Home > Consumer Reviews > VELODYNE ACOUSTICS VRP1000 Powered Subwoofer

I bought this sub about 4, maybe even 5, years ago from Circuit City for $249. For starters, I'm quite happy to see this sub still, even online, carry the same price tag.

Now this is the first sub I've ever owned and is paired up with Paradigm speakers: Mini Monitors, CC-350, ADP-350, and a CC-170 (Rear Center). It's hooked up through the Sub out on my Marantz SR-4400 A/V Receiver.

I have a small dedicated theater in on of my spear bedrooms where this sub, even at low volumes, sounds great! For the price, the performance is excellent! Now, don't expect crazy low bass from this sub. It lends itself more towards music than movies. When watching movies, it can get a bit muddy, even at low volumes. This sub acts best as a complement to the main speakers rather then being able to handle quick, low, hard punches on its own. It's range is quite limited.

However, I've never heard any distortion and it can be turned up and will rock pretty loud. Best with Rock and Jazz. Rap track tend to get lost and almost looses it's bass passages. If you're used to a huge punch in your car like I am, you'll be disappointed in this sub.

Overall, I've enjoyed this sub for my own personal needs. It's perfect for an apartment. My main problem with this sub is it's auto on/off feature. Sometimes, you need to turn up the receiver a bit before it decides to turn on as low volumes. For instance, some movie passages will get half way through an explosion before the sub kicks on. And if it goes to long without any substantial bass passages, it will turn off. A bit strange. I'd expect any sub to turn on if any audio information is received, regardless of how small.

The only other issue is the cheap 'sticker' that is the back of the sub. It began to peal from the top on the first day.

In the end, it's good entry level sub. Well worth the $249 price tag.

For the price (I paid ~$140) this speaker does a nice job filling in the low end on my system. It's in a good sized room (20X20 with high ceilings) and, while not trying to rattle the windows it does give a good 'feel' to the action. It seems to cut out just a little above the lowest lows, so true audiophiles would probably be more particular, but my instance is a simple mainstream system. I did choose the direct speaker line in configuration because the crossover frequency on my receiver is set at 120. This is higher than what I wanted since my front speakers have decent low end. This way, I can use the crossover on this unit and set it in the 80 - 100 range. My only gripe is not with this speaker but with Amazon. After paying $140, I watched the price drop a handful of times to an ultimate low price of $105. Amazon abandoned it's price match last year, but since this was carried and sold by Amazon, frustrating they wouldn't make up the difference - the drop was all within a few weeks of my purchase. However that's Amazon's bad, not the speaker, so no star deduction.

I placed an order when the price was $105 last week. I have received the subwoofer on Saturday and immediately hooked up to my Onkyo Receiver(sr606) running bose speakers(301's as mains, VCS-10 as center and 161's as surround). I did not used Y cable but just connected the line level only for left channel. I played Jurrasic Park-1 and man this sub rocks the whole house. I am really impressed with it so far. BTW, the color is black unlike dark blue color you see on the photo.

I usually don't take the time to write reviews but this sub's ratings here are not giving it a fair shake at the current ~$105 shipped price. I wrote this review almost only to try and counteract the retard giving it a 1 star because it's not as good as a $1,500 sub.

Though Velodyne offers much higher quality units, this sub will compare favorably to any 10" model you can find at your local shop from big brand names like Polk, JBL, or Klipsch.

The unit is plain-finished and relatively compact. Output is limited by the relatively small box and 10" driver, but is just fine for such a unit and is more than enough for a small room or apartment. It will be much more accurate than any HTIB type "sub", and louder than most of them except for maybe the really boomy Onkyo's that have terrible one-note peaky boomy output around 60Hz.

It's without a doubt better than the 150-type JBL's or 10" base Polks, and there is really nothing comparable to it for $105 new, shipped. Some options open up at $150-180, but not at $105. The build and finish quality is solid if basic, and Velodyne has good support.

I look around for a sub for a while. I found this Velodyne VRP and bought it due to its price and features. I'm no audiophile but it sure sounds good in my medium sized living room. I have a HK amp and Klipsh tower speakers and wanted a little more bass, this Velodyne sure does a good job. It is also magnetically shielded and has a relatively high rms, for the price point (under 150$). And for the guy that gave this sub a one star, I'm not sure what his point was, except to say this isn't a 1000$ sub.
Also I was worried that since the sub came out in 2005 it would be old stock, but it is not it was made 5 months ago.