?Velodyne SMS-1 with B&W Subs (850 Spec.)?

[sikoniko]

I put the question marks in the title to try and state that I am not reporting an opinion, but asking for yours.

For those of you who have experimented, or use the Velodyne, SMS-1, is it worth it? Specifically, I have the b&w asw-850, and would be looking to add the SMS-1 to the system.

Can you report back on the results?

Did you use it in lue of room treatments, or with treatments?
Do you feel it was money well spent/would you do it again?
What kind of differences did you notice?
Would you recommend it to others?

[RobP]

I have often wondered about the same thing, it will be interesting to see some feedback on the SMS-1.

[Kal Rubinson]

Mebbe not here but there have been MANY positive accounts of the SMS-1. Try www.avsforum.com for example. I've used it with a Paradigm Servo-15 and think it is almost a necessity.

Kal

[B&W 700 Guy]

Mebbe not here but there have been MANY positive accounts of the SMS-1. Try www.avsforum.com for example. I've used it with a Paradigm Servo-15 and think it is almost a necessity.

Kal

Kal is correct, he turned me on to this piece of equipment and it is a necessity! It is also easy to use with my ASW750.

[sikoniko]

does anyone know if it comes with rack ears and will mount in 1u?

[B&W 700 Guy]

does anyone know if it comes with rack ears and will mount in 1u?

yes it comes with ears and I think it 1U. But, download their manual from the Velodyne website.

[jericho]

For me it's not worth the money, I had one and almost immediately resold it.If your pre can handle the sub it does not add many extra appart for those who need to do a lot of correction to the room.I had two ASW-855 on.Even had to send one back to B&W because had a problem due to the SMS-1 when using the sound generator in the sms-1.

[Kal Rubinson]

For me it's not worth the money, I had one and almost immediately resold it.If your pre can handle the sub it does not add many extra appart for those who need to do a lot of correction to the room.I had two ASW-855 on.Even had to send one back to B&W because had a problem due to the SMS-1 when using the sound generator in the sms-1.

One issue to consider is that most people do not know if their sub does need corrections until they measure and/or correct. The SMS-1 does both. BTW, most systems do need the corrections.

Also, I see you sent back the defective sub and that's what I'd expect since any non-defective sub should be able to handle the SMS-1 signals without any problems.

Kal

[ZX10 Guy]

Yep. Another SMS-1 owner here. I use it with an HGS-15. Once you use one, you'll never go back. It's so good, I'm contemplating buying another one for use with an HGS-12.

[perato]

I use the SMS-1 with an ASW650. The frequency response is flatter with the SMS-1 than without it. The SMS-1 is not perfect. You should verify the measurements yourself b/c the displayed graph is smoothed. If you have a laptop computer or an HTPC, there are alternatives to the SMS-1.

Audioholics reviewed the SMS-1.

[BassThatHz]

I don't own a sms-1 but I do have a BFD and two Velodyne subs, here are my thoughts on this topic.

Q & A
Would I buy a Sub-EQ again... YES.
Would I recommend an EQ for subwoofer frequencies... YES.
Could I live without one...Ya but I wouldn't enjoy it without room treatments.
Was it worth the money... YES, but I only spent 200cad for BFD and RS meter.
Is a BFD harder and less convenient to use than the sms-1... YES.
Is a BFD slower than auto-EQ... YES.
Is it less accurate... Probably; depends on SPL meter.

The BFD might not have auto-eq, high/low pass slopes, anti-clipping, GUI or a quality SPL meter. However it does have 12 filters for 2ch's or 24 for mono and 12 non-volatile presets, +16db gain/-48db cut, 2 to 1/60th octave Q and 20-20khz bandwidth and 24bit processing (not 20bit like the sms-1, I think)

The only disadvantage of any EQ that I can think of, is their DSP processing delay and induced distortions.

What are the differences?
To my ear’s the subwoofers are less localizable and integrate better with the main units, this makes the whole system sound more neutral, seamless and musical. Often this is more enjoyable to listen to (ie less fatiguing). If you have mostly room peaks, after EQ the system will sound less powerful in those areas.

Initially and more often than not, the perceived effect is that it doesn’t appear to play as loud or the abrupt change in acoustics may appear artificial somehow. It is also likely that you will now hear notes that were before overpowered (ie hidden). The fact is that those sounds that you were hearing before and thought were ‘powerfulness’; were actually room enforcements and not an attribute of your unit (at least I hope so). Thus you may feel the need, at first, to increase the volume level to try to gain it back. If you find yourself in this situation, your better off using a less-aggressive filter and over time apply more as you slowly adapt.

A more technical example: Say you were listening to a solo piano piece; let’s also assume you had multiple room modes, say a 10db dip at 49hz (G1) and a 10db gain at 110hz (A2)… etc and that those notes happen to be played throughout the performance.

Every time your system tries to reproduce those notes it (your room) skews the sound by the given quantities. The end result is that the notes are louder (ie boomy) or softer (ie can’t hear at all) than the artist intended to occur; either way it is distortion.

Room gain is easy to limit or correct, you just reduce the amplitude at said frequencies when present within the input signal. Conversely dips or nulls are all but impossible to counter, since it requires exponential more input signal as the volume levels increase, directly correlating to amplifier power and therefore driver excursion. This is where Velodyne’s DD series has an advantage; it can detect such situations using the servo and reduce or increase the gain(and amp power) directly at the DSP appropriately as it sees fit.

[georgev]

I have been contemplating obtaining one for use with the Paradigm Servo 15. Q: Do I need two as I run two servo 15's in my HT?
George.

[jericho]

one sms-1 can drive 3 subs!!!

[georgev]

Fairly easy to use/set up?

[georgev]

Do I still need my Paradigm X 30's? or will this take over from them. Pardon me if this is a silly question, I really do not know.

[Kal Rubinson]

It will replace them.

Kal