Tuneful, musical, clean, deep, and accurate bass. No bass bloat or boom. Remote control. Elegant finish. Nice array of input options.

Heavy! (not really a weakness - no cabinet vibrations or resonances), Price (but you get what you pay for!!)

I'm a music lover, and a bass player. I 've always wanted better bass performance from my 2-channel, music-only system, and from reading and researching about subs, I determined that a servo design would best serve my needs. I had another sub in the system (vented design, with 2-12" drivers) which gave good bass, but I always felt that better performance was somewhere out there. I wanted better pitch definition, slam, impact, and "speed" ( ability of the cone to start and stop quickly in step with the input signal). In short, I want bass that comes very close to the real thing. One day, I went to my friendly audio store, and was just planning to chat with the friendly salespeople there, and I asked them if they have the Velodyne HGS18. They had the other models of Velodyne on display, but previously did not have the "big boy" on display. Until that day. They told me that it was on sale, and it took me all of two minutes to dive in and take the plunge!! Let me tell you, I am HAPPY with my HGS18. Now, I've been reading on this site about problems of humming---no such thing with my sub!! Just awesome, clean, articulate bass. I must let you know that I have worked acoustically on my listening room with Tube Traps to help control the room modes, and I'm sure that also contributes to the well-defined bass that I am enjoying. I really hear the improvement over my previous sub (anybody want to buy a good sub??) Nice features that I like? Nice piano black cabinet, with that attractive blue light. Not visually overpowering in size for such a large unit with an 18" driver. Remote control. Ability to go deep, deep, DEEP. Down to 20 HZ - cleanly. (I haven't yet measured its low-frequency cutoff in my room) Plenty of power to move air and pressurize the room. Bass, from jazz acoustic bass (listen to Dave Bromberg's new CD "Wood") to electric bass and synthesized bass comes through accurately, tunefully, and musically. Ditto for bass drums. Tympani in classical music. Nice heft and weight. The Velodyne integrates quite nicely with my B&W Nautilus 805 speakers. By now, you should get the idea. I LIKE, rather, I LOVE my Velodyne HGS18!! As far as price and value, for the performance you get, I feel that it's fairly priced. As far as value, well, that's something you'll have to determine.

Perfect blend, Endless Bass, and hardly any distortion, 3,000 WATTS!

HEADACHE

Wow, would you believe the amount of bass that thing makes! Man I have had two Velodyne F1000 and then I uprgaded to the Paradigm becuase I needed more bass. Well thats where I screwed up. First of all there specs they give are a little fony. They say it has less than .3% distortion. Well come to find out thats at 50 hz. My old F-Series sounded better. And the Paradigm sub does not go down to 14 hz, it only goes down to 17. And their amplifier only could only spit out 400 watts. So I decided to go pick up Velodyne''s flagship and boy was I blown away! A thousand times better than anything I have heard! The Paradigm got a little muddy when it got low but the Velodyne was fine. ISN''T THAT THING MONSTROUS! Holy cow bring in the foundation repair team! Blends in with any speaker (unless its up loud an then you cant even hear yourself think.) I call it BIG BUBBA. Somehow that sounds appropriate. This sub is a must buy! My neighbor says he cant hear his Sunfire when I have my HGS turned up (which I rarely do becuase of hearing loss fears.) Believe me you need to get your own BIG BUBBA!

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm Reference Servo 15

Finest sub in its class.

None

Gary, I don't care if you have a masters, PHD, M.D. or no D, your review is simply contrary to everyone especially the experts from the audio mags like Stereophile Guide to Home Theatre, and The Perfect Vision. Lets face it, you could not afford it which is fine. I could not afford it either but I made the sacrifice because once I heard it and compaired it to the others referenced above, I was not satisfied unless I had the HGS-18. By the way, the equipment you listed is known by audiofiles as mid-fi. My amp and pre-amps are Krell and my speakers are Infinity Composition Preludes. The HGS-18, itself cost more than your entire system and certainly can't be justified with the Harmon-Kardon receivers or amps. You bought a sub that matches your purchase. If convinced yourself that you can get a satifactory sub sound for a lot less than the Vel thats fine. But, don't bash a product that has been heralded by experts in the industry and audiofiles as being a reference standard for subs to make your purchase seem prudent. You are being unfair. No one else with integrity would write a review rating your purchase over the HGS-18. It is a reference standard. Your is not.

