New Addition to SPL-R Family
Employee Spotlight - Rick Yoder
Selecting the Right Sub for Your Room
Are you Buying from an Authorized Velodyne Dealer?
Subwoofers as Part of a Distributed Audio System
Velodyne at EHX
Another Award for Velodyne
New Addition to SPL-R Family
Velodyne is introducing a new member of the SPL-R Series - the SPL-1500R. The SPL-R Series is now a family of four with the SPL-800R, SPL-1000R, SPL-1200R and now the SPL-1500R. This new addition builds on the same high performance you've come to
expect from the SPL-R Series with 2000 watts dynamic and 1000 watts RMS power. We
decided to introduce the SPL-1500R because the architecture of so many homes today
require a large subwoofer due to high ceilings and open rooms that flow from one to
the next. We kept the tradition of Small, Plays Loud with the SPL-1500R and you'll
find it's the smallest and best performing 15" subwoofer available. The SPL-1500R
will be available in either black pica or cherry finishes and you'll see it in stores
starting in May. The suggested retail price is $2,099.
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Employee Spotlight
Rick Yoder, Velodyne's R&D Technician, is the focus of this issue's Employee Spotlight. Every company has their "go-to" person that has expertise in so many areas. That person at Velodyne is Rick. He is our "jack-of-all-trades" and one of our most valuable assets.
You need someone who is proficient in acoustics, electronics, mechanics, materials and machine tools? Find Rick. What about plastics, metal, fiberglass and adhesives? Same story. That's why when you try and describe Rick's job function,
the same word always comes up - everything. Officially, Rick assists with product
development which includes prototyping, production fixturing and tooling. But that's
just the tip of the iceberg. He's worked on so many projects and has been heavily
involved in developing the mechanical aspects of all our current products in how they
look and operate. That's what he likes best about working at Velodyne - the flexibility,
having input on future product development and working on different types of projects.
He sees the subwoofer business heading towards sophisticated and technologically advanced products that integrate with other systems. He says technology is okay as long as it produces accurate and truthful sound. As long as Rick's around we know that won't be a problem with Velodyne products!
Rick has been with Velodyne for five years and came to us with a background in music and 20 years car audio experience at both the retail and competition level. He has a son and daughter and outside of Velodyne spends time with his other passion as a professional RC car racing driver.
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Selecting the Right Sub for Your Room
To truly get the feeling of a dynamic home theater, enough air must be moved to pressurize the room so as to create a deeply felt visceral effect. This effect adds a dimension to home theater that, once heard and felt, will cause the viewer never to experience home theater the same way again. This is not always an issue of price or the customer's budget. Many customers spend $800 to $1000 or more for a subwoofer that cannot adequately fill the space they plan to put it in with high quality bass.
In recent years, this situation has been amplified by two key factors: the desire by the consumer to make the subwoofer disappear, and the architecture of newer homes. The excitement over flat-screen TVs has created a desire to have all the elements in a home theater system shrink or disappear altogether. This is just as true of selection of a subwoofer as any other element. It has led to a huge increase in sales of small, high-powered subs like the MiniVee, SPL-800R, SPL-1000R and DD-10, who's performance far surpasses anything available in their size in the past.
However, new home architectures with open spaces and rooms that are open and flow into one another create huge spaces. No longer is the listening area the defined space of a single room, but may include an entire floor of a home and the space above enclosed in a cathedral ceiling. The space the bass must now fill is enormous, and frankly, no single 8" or 10" from any manufacturer can adequately fill it and create dynamic bass that you can truly feel. It's a physical impossibility.
To use an example, think of the problem of cooling your home with an air-conditioner. It's a little easier to select the right size because they are rated as to cooling capacity and you have a reference as to what size space they will efficiently cool. If you choose a unit that is rated for a smaller area or single room and try to make it cool your whole house you won't get adequate cooling and your unit will run continuously. Trying to fill a huge space with a tiny sub is similar; you won't get the bass you are looking for and the tiny sub will be working at its capacity to try to do the job.
This doesn't mean you can't find a solution. There are several depending on your budget. First, you could address the issue of "disappearing" by placing a larger sub with a 15" or 18" driver/speaker and a powerful amplifier in a closet with a large vented wall grill that allows the bass to freely enter the room. Depending on your budget, a DLS-5000R, SPL-1500R (coming in May), DD-15 or DD-18 would be ideal for this application.
