Has anyone heard the new Velodyne Impact subs yet? I'm thinking of getting one. Will be auditioning the Impact 12 this weekend (with the following setup - Onkyo 805 AVR, PSB Image T45 fronts, Alpha C1 center, Alpha B1 surrounds). The Velodyne will be going up against the PSB Subsonic 5i (I know it's a mismatch between the Impact's 12" vs. the 5i's 10" but was originally planning to get the 5i, when the sales guy at A & L offered the Impact 12 for a RM100 price difference so I thought to myself "Why the heck not?"...

I don't know the actual price yet TBH. I was quoted a package price for the whole system and the A & L guy told me later that I could get the Impact 12 for an additional RM100. I recently went shopping for a 5.1 speaker setup and decided to get the setup mentioned in my last post. Getting the speakers from A & L Sg Wang. Dealt with a sales guy named Rick and hv no complaints. In fact, am quite pleased with the service. He will be delivering the speakers over to my home this weekend and it was he who offered to bring both subs with him so i can audition them in my own home. Very decent of him, actually. That being said, I must say that i hv had an overall pleasant speaker auditioning experience at all of the places I visited recently...

Yea thats the guy. He even speaks English with a funny Canto accent But I like him and agree that he is accommodating. There was a separate thread in this forum on LCLY sales ppl and he definitely does NOT fall into that category...

This post has been edited by augustinesoh: Nov 7 2008, 01:23 PM

Have not heard the SW150, but I have the Impact-12 (the 12" version of the Impact-10) and find it great for HT / movies. Packs enough low-end oomph for movie soundtracks. At least at my typical movie listening levels (wife already complaining & I'm sure some neighbours grumbling!). But am not really happy with its music performance. Listening to my jazz and classical music collection, I find the low bass notes lack definition - for example, the plucked double bass notes on most of my jazz and orchestral recordings sound 'muddled' and the Impact has trouble keeping up with the faster bass tracks. I would have personally preferred a 'tighter' bass response for my music-listening. So, I am already on the upgrade track less than two months after getting my Impact sub! Looking at trading up to the new CHT-Q series when they hit Msian shores in a couple of weeks' time (or so i am told by the local Velodyne distributor, A & L Audio). I emailed Curt C of Velodyne and was told that they perform similarly to the current CHT-R subs, but come with 8-band auto-EQ. Of course, he did also recommend the DD or SPL series if i really wanted great musical performance from my sub! * Ouch * Also considering (remotely) the SVS.

BTW, how big is your listening room/area? What would your typical usage pattern be (% movies, music)? Budget? The Impact-10 might suit if you're mostly for watching movies and have a smallish room size...

Yeah, if budget permits, definitely go for the CHT-R. The Impacts are their entry level subs & priced accordingly. Where did you buy from?

Yep. The CHT-Q series. I understand this is the next-generation to replace the CHT-R series. If you go to the Velodyne website and download the user manuals for Velodyne's newer models, you will see at the back (near the last page, where they give a listing of their entire subwoofer product line) that the CHT-Q is listed but not the CHT-R.

I actually emailed Curt of Velodyne about them and here is his reply:-



Rick from A & L told me they should be arriving in abt 2 weeks' time (but that was abt 2 weeks ago!). I suppose this means it should be anytime soon... I'm waiting to audition the CHT-12Q as a replacement/upgrade form my current Impact-12 (which I find to be just fine for movies but a little lacking in the musicality department).

Just spoke to Rick of A & L yesterday and hear that the new CHT-Q series is already available for audition. Will try to check one out sometime this week...

Did they have the CHT-12Q there for demo/audition also? Am looking to upgrade from my Impact-12 to this...

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Added on December 24, 2008, 10:36 amHaha! I think it's a good strategy but doomed to failure in the end. One day you'll be walking with the missus around some shopping mall and suddenly (accidentally ) pass by a hifi shop and say to yourself, Aiya what the heck since i'm already here what's the harm in checking it out (not that i'm actually going to buy anything right)?

This post has been edited by augustinesoh: Dec 24 2008, 10:36 AM

Thanks fr the heads-up. But i read somewhere that they dont ship to Msia?

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Added on December 24, 2008, 6:58 pmHappens to me all the time, too... *sigh*

This post has been edited by augustinesoh: Dec 24 2008, 06:58 PM

Not really.

Did consider it but briefly. Those HSUs arent exactly high on the WAF ratings and not exactly a bargain at the current exchange rates. If I did plonk for something like that, would probably go for an SVS over a HSU. Realistically, am contented looking at the Velo CHT-12Q at the moment...

