I have been looking at this site over the past 6 months and commend its webmasters and contributors on the creation of a fantastic source of information and ideas. It is often very difficult to obtain unbiased advice on these things other than through a source such as this!

I presently have my eye on a Velodyne CHT 8 subwoofer. I have tested similar offerings by REL, Jamo and Yamaha, but so far the Velodyne wins (both on price and performance). However, I have only heard each of these subwoofers in different demonstration rooms (and not side by side in a similarly configured room). My "home theatre room" is a relatively large open plan L-shaped dining/kitchen/living room area (in which the "theatre" sits in one corner). It also has a hard wood/tile floor.

One of my concerns is that the Velodyne has a foam surround. Why is this a problem, you ask. Well where I come from the weather conditions can be such that a foam surround would deterioate (and it will be placed near an outside wall and next to a vent in that wall).

I know some people swear by a sub having a minimum 10", but my Home Theatre room is also my living room (at least for the next 12 months until the baby moves out of his nursery!) and keeping the other half happy is mighty important. I therefore don't want a sub that will be too loud but I do want one which will be accurate, smooth and give some backup in the low end to my Dali 3003 loudspeakers.

Does anyone have any recommendations/suggestions?

They have large enclosures, but I am currently a big fan of SV Subwoofers. Velodynes are generally a little too "thumpy" and "muddy" for my taste, although there's no doubt they provide a powerful bass. The SV products are very responsive and tight (at least to my ears). That's my story and I'm sticking to it! Hope this one man's opinion helps. -Bruce

You've got to move air to create low frequencies. That's the main reason you probably hear about 10" being a "minimally acceptable size". I don't care to argue about "slaved, servo'd, or passive radiator configurations" I just don't think two 6.5" drivers will ever match a 12", or even a 10".

This doesn't mean bigger is always better - in your case it sounds like your sub will have to serve double duty and reinforce music as well as HT LFE's. If you go too big you tend to lose "musicality". If your main speakers adequately cover the low end, that doesn't matter as much. In a dedicated HT the all important "train wreck" justifies two 15" subs.

10" : I use a 10" sub because my speakers only go down to 85Hz.(NO BASS) The 10" sub is able to go both ways helping to bolster the deficiencies of my satellites while the sub "attempts" to go higher. Meanwhile do I get every LFE nuance the sound engineer put on the movie track? No, but I have CHOSEN to compromise a little here. (However, when that sub is dialed up to 50% volume in my den, the floor in my upstairs master bedroom "swells": We're moving some air.)


You can always adjust the crossover point to limit how low it goes (rattle factor) and attenuate the volume. Somewhere I saw an HT reciever that had a "night mode" (I'm paraphrasing) listening feature which automatically limited LFE's (and possibly volume?) if you chose to listen in that mode. You can just do the same thing manually.

Your Dali's go down to 42Hz, so it should be easier to "blend" and you might get away with a larger sub. (Do you have the Dali center as well?)

What I'm saying is: I don't envision you replacing your sub in 12 months when "the baby moves out of his nursery". Why not get enough now and tone it down until baby's ready to appreciate the LFE's contained in the "Thomas the Tank Engine" DVD.


Your open plan (like mine) is an anti-containment device for LFE's. In other words it "leaks bass". Another reason to consider buying ENOUGH Sub: To be able to afford some loss. A quick analogy from the car audio realm: It's fairly easy to get deep bass in almost any car, EXCEPT a convertible.


Thatta' girl !! My wife LIKES my equipment.(KEEPER!)

If you've been reading the responses to the various subwoofer related posts you already know of my affinity for MOST things NHT.(Now Hear This)
Subliminal suggestion: Listen to a SW10.
I can however somewhat justify this zombie like loyalty; Their products (the ones I've purchased) usually get good reviews and by some coincidence when I listen to them I find myself recalling passages from the reviews. Does this mean I'm susceptible to the power of suggestion? Maybe, but I think it's because there's some "there there". (The price is reasonable and the return on investment is IMHO, high.)

I've never heard of any problem with Velodyne's foam surround. (I did read of one problem, but it was related to mechanical damage (PUNCTURE!) coupled with improper long-term storage.) Velodyne's a fairly popular sub so you'd think it would be a well known issue.

Klipsch uses a butyl surround and they've got a new lineup of subs. I've heard them and I think I'd consider buying one if I were shopping.

I've not heard Jamo, but what I've read doesn't seem to hold much promise for HT enjoyment.

