will change my opinion on its depth and extension. Perhaps may get tighter, lets see.