I have two of the HGS 12's setup in my room and I have to say
The sound these subs produce are nothing short of astounding,
They put out deep clean bass wether it's at low volume or high
Volume . I have owned many different brands of subs including different
Models from velodyne and for my money the HGS 12 just does
Everything right in my room, 5 stars for being an overachiever
And reliable sub!.

Bought the HGS 12 over 10 years ago. It worked well for 4-5 years then started up with some loud buzzing sound! Called Velodyne, they were already familiar with the issue! They explained I just need to send the amp portion (1/2 a pound maybe) of the sub back to them and they would exchange it for a new one plus I pay $250! Somehow me sending the broken amp portion of my sub back to them was supposed to make the cost of a new one way less expensive! Kind of confusing......I agree! Was a little bummed considering my sub basically broke just 5 years after purchasing it for $1,000! Anyway, went ahead and agreed to the exchange. Sent them (Velodyne) my broken amp part. A week later I received the new amp part. Install was a snap, basically 4-6 screws! Hooked it back up, worked like new! Still works great to this day! It is a great sub! It blends nicely with all the surround speakers in my den! I hope I didn't just jinx myself? I read on here another fellow had same problem and his crapped out a second time! Not good to hear! All in all this sub has been well worth it considering I've had it 14 years now! Probably won't pay to have it fixed again should it or when it breaks! Today, a person can most likely get a sub of this quality for way less than what was being charged back in 1999 when this sub was introduced. Overall, its been fun having this puppy(HGS 12)! Hope I get 5 more years out of it!!!

(SIDE NOTE: pretty sure HGS 12 was introduced in 1999. However I did not purchase mine till 2001. It had already been discontinued when I bought mine as a floor-model)

Bought in 1999 for new Home Theater System @ $1500. A few years of working very well but then in approx 2005 got bad buzzing and had to send back for new amp ($275) repair. Got back played it a few times over course of couple years then crapped out with buzzing again but now they want $375 for repair of same thing again. I stated that they had repair it once before for saame reason and asked for lower price to fix and was refused. So questioning if paying 1800 if it's time to throw away and buy a new system from someone other manf given what you can buy nowadays for $500. It's largely sitting in my a back room as a paperweight for the past 5 years. I know it's nearly 16 years later but thinking if same problem twice, the manf should be standing behind product even if giving me a trade in benefit of some value not charging me more for what appears as a engineering issue that I've seen from many others similar issues. Loved it when it worked but do I throw more money at it to fix?

tight, loud and clear bass

there is a noise that can be heard within 2-3 feet but not further than that coming from the speaker. Velodyne customer support told me that it Servo noise that is supposed to be like that. I told him that for this price range you kind of expect something that does not make any extra noise. Kinda expensive for me, even $900 I paid for an open box sub.

Nice looking sub. You can tell that it is maid with good parts you would expect from a thing that costs $2k. It is my first home sub really so it is hard for me to compare with anything else except the 18" Treo SSX subwoofer in my car. this Velodyne seems to go as deep as 18" I have except it is more precise and more musical so to say.

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Treo SSX 18" for car stereo

If you hear it, you will buy it. And unless your room eventually needs a second Velodyne HGS series sub, it'll be the last sub you ever buy.

My HGS is last year's model, and is not a Series II, so there is a tiny hum when it's on, but it's nearly inaudible unless you put your ear right up to the driver, so it's not a problem. And in regard to the gentleman who wanted to blame the cables, a legitimate assessment in most cases, this hum happens even when you've unplugged the cables and turned the volume all the way down. However, none of the Series II have this 'problem' whatsoever.

I bought the floor model of the HGS-12 (my hi-fi salesman turned the HGS-12 on for scarcely 45 seconds by the time I got out my checkbook) back when I had Thiel .5's (www.thielaudio.com), the smallest in Thiel's full range line, and it blended seamlessly. Since then, I've moved up two models, having 1.5's for a few weeks before purchasing brand new 2.3's, upgrading my amp from the Musical Fidelity A300 to the A308, and I still have to keep the HGS-12 x-over set to 40Hz and the volume at 11 o'clock. With Perfect Sound spikes added, my entire floor (if not my entire room) BECOMES the sub, and I mean it when I say it, there is no better sub on the planet. The servo system gives the 3,000W amp more control of the driver than Streisand has over her career, and tighter, cleaner, more MUSICAL bass and sub-bass cannot be had at any price. It's easily the best $1000+tax I've ever spent on anything, ever ever! (I most definitely would've given up the next $1000 if I hadn't been able to get the floor model, no question.) But don't take my word for it, go hear one yourself.

