Anyone own a member of Velodyne's SPL....

OrangeToupee

... series? I'm seriously thinking of trying to obtain the SPL-1000 for musical applications. Has anyone heard both the HSU VTF-2 and the Velodyne SPL-1000, and have something to say about them?

OrangeToupee

Bump .... come on, no one has a velodyne SPL subwoofer? I'm curious as to how much better the SPL-1000 would be than my CT-120. I'm not asking for much.

Ron-P

If you have the means, why not build one. YOu could equal if not better the preformance at a much lower cost.

I plan to start my sonosub this weekend. Got the 15" Tempest driver last week and the amp is due to arrive today. Saturday is going to be fun.


Peace Out~:D

OrangeToupee

That is a good suggestion, although I'm not sure if I really need the headache of learning another craft right now. Plus, what if I screwed it up? There would be no one to blame but myself.

By the way, I notice that you use the 55i's for your mains and I just recently picked up a pair of 55i's, boy I was in for a surprise; they're nothing like the 800i's or 35i's which I also own. I consider the 55i's to be a "full range" speaker that's really fun to listen to. The others, while I like them also and for different reasons, scream subwoofer at me. I didn't realize that the 55i's were so much wider and deeper, it gives them a completely different larynx, they seem so at ease with themselves. While the specs seem to indicate that 800i's can get a little deeper, it's clear to me that the 55i's realistically play lower and are more effective in that sense. They have that big barrel chest and reproduce base with an effortlessness that the 800i's clearly cannot match. The 800i's struggle for true oomph at lower Hz levels, whereas the 55i's are at home regardless of what we're listening to. It really came as a surprise to me, I just figured they would be somewhere in between the others that I own. Not true, it's entirely it's own speaker, and frankly an easier speaker to live with. That isn't to say that the 35i's and 800i's coupled with a subwoofer doesn't produce a better sound, because they do. And I think the 55i's with subwoofer wouldn't be as good as the other with a subwoofer, but it's nice that they can stand alone and provide a very satisfying sound.

I should point out that this is just my opinion after roughly a week of listening, and I'll probably be told that I'm a f****** idiot.
Thanks, orange

danger boy

I guess I never listened to the 55i's and maybe I should have before I bought my 800i's. I must be from old school.. because I thought that bookshelf speakers could never match or over come the bass that towers put out. I am somewhat displeased with the bass from the RT800i's. I first tried out the RT1000i's and found that the powered subs in them along with my PSW350 would be overkill. If only I had kept the 1000i's and not the 800i's. BUt I guess lots of people tastes change over time. mine certianly did.
But my point is.. i guess with good high quality built bookshelves like Polk's, bass will always be there.

Hey I learned something new today. :cool:

Ron-P

I agree Orange. You are not a F'ing idiot:) I actually have the RT55s, no "i" and love these things to death. I tried the 800, but did not like them. Too boomy and muddy sounding for me. The 55s produce such a nice tight punch, its awesome. When I listen to music, no sub is needed with these bookshelves.

Peace Out~:D

RuSsMaN

YOU ARE ALL F%^&(*G IDIOTS!!!

j/k;)

I love a good bookshelf design, and in my book, $ for $, RT55(i) was a great model. Different Polks for different folks, but I always felt the 55 could stand alone musically, without a sub. Not saying a sub would not enhance the experience (for some), but it had a tight top to (pretty much) bottom sound, especially with 'nice' gear....

It is on my 'wish list', but probably down the road a bit.....

Cheers,
Russ

Aaron

From my experience the RT55's don't have more bass than the RT800's, and it doesn't make sense that they would. What you're experiencing is likely due to room accoustics. Depending where I sit in my room my RT55's can sound like they have more bass than my RT800's. Neither speaker is what I would consider truly full range. They both need a subwoofer for music.

Aaron

SPEAKER7

I have a pair of 800i's......they sound pretty decent but I would still prefer using my sub when listening to music....It's too bad there wasn't a built in passive sub with these towers......!

