Customer Reviews

VELODYNE ACOUSTICS CHT-8 Classic Home Theater Series Powered Subwoofer ? Black

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I wouldn't consider myself an audiophile, but an audio enthusiast. I began a quest to totally revamp my entertainment system about 6 months ago and in the process did A LOT of searching, read A LOT of reviews. I had a pretty decent pioneer prologic receiver that I had in college (only 6 years old). But with DVD's having digital surround sound, my prologic just wasnt' cutting it anymore. I also didn't have a subwoofer... It was time to upgrade.
I ended up getting a very nice receiver, in the Onkyo TX-DS797. I have nice floor standing JBL speakers in front as well as a very nice center channel (sorry, I don't know the model #) and JBL N24 II in back. My DVD player is a Toshiba SD-1700 (I've had great experiece with Toshiba products) and the Sony KV-27FS100 flat screen tv. I have monster speaker wire, audio and video cable throughout the system.
I wasn't sure about where to even start looking for subwoofers, since they were new to me. My friend has a nice Klipsch sub, I believe 10". It sounds awesome. I wasn't going to spend that much on a sub though...
When I bought my receiver at Circuit City, I asked about subs and they gave me some information on Cerwin-Vega and Velodyne. I had never heard of Velodyne before then. But when I looked into it more on the internet, I saw lots and lots of good reviews on their subs, which I believe is all they make. That's pretty impressive right there! I had Circuit City crank it up in their theatre room and it sounded very tight, and clean. It's hard to tell at the store, since everything is concrete and solid, it's hard to get a feel for what it would be like in your home. But the reviews I read really emphasized how "tight and clean" the sub was.
I live in a small apartment, so I knew that I couldn't get a really big sub. I looked briefly at the JBL PB-10 sub. It takes up more room that the CHT-8, plus reviews talked about a low humming noise when it's on. I like JBL, but I didn't want to take the chance with that.
When I got everything hooked up, I was overly impressed with the bass from the sub!! I only keep it on about 1/4 "volume" and it's already a lot! Sure enough, the reviews were right about how tight the bass is. I can even tell between the JBL and the Klipsch. Those seem to drown out other sounds with their base, but the CHT-8 really compliments other speakers. Not too much bass, but definitely enough!
The 8" sub really acts like a 10" sub too. Even when I get a house eventually, I'm sure this will provide more than enough bass and power than I'll ever need.

I just previously purchased this maybe a week before the holidays .. With a solid subwoofer cable(it came down to the Monster 300 or Tributairies cable but that is another review) you cant go wrong at all with this baby. The Velodyne CHT8 delivers clean deep and accurate bass that will gurantee to keep you on the edge of your seat when watching your favorite dvd movies. It has a strong build quality and footprint tabs to give it that lift when finding that area of choice in your setup..

If you want to avoid that buyer's regret You cant go wrong with a VElodyne Sub I can't be more happier try to treat this piece like you center channel don't cheat yourself IM no audiophile but I know quality when I hear it GOOD Luck

First, for the "Audio enthusiast from Tigard OR.
Ther is no way the Sony SAWM40 or the AudioSource 15 come even close to the Velodyne CHT-8, those wanabies just do not cut it,
they have a lot of "Boom" but none is clean clear defined BASS.
THIS IS A COMMON MISTAKE ON THE PART OF NOVICES.
And just how did that person measure the results? By reading the ads?
This sub goes down enough for most peoples' ears anyway and in my setup it produces superb results that would not shame subs costing 3 times as much.

i've owned my sub for a little over a year and it has proven to me day after day that it can take anything i throw at it and still perform wonderfully. It hits the lowest notes without a problem and at the same time is very crisp and very clean. being as i own a car audio business i know what it is to hear good bass. I would never trade this for anything else....except for maybe the 10" or 12"

Looked all around Sydney for something small enough to be hidden anywhere, yet does not fall apart when the going gets tough (movie explosions, etc)... trust me, there is not many sub $AU1000 (my budget) subwoofers that can match this one.

I don't like big boomy bass, especially with music (the bass has to connect with the music, not dominate it!). But the sub must handle the tough stuff when playing a movie... the CHT-8 is excellent, if you want more bass, move up to 10", 12", 15"+... but what ever you do, check out the Velodyne series... I also liked the small M&K 8", tiny with good bass, but over $AU1000!...

Bad points for the CHT-8 are no remote, but in this price range not many (if at all) have this feature.

Overall... very tight sound, small(ish), does not fall apart, and for the price, unbeatable...

After much debate and product testing of other solid and reputable namebrand speaker companies, the Velodyne CHT-8 won me over to the nth degree ! At my local Circuit City in Chandler, Arizona I tested the other name brands Polk and Infinity. The Polk, while exceptionally reputable for creating fine audio speakers for theatre application, one of their models just couldn't cut the mustard like the Velodyne. No matter how much tweaking or adjusting was done to the 12 inch Polk it only kicked in when an explosion or punch occurred faintly. Then, I jumped across town to Best Buy to try the Cerwin Vega 12 inch 150 watt model V12S. While CV is known for their loud thundering speakers the bass on this particular model was muddy and soft. Not at all defined, tight, and believable. It was more of a bump than a thump suited more for musical applications. So, back to Circuit City.

The CHT 8 produced clean, firm and focused bass. Yet, not so focused as to draw attention to the location of the sub. Afterall, bass is non-directional or omni-directional. It should be felt, slightly heard but not pinpointed ! One nifty feature is being able to put the sub in an auto standby mode. With this feature you do not have to always shut the sub off after turning the rest of your system off. The auto detection signal system will shut the sub off after 10 minutes of no signal input rendering the sub in a standby mode the next time the receiver or amp is turned on. The most incredible feat this modestly sized box can do is rival most 10" and 12" subs. In some instances it outperformed the competition. Several recommended test discs would include Lord of The Rings, Phantom Menace, The Fifth Element, and Saving Private Ryan (basically any dvd with major action and effects). Also, do not make the mistake of thinking that the deep rich bass should only occur because you visually see an actor getting punched or a car exploding. There should be a constant sonic presence or atmosphere that you do not get without a sub ! This is where other name brands fail !

I bought this sub 2 years ago, and one day i turned the power switch on the amp did not switch on. i looked behind the sub, and the light did not even come on! I tried replacing the fuse, but it kept blowing them, so I took it back, but they said I would have pay for the shipping. I gave it to someone that needed it, and they are powering it by an external amp. On another note, the sound was descent, and it did play pretty low, but not low enough. It was loud, and provided tight, clean bass. I now own a jbl sub, and I would recommend listening or purchasing one of their subs.

Well, this sub is powerful, and it is tight and clean, but i can't give it 5 stars for one simple reason. It only goes down to 35 hz. The whole purpose of a sub is to fill out the lowest frequencies of the sound spectrum. This sub just doesn't do it. I listen to mostly rap music and i also have a fair collection of dvd's. Most people will probably immediately say....oh he listens to rap, he doesn't know anything about quality speakers. Well, either way, i will say that this is a high quality product, but if you're looking for really low bass, go with something else. Sony's SAWM40 does a good job for about 200 dollars, and the audiosource fifteen does a wonderful job for 190 dollars. I just can't justify paying 300 dollars for something that doesn't cover the whole frequency range.