If this isn't practical, try multiple subs. Two 12" subs, like the DLS-4000R, SPL-1200R or DD-12, will give you the output of the 15" subs in their respective series and are still small enough to be easily placed relatively unobtrusively. If the area is not so large, two DLS-3750Rs, SPL-1000Rs or DD-10s will give you the output of the 12" subs in their series and are very easily placed out of the way.
If you are not faced with a concern for the "invisibility" of the subwoofer and can accept a larger cabinet in your listening area, don't hesitate to use a 15" or even an 18". The benefits of these larger driver models (DLS-5000R, SPL-1500R, DD-15 or DD-18) will be apparent immediately; deep visceral bass that hits you in your gut and makes your pants flap. This is the home theater experience that the customer was hoping for and he doesn't have to have a huge budget to live the experience. On the other hand, if he wants the ultimate bass experience, the digital room bass EQ capabilities of the SPL-R or DD series sets them apart and above the rest of the industry.
For more help on choosing the right subwoofer for your space, visit the "Subwoofer Recommendations" page on our website There you'll find a guide that first asks how many cubic feet are in the space you're trying to fill. Don't forget to count ALL the space!
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Are you Buying from an Authorized Velodyne Dealer?
Are you thinking of buying a Velodyne product over the internet? If so, make sure the e-tailer is an authorized online Velodyne dealer. Velodyne products are sold
through a network of authorized dealers. Some of these carefully selected dealers
may have internet sites on which they are authorized to sell a select mix of our products. Velodyne factory warranty is only valid on products purchased from an authorized Velodyne dealer. You should also know we do not sell Digital Drive subwoofers over the web, under any circumstances.
Our factory warranty is NOT valid if you purchase a Velodyne product from an unauthorized dealer, or you purchase a Velodyne product with a serial number that has been removed, defaced or changed.
How do you know if a dealer is authorized to sell Velodyne products over the web? There are two ways. Go to the Velodyne website (www.velodyne.com) and on the gray navigation bar, find "Dealer Locator." You'll see that section has four dropdowns. Click on "Online." The online page displays all the authorized online Velodyne dealers along with a listing of products they are authorized to sell. The second way is look for the Velodyne Authorized Online Dealer seal. If a website has that seal, you know it's safe to buy from them. You can find a copy of that seal on the online page of our site and also accompanying this article. If you are ever in doubt, contact Velodyne directly to verify a dealer's status.
Remember...do your research before you buy and Caveat Emptor…
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Subwoofers as Part of a Distributed Audio System
Distributed audio systems are becoming more and more common. However, the sound is rarely as lifelike as it is in the main theater, in part because distributed sound systems usually do not include a subwoofer - they only employ bookshelf or in-wall speakers. Therefore, they usually lack realistic bass response because:
- In-walls often sound good through most of the spectrum but are weak in the bass when compared to a free standing tower loudspeaker.
- Sheetrock wall construction absorbs bass energy.
- Most freestanding subwoofers don't lend themselves easily to distributed audio systems. They are simply too big.
MiniVee's powerful, 1,000-watt amp; compact, rugged driver; and small, easy-to-hide, attractive cabinet are perfect for this application. It provides powerful bass for more lifelike music in key rooms, making distributed audio sound better!
Subwoofers aren't just for Home Theater anymore!
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Velodyne at EHX
EHX Spring, the leading custom electronics event and the fastest growing custom
electronics trade show in America, was held last week, March 30th through April 1st, at
the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL. Velodyne, in Booth #1837, previewed
the SubContractor™ Series, soon to be the new standard for built-in subwoofers. In
addition, at this very busy show, Velodyne displayed the SMS-1 bass management
system, Digital Drive and SPL-R Series subwoofers, including the new SPL-1500R – soon
to be the smallest and best performing 15” sub on the market. On the last day of the
show we gave away a DLS-3750R to one lucky winner. Be sure and check out the Events
section of the Velodyne website as we’ll be announcing the winner very soon.
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Another Award for Velodyne
The Subwoofer Management System (SMS-1) received the Best of 2005 award for audio
processors from Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity. This award capped a
record-breaking year for Velodyne for industry awards and citations for our DSP-based
subwoofer technology. Velodyne received 12 awards in 2005, including three subwoofer
of the year awards, from publications around the globe representing the United States,
United Kingdom, Australia and Russia. Besides the SMS-1, the Velodyne subwoofer
series that won the awards include the Digital Drive Series (DD-10, DD-12 and DD-18),
the SPL-R Series (SPL-800R), the CHT-R Series (CHT-12R) and the SPL Series II (SPL-1200
Series II). A complete listing can be found on the Velodyne website. Click here.
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