Velodyne HGS-12 Subwoofer.

Manufacturer: Velodyne Acoustics, 1070 Commercial Street, Suite 101, San Jose, CA 95112; 408/436-7270

Price: $2,149

Source: Manufacturer loan

Reviewer: Howard Ferstler

I am two things for sure: cheap and a lover of good subwoofers.

The Velodyne HGS-12 is definitely good, but it is not cheap, compared to many other subwoofer models, including at least another one made by Velodyne that can give it a passable run for the money, at least up to a point. The question is: can a subwoofer be a bit more expensive than average for models in the same maximum-output performance category and still be worth its asking price?

In my opinion, it can IF it has other characteristics that make it worth that asking price. In the case of the HGS-12, the primary other characteristic, leaving aside for a moment its extraordinarily clean output, is its small size. It is 14 inches wide and deep, and 14.5 inches high. This is not in the super-small category (subs such as Velodyne's own HGS-10, the Energy Microstar 10 incher, and the smallest Sunfire sub occupy that one), but it is still considerably smaller than many other subs that display comparable, and in many cases lesser, performance.