Although subwoofers require less care in their placement compared to loudspeakers, it is worthwhile to follow a few basic rules before starting the automatic calibration. It's never wrong to position subwoofers in a similar way as you would loudspeakers. First, set a moderate level and an operating frequency that is slightly higher than the specified lower cut-off frequency of the speakers. Then you should try out different positions in the room. It is important to check whether the bass sounds bloated or very thin. Music with acoustic instrumentation is best suited for this. Once a proper position has been found, you can optimise performance with the VI-Q's stepless subwoofer volume control and low-pass setting. Then you're ready to take full advantage of the VI-Q 10's automatic room adjustment.

Listening begins with a former teenage pop icon who has shown, at the latest with her album "Happier Than Ever" released in 2021, that she has matured into an artist of profundity. In 2021 and 2022, the now 21-year-old singer and composer recorded three guitar-only songs: "Your Power" from the EP with the same title and the two songs "TV" and "The 30th" from the EP "Guitar Songs". These tracks, which are worth listening to, are particularly suitable for getting to know the capabilities of the VI-Q 10, because when it comes to timing and tonal coherence, a "handmade" single instrumentation behaves like an acoustic magnifying glass. The Velodyne proves its subtlety right from the first bars, it brings out the deepest strings of the guitar without doing too much of a good thing, and specifies the image of the instrument's body: In the mind's eye, an instrument made of wood plays, with a resonating body - in realistic size, drawn with razor-sharp contours. At the same time, the guitar remains tonally intact as a whole, as does the singer's closely miked voice. The VI-Q 10 is able to carefully accentuate the singer's dark timbre, and the cohesion of the individual pitches of the vocals is preserved.

The album "In Praise Of Dreams", produced by Manfred Eicher and released in 2003, is one of my personal favourites from the pen of the Norwegian saxophonist and composer Jan Garbarek, who here gingerly complements the jazz trio with electronic sounds. Right at the beginning of the title track, a deep, dark electronic beat sounds in drum 'n' bass rhythm, and the VI-Q shows what kind of spurts it can do: The short, staccato drum beats sound dry as dust and are set exactly to the point. When Jan Garbarek then enters with the saxophone, the instrument oscillates between velvety dark notes and golden-yellow radiant concision, but the hour of the Velodyne woofer strikes when Kim Kashkashian joins in on the viola: Together with the Elac Vela FS 407, he presents the instrument as if from a single mould, adding that certain atmospheric something to its lowest notes.

The audiophile genes of the VI-Q 10 have left a deep impression, so now duty and pleasure may go hand in hand with another personal preference - Charlotte de Witte has created a great techno track with "Missing Channel" from the EP "Apollo", released in autumn 2022, which is almost hypnotic with psychedelic touches. After a spirited turn of the amplifier's volume control, the Velodyne subwoofer transports me to another world within seconds, the rich, crisp beats and the voluminous, tightly drawn bass lines create a pure club feeling - with one difference: it sounds far better than in any venue I know. To quote a line from the track: "This Is The Missing Channel, Deeper Than My Soul" - congratulations to Hamburg on this first-class subwoofer!