Velodyne DD10+ or JL Fathom 12?
 

My next upgrade will be a subwoofer to supplement my lowest bass notes and to help correct room issues.

Automatic room correction, sealed box, response to 20hz, and reputation for musicality/low distortion are a must. Under $3k.

Velodyne DD10+ and JL Fathom 12 both fit this bill.

Thoughts? Feelings?

Servo-controlled subwoofers make sense to me and I am therefore drawn to Velodyne.

I love my Velodyne DD15+. It is fast and keeps up with my Magnepan speakers and the room correction works like a champ. I wish I had gone for two 10" subs tho. Mine is 6 months old. Would consider selling for 40-50 percent off so I could buy two 10 inch dd+ subs. Sounds like jl 113 owners are equally happy. And if going for just 1 sub I would choose the larger JL vs the Velodyne.

Dpod4:

Thanks for the comment. First off, great system you have there! Second, just a couple questions:

Why do you say you wish you would have gone for two 10" subs? Stereo rather than mono? Better fit with your room?

Why do you say that if you were going for just 1 sub, then you would choose the larger JL?

Cheers,
Karl

You're a DIY'er, build your own servo subs. Rythmik Audio 12" servo subwoofer " DS1200 Custom Installation subwoofer

If you have the space, multiple subs(2, preferably 4) would resolve your room issues without DSP. Their plate amps also have parametric EQ controls.

Face: Thanks for the link. I didn't realize servo kits are now available. Reading that page, I yearn to try one out.

Sadly, I barely have any time for good listening sessions these days, and my DIY ambitions are indefinitely on hold.

This upgrade will likely be an easy/single off-the-shelf solution with room correct built-in. True plug and play is what I am looking for.

Hi, Karl. I would go for two smaller versus 1 for 3 reasons.
1. Ability for phase control in 2 channel and splitting left and right signals even tho I have a crossover at low # (50hz). Everyone I have talked to say for music two subs run in stereo beat one.
2. More placement options.
3. 15" Velodyne isn't small. Visually I'd rather have 2 smaller ones.

One upside of 15" is it has no problem moving air or reaching deep so works really well with HT and no complaints on how it integrates into 2 channel music. Very happy.

I would choose the JL 13" over Velo 10" if choosing to buy just one due to larger surface area, magnet etc. not sure if JL has room acoustics software as sweet as Velo but I imagine Velo and JL are two feathers of the same bird.

Hi Karl Just wondering how the selection process was going?

They both really are great products !

Douglax:

Thanks for checking in. The selection process is going slowly as I'm contemplating where I want to take my system in the long term.

I know that eventually I want to replace my DIY towers with something better. They use very capable 7" XBL^2 long throw woofers, a nice 4.5" XBL^2 paper cone midrange, and a pretty good soft done tweeter. In room, I've got real response down to 30hz, but I have some "port bloat" that goes along with using 7" woofers, a port, and no high pass crossover. I also have no bass correction, so there are necessarily a few room-related nodes (suck-outs and peaks) that are impossible to fully treat with passive treatment. While the soft dome tweeter (still used by Usher Audio in some of its commercial speakers) and the paper midrange measure well and are fairly low in distortion relative to many midranges and tweeters in commercial speakers, I know that more performance in the mids and highs are available. Particularly, I know that I could gain faster decay, lower harmonic distortion, and higher resolution up and down the frequency spectrum.

I'm very happy with my Wyred4Sound DAC-2 and MA6600.

Long story short, er, long, I'm looking at some level of speaker/sub change within the next year or so. It probably makes sense to start with the subwoofer, as it will work with my current speakers and new speakers.

Subwoofers are between the JL and the Velodyne, and I'm currently leaning toward a 15" Velodyne.

Speakers being considered include:
KEF Reference (considering the 201/2 monitors through 205/2 speakers)
BW 802D
PMC EB2i, IB2i
Wilson Sophia 3

The KEF Reference 201/2 or 203/2 speakers plus the Velodyne subwoofer is where I am leaning currently. As a guy that has read his share of DIY speaker building literature and measured a few speakers, I have great respect for John Atkinson's reviews and measurements in Stereophile. The latest KEF Reference line seems to be one of the best measuring lines that Stereophile reviews for the price. I like the design philosophy of a sealed midrange that is coaxial and coincident with the tweeter. Further, I like that I could not build the KEF Reference speakers due to this feature.

IMOP the JL sounds a little faster and tighter bass, but the vel is a good unit too:)

Hrm... I've heard lower measured distortion on the Velodynes due to the servo control, but better speed on the JLs. Which is more important? I suppose speed is more important for integration purposes.