sonic accuracy and clarity size features

spl output

very sharp, small enclosure with the amp on the inside of the box. has all the necessary features but the optional remote cost $60. hooked up to yamaha rxv3000 with klipsch synergy speakers. this sub was to replace the va1512. after comparing the 2, i have come up with a few comments. the servo technology works... it is cleaner, tighter and more enjoyable to listen to. however, overall output without monitoring distortion still leaves the two subs on the same field(118db's). the hgs sub wont break any sound barriers, but it will sound better. one last point on this, with the klipsch pushed to 90% of max, the hgs sub would monitor its output. the va1512 would just distort trying to keep up. i like this new sub for movies and music, it performs very well. i will need to purchase a second to get the output i want(125db's), or purchase bigger subs.

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mirage bps 400 (awesome-too big) klipsch ksw15 velodyne va1512

Does everything right, leaves me with no desire to upgrade.

Price?

Well, this about does it – all I ever wanted in a subwoofer, except, perhaps, the ability to actually demolish the foundations of my home (although it does come very close to that), or cause kidney damage. I had dealt with smaller subwoofers in the past, due partially to budget constraints, and mostly to shipping constraints (U.S. Mail can accommodate, at best, only the smallest 10” subwoofers). My latest attempt had been with dual NHT Super Subs. Talk about placement problems! I learned more about room acoustics just trying to get good sound out of them than I ever would have otherwise. And, after several months of experimentation, I ended up with reasonably powerful bass, but never fully integrated them to get rid of that lagging, slow bass on music. (nothing will kill certain forms of music more effectively than low bass that can’t keep up). On the other hand, the Velodyne HGS-12 required virtually no special positioning or set up to get an outstanding blend with my main speakers. Music really moves now – my reference bass tracks have never sounded better, not even on my reference headphone setup of Sennheiser HD600s driven by a Headroom Supreme amp. And WOW! What bass! It’s true that that last half- or quarter-octave of bass missing from most small subs makes a real difference. Aside from the direct impact on pieces of music and soundtracks that actually contain low frequencies below 32Hz (organ music, rocket launches), all other music and movies benefit substantially by just coming across as more solid, for lack of a better description. A sense of enlarged scale is imparted that was previously lacking – movies and music now sound “full sized”. Plus you can impress your friends and family with ridiculous demonstrations like the “Jurassic Lunch” track on Telarc’s Surround Spectacular – my 11-year old nephew looked at me in awe and said he could feel the pressure in his head! You just can’t put a price on that level of owner satisfaction. Associated equipment: Sony STR-DA777ES receiver (as preamp/surround processor) NHT 2.5i main speakers NHT 1.5 as surrounds NHT Audiocenter 2 Velodyne HGS-12 subwoofer MIT Terminator 2 speaker cables, interconnects Monster Subwoofer interconnect Sony 222ES SACD changer Onkyo 555 DVD player Monster Power HTS2500 line conditioner

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NHT Super Subs (2 x 6”, 150 watt), Atlantic Technology PBM 162 (6”, 50 watt), JBL (8”, 60 watt)

I saw these articles on the web pertaining to the new HGS Mark II series. This new line will solve the amplifier humming problem, and they say they''ve increased reliability of the amp and the related parts (probably the servo etc.). The best part has to be the new Kevlar drivers. This doesn''t do much good for people who are bothered by the humming noise now but maybe you''ll consider upgrading? This is from http://www.reference-av.com/news.html "Velodyne Acoustics, who along with M&K, led the way for high-performance subwoofers, announced the Mark II version of their vaunted HGS (High Gain Servo) series. Over 20 upgrades and modifications were made to the internal digital amplifiers improving both the quiet and reliability of the amps. The subwoofer drivers are now using a new custom designed multi-layer resin, Kevlar-reinforced cone, variable thickness EPDM surrounds and unique new die-cast aluminum baskets. A new generation High Gain Servo driver lowers distortion to a little as .3%. The new subwoofers are available now with no price increase. The HGS-10 CA Series II will be available in a clear acrylic cabinet which looks very cool. Best of all, prices for all models remain the same." some pictures from CES 2002 http://www.smr-home-theatre.org/ces2002/loudspeakers/page_12.shtml

Clean, powerful, fast, and small.

No light indicator whether the power is on or not.

Watching Terminator 2 with this sub is a blast. All guests coming over my house was very impressed with what this sub can produce. Also sounds very good in music application. Give it a try and you know what I am talking about.

Similar Products Used:

Velodyne CT120, Paradigm Servo 15

Fast, deep, articulate bass. Also small and good looking.

Cost too much electricity???

This is an excellent sub for music and home theater. It's a little expensive but it's worth the money.