Velodyne SPL-1200R

Pandora’s Box

By Jamie Gemming

December 2005

Velodyne SPL-1200R subwoofer. $3499

If you are like me and take great pleasure in giving your partner a hard time, one sure-fire way to send her over the edge will be running the Velodyne SPL-1200R’s EQ test when she is in a bad mood. HOLY COW!!! The test sequence runs 12 sweeps from 20Hz to 150Hz. It’s loud, rumbles through my supposed soundproofing, and violently vibrates any small objects in the room. Or the house. It impresses me, but unfortunately I’m still sleeping on the couch.

Petite, pretty, smart and ridiculous

The first thing I noticed about the Velodyne was just how good it looked. The tiny cabinet has a black piano finish and looks stunning. It is dwarfed by my own 300mm (12-inch) sub. Most people would have shared a classroom with an annoying guy who liked to reflect sunlight off his watch directly into your eyes. Well, there is nothing in the world more annoying, so I don’t recommend that you put this near sub a window.

Place the small stand and microphone where you normally sit, hold the EQ button down on the remote for a couple of seconds and it runs through the above-mentioned frequency sweeps. Inside the Texas Instruments chip adjusts the six-band EQ to theoretically give the best bass possible for your given room from this 300mm (12-inch) subwoofer. I’m glad it’s got some sort of brain to control itself, because with 1000 Watt RMS, things could go pear-shaped pretty quickly. Yes, you read that right: 1000 Watt RMS.

Bang for Buck

The biggest surprise I found when testing this sub was how well it complements music. I found the B&W ASW 650 sub, which I bought a few years ago, to be the best in the then price bracket. The Velodyne is more expensive, yes, but comes with improved performance. When playing the ENZSO CD featuring the Finn Brothers and our Symphony Orchestra, I could notice subtle differences in the reproduction of the big instruments. In My Mistake with Anne Crummer on vocals, the tuba is playing while the kettledrums are alternating between different notes. The Velodyne produces deep notes more accurately than my own sub woofer and it is considerably more musical than many of the other one-dimensional boomers out there.

Although it has to be one of the worst films ever made, Pearl Harbour does have a couple redeeming scenes. The Japanese surprise attack is one of them and it provides an excellent few minutes of low frequency effects. Scenes like this are what the Velodyne was made for; it starts with the sound of Imperial propellers tearing up the sky and the next 10 minutes is a cacophony of continual explosions, thunderous “akk akk akk” gun fire and diving planes. It handles the LFE work brilliantly often thumping out multiple different effects simultaneously, without the slightest of strain or muddiness.

Training Day is essentially two hours of continuous work for the sub channel. The movie features non-stop cussing, fighting and gunshots punctuated with a bass-heavy rap soundtrack. Again the Velodyne thumps out a commanding performance with deafening and violent shotguns, while staying sharp and accurate with the soundtrack.

Neighbourhood watch

At night, without the usual daytime noises and distractions, I found I could hear and feel the sub at the end of our long driveway. It was then I thought the neighbours must hate me. I’d never given much consideration to bass projection, but this is where the Velodyne comes into its own. Another brilliant feature is the remote - it allows you to change any setting from the comfort of your seat. Phase can be switched, volume can be altered and the EQ presets modified. The sub can also be switched to night mode which reduces the output, but most importantly the front-mounted, retina-burning blue led light can be dimmed or turned off altogether.

I’ve been straining hard to think of something that didn’t impress me with this sub but, other that it's pricey, I can’t. It’s small, good-looking, got power for Africa and sounds great!

For your nearest Velodyne dealer

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