Similar Products Used:

Other Vels, Paradigm, M&K, B&W, Energy

THE BEST SUB ON THE MARKET. THE BEST SUB FOR MOVIES.

OK FOR MUSIC.

BEST SUB ON THE MARKET. WALLS, FLOORS, WINDOWS, AND DOORS RATTLE LIKE HELL. SUPER HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. VELODYNE RULES IN THE SUBWOOFER DEPARTMENT. PLANNING TO BUY 2 MORE IN THE NEAR FUTURE. ALMOST DONE CUSTOM FABRICATING MY MOVIE THEATER UNDERGROUND.

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SUNFIRE

Power,No distortion, Incredibly clean

None

Velodyne's flagship clearly outperforms any sub that I can think of. I have not heard any hum whatsoever. I have been through so many upgrades and tradeups in my life that I really believe I have found the subwoofer for the ages.On movies it is astounding and with CDs with the Super Audio CD (Sony SCD-777ES) it sounds as clean and loud as any system I have ever heard. I t will shake rattle and roll your house as well as living near any airport. I believe Velodyne really did their homework on this one. On top of everything it looks good, too. Its not too big but I almost busted a gut getting itinside by myself. Overall 5 stars!!!!!

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Yamaha YSW-500

Response linearity, low distortion, ease of use.

High Price

I do not actually have an HGS-18. I do have an F1800RII, which will be functionally similar.

As part of my magazine-review work, I have compared the F1800RII to the HGS-15, HGS-12, FSR-12, Paradigm Servo 15, and HSU TN1220, as well as some lesser units that were OK but would not get down to 20 Hz with the authority of these particular models. In an A/B comparison, with all levels set properly and all built-in crossovers also set properly, I rather doubt that anyone could hear a difference with musical program material up to the maximum outputs of each respective subwoofer. (Maximum output abilities are the main sonic differences between any of the servo Velodynes.) If one used the crossover in their surround processor, the differences would be hard to measure, let alone hear.

They (meaning the Velodynes noted, as well as the Hsu TN1220 and Paradigm Servo 15) are all good, and people who say they can hear big differences between, say an HGS-18 and, a Paradigm Servo 15, are kidding themselves. They are both superb, and they both perform similarly in terms of subjective impact. Both are musically identical. Each of the subs I have noted have certain advantages (maximum output, price, size, fit and finish, shape, ease of set up) in comparison to the others, and I suggest that the listener pick the one that fits his bank book, decor, and home-audio set-up needs.

Any of them will deliver the audio goods.

I do believe that the HGS-18 is a tad pricy, but the unit does have subtle advantages over the others. In most normal-sized rooms, its sonic advantages and huge output ability would not matter. However, its ultra-low distortion is notable, even if it amounts to overkill the vast bulk of the time. It certainly is a sub that a purist would want.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm Servo 15, Hsu TN1220, Velodyne HGS-15, Velodyne HGS-12, Velodyne FSR-12, Velodyne CT-150, B&W ASW2000, Atlantic Technology 273PBM

Wonderful for home theater

Not sure yet

I love this sub. My purpose for purchasing this sub was for home theater. It exceeded my expectations for what I wanted it to do. I could not give it up now

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M&K, Atlantic Tech

Raw power, ability to go lower than human hearing, piano black finish looks very nice

bass above 50hz or so, not quick enough for music (as expected for an 18" sub)

The 'perfect movie sub', can reproduce deep, low, distortion free bass. Less than ideal for music, as should be expected on an 18" sub. Since this sub is going to be used on movies ONLY, that's perfect.

