Review Velodyne Acoustics Deep Waves 10:Powerful active subwoofer with room correction
The Deep Waves 10 comes with everything you need and is supposed to make superior bass performance affordable. AV-Magazin tested whether the new Velodyne subwoofer can keep this promise.
Review by Marius DonadelloMay 2nd 2023 Image credits: Velodyne & AV-Magazin
Subwoofers are true all-rounders: they can be used to boost the bass of a system with smaller speakers, to complement a soundbar and, of course, to round off a full-fledged, discreet surround set-up. Even larger speakers can benefit from separate low-frequency support; in principle, the applications are virtually unlimited. And while subwoofers were almost exclusively found in home theatres until a few years ago, they are gradually conquering the stereophonic terrain as well. One reason for this is the trend towards compact speakers, which are easier to integrate into the living room, but are more or less limited in low frequencies. Basically, the same development is taking place there that has been observed for some time in the home cinema segment, where a large soundbar is used more and more often for film enjoyment.
After all, not everyone has the space to set up at least five channels with individual loudspeakers, and most potential customers are looking for a solution that is practicable in everyday family life. Sound formats such as Dolby Atmos are further fuelling the popularity of high-end soundbars, because the complexity of a discrete system increases with the number of speakers required for the height channels. A sophisticated Atmos soundbar is sufficient for many home cinema enthusiasts, and for stereophonic music playback, compact speakers can often show off their strengths compared to floor-standing speakers - if you still don't want to do without a solid bass foundation, all you need is a subwoofer.
So much for the theory: what works in principle doesn't always work well. It wasn't long ago that many subwoofers, despite all the effort involved in setting them up, stood out tonally from the overall performance or simply lacked precision. Before instruments are picked apart into their individual pitches, one prefers to distance oneself from the lowest octaves. Fortunately, a lot has been done in this area recently; subwoofers are being optimised more and more consistently to be as nimble and accurate as they are powerful. Improved diaphragm materials, sophisticated digital signal processing and perfected enclosures are just some of the key aspects that set current subwoofers apart from their forebears. Among the manufacturers, Velodyne is one of the major players who have made subwoofers presentable, and can take credit for a number of crucial developments. In recent years, the specialists have focused on making powerful woofers as small as possible and transferring a high level of quality into more affordable price regions. The Deep Waves 10 tested here is primarily a result of the latter, but we will take a look at what else distinguishes the new Velodyne in the following.