Customer Reviews:
 It's a great sub for what it is. April 8, 2008
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
This sub is what happens when you have a top brand name in the subwoofer world among the retail brands (as opposed to Internet Direct companies), who decides to make the smallest possible sub that makes any sense. This sub has the features and quality you expect in a high end audiophile sub costing a thousand dollars or more. Velodyne knows subs...they make subs from very low end ones to flagship models costing thousands. And they sound good too.
So here comes the MicroVee. It's a NINE INCH cube. This thing is **tiny** (look at the gallery photos I posted). It has a tiny 6.5 inch high excursion driver with a massive 4 lb magnet structure. 1000W of power, and a solid aluminum case with dual passive radiators. (Not to get too technical...but a passive radiator is basically a speaker driver without voicecoil but having one enables a speaker design to be have more bass output in the deepest frequencies). The thing weighs 20lbs which is pretty hefty. Pretty serious hardware which explains why it costs as much as some subs that are large as small refrigerators. It initially was announced with a MSRP of $999, which I can envision prompted some people to roll around on the floor laughing when they first read about it. (note: street price may be a lot less than that). The first thing they probably pointed out is that the spec reads the sub has +/-3dB down to 38Hz, which means the sub is not really putting out tones that are considered very deep bass. Most (much larger) subs of this price range can go as deep as 20Hz which is more felt than heard. The whole point of a subwoofer is to reproduce frequencies which are below that of normal speakers. Heck a lot of bookshelf speakers are rated down to 50Hz so 38Hz lower bass figure is not very impressive. And secondly, does anybody really need such a small sub? Velodyne's own Minivee line is only slightly larger and puts out deeper bass for about the same price or less. By the way, I measured the frequency response and they are exactly right, the -3dB point is pretty much 38Hz, it's probably down -10dB around 33Hz or so. So it would seem based on the specs that this sub is pretty pointless, and you should not even consider it especially given its high price.
Well, let me explain why I bought one. I see this sub as a subwoofer you want to use for a small secondary system, one that you put into a small den, kitchen, workout room, or with a computer system. If you look at some of the computer speakers that cost say, $200 for a 2.1 system, you'll realize that the subs in those systems are pretty much rubbish. Boomy muddy sounding bass mostly is the order the day. This is Velodyne's answer to those subs....you can have a sub as small as those cheap "computer subs", but with all the quality that a high end sub can offer. It does a good job filling in the bass that's missing from the very small satellite cube speakers, and it has the controls and set of inputs and outputs so you can integrate it into any system, from your $150 Tivoli radio, to a set of $500 NHT M-00 active pro monitors, to your $100 Logitech computer speakers or even a full blown home theater system.
I was on a mission to reduce my desk clutter, but I wanted to get serious about the sound, so I bought very high quality active ($1300) speakers but I wanted a bit more kick in the bass. I didn't want a sub that took up all the floor space around my desk, and I didn't want just any sub that would drown my high quality speakers with muddy bass. So this sub was the perfect candidate. I didn't need a sub that can reproduce the feeling of an earthquake, I just wanted more foundation in the bass, it just adds a bit more bass and dynamics to the sound where the speakers start to strain in the bass. And I am happy, it does exactly that, but with good sound quality that compares to what I get with my larger sub that I run in my main home theater (I own a SVS brand sub in my other system...a well known high value brand)
This sub is very flexible. It has high level inputs to connect directly to your stereo amp, but has low level inputs with adjustable and defeatable crossover to connect to your subwoofer output on your receiver. It also has pass-through minijacks so you can connect your active computer speakers, and an input minijack (with an included cable) that works easily with your iPod, computer or laptop. The other thing I like is that the front grill is actually perforated metal but covered with fabric, so if you actually kick the front grille, your foot won't go through the driver. Important if you stuff this sub under your desk.
If you don't need the smallest sub possible, then I definitely think you should look at some of the larger offerings as they offer more bass for your (probably less) money. But if you truly need a sub this small, this is as good as they come. For an alternative that is slightly larger, look at the MiniVee line, the Paradigm Ultracube or Definite Technology Supercube III which will outperform this sub, but adds an inch or two to each dimension in size.
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