I took it to a friends house to break it in, and when compared to the B&W ASW2000 (12" speaker), the low bass completely pummeled (cool word, isn't it) the B&W. But the B&W sounded way better in the 50hz and above range. The B&W was also more musical.

In fact, the friend who let me use his basement to break in my sub said, "You S.O.B., now I have to buy one, too." That should show how well it works with movies. He also has the ASW2000 to compliment the upper bass section.

Brian

Similar Products Used:

Sunfire Signature, B&W ASW4000 and ASW2000

Amazing performance; very nice finish.

Hum noise when powered.

I’m the recent owner of an HGS 18 that I purchased few days ago.

This sub has really impressive capabilities : very deep bass response , tremendous power combined with very low distorsion … clean, clear sound in an area of more than 500sq feet.
The HGS18 brings a new dimension to the music, and amazingly enhanced Home thater effects.

I’m not going to dwell on the strengths of the HGS18. they have already been brilliantly described by previous reviewers. Thanks to all of you.

I have noticed that the sub generates a slight hum noise when powered. But this noise is still audible for about 12 feet away.

It seems that Drew is experiencing the same hum noise but at a lower level.

Unless the noise level is very specific to my sub and then I would consider it as a defect, I am surprised that nobody pointed at that in the previous reviews.

Fortunately the hum noise is not perceived when I am watching movies ; it becomes unaudible because of high volume level.

Nevertheless it is still audible during low level or silent passages, which is somewhat unpleasant.
I am kind of disappointed with that.

My sub is connected to an AV Sony STR DA50-ES AV amplifier. All connectors are gold plated.
High quality monster cable used.
Moreover, I don’t think the noise is coming from connection cables. The noise level remains the same when I disconnect the line input from the sub.

I don’t know whether that is a specific defect in my sub or a common noise to all the Velodyne subs. What’s your opinion on that ? Is there any way to decrease the level of hum noise ?
I will really appreciate any advice from anyone in the know. Please e-mail me at sbardakji@hotmail.com


Despite of that, I recommend the HGS 18 that is still an outstanding sub.
But when a product is sold for about 2900$ - far above average sub prices -
Even a slight defect is forbidden.
From my part, On the one hand, I’m delighted and
impressed with the performance of the product.
On the other hand hum noise is becoming an obsession for me.
As a result, I am not hundred percent satisfied with the product.

Believe me If the hum noise had been a slight bit higher I would have returned the product immediately.

Based on those facts, and despite performance, I can’t give five stars for the product.

4 stars !

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Energy, JmLab Focal SW33 ...

sheer power, yet can play delicate for music; a 2 headed beast!!

depending on room size more sheer volume than you may need

I bought this sub never having owned another sub before. One main reason I chose velodyne was that ever dealer had an opinion about this sub, either too expensive if they didnt carry it or "this sub can play just as well as the velodyne.. at half price." I also found that the paradigm servo sub uses the servo technology from velodyne.
Anyway I am not hear to bash this or that, i just felt like the velodyne is the standard for which other companies shoot for. And quite frankly after hearing various other subs out there, energy, paradigm, nht, sunfire and B&W I see why. the velodyne had everything while some subs had this or that, only the big velodyne had it all covered; at least to my ears. After properly setting this beast up, it is big..., I put on Superspeedway dvd and just smiled. I never knew a sub could add so much omph to movies. And this sub is really good on music once you get the sub to "disappear." I had to phase mine 180 and put it in the right corner about 1 foot from the corner to get the best results but it sounds like I have huge bass from my speakers. the hgs-18 is a top notch sub that makes me a proud owner. This sub will literally change the air pressure in the room if played loud enough.!! And it can go loud. I think this sub is unique in that it can play so loud on action movies and special effects and yet be delicate and precise on classical or any music for that matter. One thing to consider about this sub is the sheer size as some may not want sucha big box. Use the best connectors you can afford also. Anyway, The truth is in your own ears but take a listen and splurge, you only live once, hey this sub is not for everyone but then again neither is a mercedes 600 sl..