U might want to call him first. From what I understand, he may be at the new A & L outlet in IOI Mall... I too have plans to visit him today to audition the new CHT-Q models.

Heheh, good on you

So, how did your visit go? Did u manage to check out the Ultra? Almost afraid to ask what the price is

Anyway, Rick is bringing the CHT-Q over to my place for audition tomorrow afternoon. Will let you know how it goes...

OK, Rick came over with both the CHT-10Q and CHT-12Q yesterday afternoon but i only auditioned the 12Q. To cut a long story short I ended up getting the 12Q. Am watching Transformers BD right now & the CHT-12Q is great! HTkaki, if the SPL-1200R eclipses the CHT series then i can't imagine the improvement...

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Added on December 28, 2008, 7:18 pmThe CHT-Q series is the new generation of the CHT-R. Performance-wise, they are very similar but the new Q-series adds an 5-band Auto-EQ function and pack a little more power in the amp.

The blue LED display on the front of the Q-series can be turned off using the remote. It stays off until you change a setting (e.g., change the volume), when it will turn on briefly to show the new setting then turn back off again.

This post has been edited by augustinesoh: Dec 28 2008, 07:18 PM

OK, HSU just came back with a quote: full landed cost (including base cost + shipping/taxes/duties/fees) for
VTF-2 MK3 Satin Black is $1074 USD. Anyone interested?

What i did with my new CHT-12Q after i'd set it up in the location previously occupied by my Impact-12 was -

1. Reset the CHT-12Q to factory default settings by pressing the preset key combination 1-2-3-4-4-3-2-1. This was necessary as Rick and I had been messing with the sub's settings after he'd brought the unit over to my home for audition earlier.

2. Attached the mic and ran the sub's built-in auto-eq function and let it do its thing. This took just seconds as all it did was emit a series of short frequency sweeps (12, i think) and automatically sets and saves the eq setting.

3. Set the sub's preset to preset no. 3 (Jazz - Classical) which, according to the manual, has the flattest frequency response curve of the four presets.

4. Using my SPL meter at my primary listening position, manually set the sub's level to approx. 75dB. This required a volume level of 8 on the sub with a dB level of -3.0dB in the Onkyo's subwoofer level calibration screen.

5. Ran Audyssey (measured the full 8 positions), reviewed and saved the Audyssey settings. Audyssey nudged the Onkyo's sub level up a tad to -2.5dB after the calibration run. Next, went back into the Onkyo's setup and manually set all the speakers' crossover settings to 80Hz THX (Audyssey had set them all (Front, Center and Surrounds) to Full Band).

6. Using a test DVD, checked the sub's phase setting and picked the one that gave the loudest, most even response/levels (which happened in my case to be 0). The CHT-12Q lets you pick from 4 possible phase settings - 0, 90, 180 and 270.

7. Finally, popped my Transformers BD into my PS3, selected the Movie preset (Preset 1), sat back and savoured the new solid thumping bass!!

Now, I can't say for sure that my method of calibration above is correct or will yield the best results, but my reasoning is that i would first use the CHT-12Q's built-in 5-band auto-eq to even out the frequency response curve as best as it can (which would be a bit limited given it can only work with 5 bands - this sub's auto-eq uses traditional parametric equalisation to even out the peaks and dips in the freq response curve).

The theory being that doing so beforehand would then give the Audyssey calibration a better starting point to do its thing.

I did read a forum thread somewhere (can't remember where now) that discussed the pros and cons of running Velodyne's SMS-1 (which is of course a more advanced software-based parametric equalisation) in conjunction with the Audyssey calibration. What i took away from that was the Velodyne reps saying it was OK to use both at the same time (SMS-1 followed by Audyssey) with the Audyssey people saying you should use only Audyssey. IIRC, the thread starter finally ended up using just the Audyssey settings after doing comparison testing on his own set-up.

Not sure, as i have yet to try it this way. However, logic would dictate running the sub's more basic auto-eq first followed by Audyssey.

The CHT-Q auto-eq relies on a simple 5-band parametric equaliser to even out the FR, whereas Audyssey corrects for hundreds (thousands?) of points and is supposed to adjust not only the levels and distances but also corrects in the time domain, i.e., it accounts for delays and reflections in its measurements and corrections.

So I would say run auto-eq first followed by Audyssey.

Audyssey FAQ
AVS Forum Official Audyssey Thread

Of the 3? The CHT-12R, but if you can pay a few hundred more then go for the new 12Q. It has similar performance to the 12R but comes with Auto-EQ function and 25 more watts of amplifier power.

You should be able to get a better price from A & L. There were a few posts earlier in this forum that mentions a lower price for the CHT-12R from them...