Velodyne 10″ 375 Watt Subwoofer, Front Touch-Panel DPS-10

David Hall founded Velodyne in 1983. Its first product, the ULD-18 subwoofer, used an accelerometer on the woofer so the amplifier could correct the cone's motion, and Velodyne says it won a special engineering award in 1984.

From servo to digital. Compact models such as the HGS-10 followed in the 1990s, and in 2003 the Digital Drive series added built-in room correction. By its 25th anniversary in 2008, Velodyne said it had sold over a million subwoofers.

Today. In November 2019 Audio Reference of Hamburg, Velodyne's long-time German distributor, bought the company, including its stock, spare parts, patents and tooling, and in 2021 Velodyne moved its headquarters to Hamburg. Velodyne Acoustics is a separate company from Velodyne Lidar.

Servo era (1983 to 2000s): the ULD series, HGS, F, FSR and SPL, and the Digital Drive (DD) series of 2003.

DLS and DLS-R (2003 to 2004): the DLS-3500, 3750 and 4000, then R versions with DSP presets, night mode and a remote.

CHT and CHT-R: value subwoofers such as the CHT-8, CHT-10 and CHT-12, with speaker- and line-level inputs.

DPS (2007) and VDR (2009): the DPS-10 and DPS-12, and the DSP-controlled VDR-10 and VDR-12 with presets and a remote.

Other models: the VX-10 bass-reflex sub, the SubContractor SC-600 in-wall system, the MicroVee, and the Impact and Optimum lines of 2008.

Protection and auto-on. Some models cycle on and off, or shut down until they cool, after very loud use, and auto mode puts them to sleep after several minutes without a signal. Test at volume, for longer than the standby time.

Remotes. On the DLS-R and VDR, presets, night mode and phase are set from the remote, so check it comes with the sub.

SC-600 systems. The SC-600 amplifier drives only an SC-600 in-wall or in-floor subwoofer, so check you have the matching sub.

Service. Velodyne in Hamburg takes repairs by RMA and says its spare-parts stock goes back more than 20 years.

Everything we list is inspected, tested and serviced as required here, and comes with our warranty.