Yamaha: I love my Yamaha reciever but I don't think I'd trade my NHT sub for a YST-SW800. However it is bargain priced. Speaking of bargain pricing, have a look at Audio Research Subs.

When I've auditioned single driver dedicated subs the best results have always come from the notoriously obtrusive "squared up" cubes.


My local dealer let me take home floor demo models over the weekend (he's closed Sunday) and return them on Monday. I had to make a task out of evaluating them: Movies on Saturday night, music on Sunday. It took two weekends and was an effort, but I forced myself to see it through.(Yeah! RIGHT!) Make 'em give you a test drive - tell 'em it'll make you a repeat customer.

For the price, few subs even approach SV Subs or HSU subs for power and accuracy. http://www.hsuresearch.com/ www.svsubwoofers.com

Sunfire makes a very compact sub that can compete with almost anybody for power and accuracy, but the price is higher. www.sunfire.com

Yep Spiky, good call: HSU gets a lot of accolades from esteemed publications. (The VTF-2 is bargain priced and garnered a "Class A rating" from Stereophile Guide to Home Theater.) You can buy direct.

Sunfire? Advertises their subs as "spouse friendly", one reviewer called it "butt-ugly". They've definitely got the most unobtrusively sized cubes on the market, and if you can believe ad copy their models get down to 16 and 18Hz in 13" x 13" or 11" x 11" cubes respectively. Have your wallet WIDE open when you buy.

SVS? No first hand experience. I'm a little afraid of funny shapes. ("Fear is the mind killer." - DUNE) But I suppose in the world of full range speakers my satellites are "funny" in their own "cute" way.

Your Dali's came with floor spikes - if you don't use them now you might want to try it when you add a sub. Cabinet resonance etc.

Good luck, happy hunting, and tell us how you did.

Beverly, I have to address your HT with a wood/tile floor: that will make the sound overly bright (too much treble) and screw up the imaging. You might try an area rug; it won't hurt the bass and I think you'll like the results.

Good point tweakman, and seeing as I was advocating using your floor spikes you might want to consider discs to protect your tile from the "points" I suggested. If reflectivity is a problem you could also read this oddly-titled thread and a few others on sound dampening. Tweekage does pay off.

[I know some people swear by a sub having a minimum
10", but my Home Theatre room is also my living
room (at least for the next 12 months until the
baby moves out of his nursery!) and keeping the
other half happy is mighty important.]

I use a 10" Triad In Room Sub. The sound is very clean and not to boomy for the wife.

This message was edited by Guru on 06/13/02 16:46.10.

What a GREAT word!!!

TWEAK, TWEAK, TWEAK!!!

This is probably the most fun of having a HT after all. Well, next to watching movies of course.

For the money, I cannot say I've heard a better sub for the money than the NHT SW2p that I am a proud owner of, as sheik mentioned, the bang for the buck is tremendous. They no longer make this model, but the SW10 as he stated would be a good listen! Sunfire makes a true sub jr that is 9x9x9, and has incredible bass output.

Maybe your local HT store will let you take one home and try it!

Thanks Larry, if only that perceived GREAT-ness had more repeatability. I'd author a slang dictionary and retire. "Sheikage" on the other hand has not quite yielded ENOUGH to let me quit working.

Thanks for all your help guys.

FYI - the Dalis are mounted on their spikes. We have also mounted the new sub on its rubber "feet". We had a rug, but I took it away. I might put it back now (although we do have indoor plants placed around which tend to absord some of the reflectivity of the floor/walls).

Unfortunately NHT subs are not available where we are (Oz!). And the SVS woould have been too costly to import (about US$230 Fed-Ex on top of the cost, which if I didn't like it and tried to send it back, meant it was too much of a risk) - plus Australian tax on top!

Sunfires are available. But we compared the Velodyne and the Sunfire, and I liked the Velodyne more. Personal taste I 'spose.

I certainly learnt a lot about the commercial realities of the HT market here - some dealers are surely in it only for the short term money (and not the long term customer satisfaction!) and do not listen their customers (BUT I SAID I WANTED TO HEAR THAT ONE ! ! No, this one is the one you want. BUT I SAID I WANTED TO HEAR THAT ONE ! ! ! . . . THANKS BUT NO THANKS ! ! !(Exasperated customer exits stage left))

Now, I'm getting back to running in our new sub . . .

Cool! Thanks for letting us know how you did. (In Oz!)