As you may know I have been using my ProAc 1SCs for many years and have stuck with them due to their superb midrange and wonderful drive unit integration and coherence. They produce pretty reasonable bass for their size, but of course it is not earth shaking and this lack of deep bass is their only major failing IMO. Over the years, I have had several attempts at using a sub with them, but none of the subs I have tried have truly integrated bass, though some were pretty good like the MJ Ref1. Inevitably I always ended up going back to the speakers sans sub.
Not any more. I have managed to get my hands on a practically new Velodyne DD12 sub, and to cut to the chase it is far and away the best sub I have ever heard. The 1SC and Velodyne combo produces an astonishingly high level of sound quality which IMO is only beaten by very expensive speakers. They sound absolutely massive! The integration and sense of control and timing you get with this setup is awesome not to mention the sheer bass extension - flat to 15 Hz. It gives a truly visceral quality to any music. The bass is remarkably clean and dynamic too, I am hearing new things in virtually every track I put on. I have never heard deep bass so free from distortion, and it is vastly better than the leaden, thumpy bass quality you get from the likes of REL.
For those not familiar with Velodyne subs, the DD12 sits fairly high up their range. It is a fairly compact sealed box sub with a massively engineered, servo controlled 12"drive unit which is driven by a 1250W digital amp. Velodyne claim a <1% distortion level at 20 hz at 100db which is very impressive. The real clever thing about the sub though is the digital EQ software built in. The sub comes with a microphone and generates frequency sweeps so it is possible to measure the outputs and equalise the response using a whole host of settings including parametric equalisation.
I thought it was worth showing the steps taken to set up the sub in my system for the sub connoisseurs our there. These are initial settings, and so things may change as I experiment with other connection methods. (I am currently using the sub outs on the Audio Research.)
1. Positiong the sub.
I positioned the sub in a spare space between the ProAcs and a little bit away from the corner of the room.
Close up of sub
The next thing to do was to conect the sub to the Plasma display in order to operate the EQ software. This is a pic of the front page screen
To carry out frequency mesurement, the microphone is placed at the listening position :
First of all, I did a frequency response measurement of the 1SCs without the sub, to see where the best crossover frequency would be. The really surprising thing is that considering their size, the bass response from the little ProAcs is surprisingly deep, there is bass output in right down to 30hz.
I then decided to try crossover frequencies from between 30-40 hz and after some fiddling, ended up with a crossover frequency of 35 hz and a 12db/octave slope (the DD12 allows adjustments from 6 to 48 db/octave).
I then experimented with the parametric equalisation. You can have up to 8 equalisation points at frequencies you choose (by moving the sliders to the frequency you want to adjust) and then you can give up to 6 db gain or 12 db cut at that frquency, and also adjust the Q for that frequency.
Using the parametric equalisation, I ended up with this frequency plot :
The sub has integrated seamlessly and I have a pretty flat response right down to 15 hz. Note, the peak at 80 hz and the dip from 160-200hz. I may be able to work on these by repositioning the 1SCs, but as I do sit close to the back wall, there are always likely to be some respose uneveness IMO. However, the system sounds so damn good, I dont know whether I will bother.
As you can probably tell, I am delighted with the results obtained. If anyone is in the market for more bass from their system, I would strongly recommend them trying out a sub from the DD series. These subs are light years ahead of any of the UK manufacturers subs.
Cheers, Robbo
Not any more. I have managed to get my hands on a practically new Velodyne DD12 sub, and to cut to the chase it is far and away the best sub I have ever heard. The 1SC and Velodyne combo produces an astonishingly high level of sound quality which IMO is only beaten by very expensive speakers. They sound absolutely massive! The integration and sense of control and timing you get with this setup is awesome not to mention the sheer bass extension - flat to 15 Hz. It gives a truly visceral quality to any music. The bass is remarkably clean and dynamic too, I am hearing new things in virtually every track I put on. I have never heard deep bass so free from distortion, and it is vastly better than the leaden, thumpy bass quality you get from the likes of REL.
For those not familiar with Velodyne subs, the DD12 sits fairly high up their range. It is a fairly compact sealed box sub with a massively engineered, servo controlled 12"drive unit which is driven by a 1250W digital amp. Velodyne claim a <1% distortion level at 20 hz at 100db which is very impressive. The real clever thing about the sub though is the digital EQ software built in. The sub comes with a microphone and generates frequency sweeps so it is possible to measure the outputs and equalise the response using a whole host of settings including parametric equalisation.
I thought it was worth showing the steps taken to set up the sub in my system for the sub connoisseurs our there. These are initial settings, and so things may change as I experiment with other connection methods. (I am currently using the sub outs on the Audio Research.)
1. Positiong the sub.
I positioned the sub in a spare space between the ProAcs and a little bit away from the corner of the room.
Close up of sub
The next thing to do was to conect the sub to the Plasma display in order to operate the EQ software. This is a pic of the front page screen
To carry out frequency mesurement, the microphone is placed at the listening position :
First of all, I did a frequency response measurement of the 1SCs without the sub, to see where the best crossover frequency would be. The really surprising thing is that considering their size, the bass response from the little ProAcs is surprisingly deep, there is bass output in right down to 30hz.
I then decided to try crossover frequencies from between 30-40 hz and after some fiddling, ended up with a crossover frequency of 35 hz and a 12db/octave slope (the DD12 allows adjustments from 6 to 48 db/octave).
I then experimented with the parametric equalisation. You can have up to 8 equalisation points at frequencies you choose (by moving the sliders to the frequency you want to adjust) and then you can give up to 6 db gain or 12 db cut at that frquency, and also adjust the Q for that frequency.
Using the parametric equalisation, I ended up with this frequency plot :
The sub has integrated seamlessly and I have a pretty flat response right down to 15 hz. Note, the peak at 80 hz and the dip from 160-200hz. I may be able to work on these by repositioning the 1SCs, but as I do sit close to the back wall, there are always likely to be some respose uneveness IMO. However, the system sounds so damn good, I dont know whether I will bother.
As you can probably tell, I am delighted with the results obtained. If anyone is in the market for more bass from their system, I would strongly recommend them trying out a sub from the DD series. These subs are light years ahead of any of the UK manufacturers subs.
Cheers, Robbo