OrangeToupee

I have to disagree, Aaron, what I hear from the 55i's is a legitimate and full bass response. It's thick, natural and fills the room. The 800i's may hit the notes, but it sounds thin and even contrived to me. The 55i's just seem to be imbued with an honest base reproduction, it's organic and ear pleasing, it rolls out and seems to have a more authentic decay. This is also very noticeable at low volume, and I think that is interesting; the 800i's don't even seem to play bass at minimal listening levels. The 55i's sure do, they maintain an even keel throughout.

Look at the two of them when placed side-by-side, it starts to make sense then. Sometimes size (thank god, not to women) does matter.

The 55i's just sound more coherent to me, they just seem to make more sense, like the unit is whole and on sure footing.

"Authentic decay?" I don't think I even know what that means, lol.

Ron-P

They both need a subwoofer for music.

I disagree with Aaron on this. It is true that speaker placement and room acoustics play a large part in sound quality and that is mainly why I did not like the 800s. I must say the 55s do such a perfect job with music that a sub is not needed, at least in my application.

Peace Out~:D

Aaron

I'm not saying the RT800's have better bass than the RT55's (or even sound better for that matter), I'm just saying they produce a bit more of it and a little deeper. Bass "down" to 47Hz. at -3dB is not full range. No offense, but have you guys ever heard a speaker that goes down to the mid to lower 20's?

Aaron

goingganzo

i got the 800 caues i like the look of hte floorstanding speaker than the book shelf speaker on a stand so i never looked at the 55 but in the ls series i like the book shelf over the floor standing i just dont like 8 inch woofers i pefer a 12 or larger

shack

I too use the rt55is as my mains and I am going to have to agree with both Aaron and Ron/Orange. The 800s produce more bass but to my ear it is not better bass. I listened to the 800s and 55s extensively before I decided on the 55s. They seem to have tighter bass and I guess that can be considered more "musical". When listening to cds I often go to 2 channel stereo even though I have both PLII and 5 channel stereo. The music really sounds good with just these 2 speakers. I have always had floorstanders in the past (New Advents) and never thought that you could get really good full range sound from bookshelf speakers. The 55s proved that was a myth and are the reason my system is all Polk.

goingganzo

hey ron are you still going the sono tube or box and what are you using to cut the circle for your sub?

OrangeToupee

"No offense, but have you guys ever heard a speaker that goes down to the mid to lower 20's?"

It's funny, you know I still have a pair of massive, 13 yearl old Cerwin Vega At-15's in the family; I gave them to my mother (LOL!) to use as home theater mains. I also bought her a CS245i to go with them. Laugh all you want, but you'd be surprised at how reasonable that setup sounds. Truly thunderous bass response, and the polk center (cranked at about +6) balances that with clear dialog, etc.

Anyway, the point was yes, I have heard speakers get down into the lower twenties and perhaps lower; these vega's are quite likely as or more bass capable than my CT-120. I guess when I said "full-range" what I meant was "full-enough-range," which I cannot say for the 800i's. They don't stand up by themselves, in my opinion; they leave me with a confused look on my face after about ten minutes, while the 55i's leave me with an "oh, yeah, that's how that was supposed to sound" look on my face.

mantis

I agree on the rt55 vs the rt800 deal, the rt55i's are clear winner's.Tight clean bass clearer mid to high responce.The rt800 sounds to me like a sloppy speaker, it's not tight at all,the mis to high responce is dirty.I don't care for them at all.I have listened to them 100 times over the last 3 years and time and time again I think they just don't sound right.My rt1000p's clearly sound tighter(when sub is set up correctly) the mid to high seems more natural.I like the idea of a non powered tower, I always have, but sound quality is whats important at the end of the day.
Dan

Ron-P

hey ron are you still going the sono tube or box and what are you using to cut the circle for your sub?

Sonotube!

I've got the tube, the MDF the 250 watt plate amp, the 15" Tempest driver and all other materials. Just picked up two 36" lengths of 1/2" all-thread this morning that will tie the ends caps together.

I've designed a device for my jig-saw. It is an 18" piece of 1/4" pressboard with a box frame at one end that the jig sits in. At the other end I will drill a small hole with the proper measurements (1/2 the total radius of the sonotube) from jig blade to hole, roughly 10". Drill a small hole in the MDF run a bolt thru and fire it up. Makes for a perfect circle.

When done, this thing will be tuned to 18Hz.


Peace Out~:D