Official HSU ULS-15 Thread - Page 4

We ship quite often to Canada, and have sent many ULS's there too. The cost of shipping/taxes/duties is not bad at all on these units. Total landed cost for two ULS-15's sent to Canada would be close to $3k USD (not anywhere near double the price). Feel free to email us for a quote...

Sincerely,

It's funny how no matter where you go, things are the same... I'm a member of several motorcycle forums and people will come on the Ducati forum and talk about their Ninja or to the GSXR forum to talk Honda...I love it!

I got my ULS-15 the other day and all I can say is "HOLY COW!" that's an impressive piece of kit! I thought my old Sony WM-500 wasn't a bad sub. Compared to the ULS-15, it's not a sub at all but rather a powered bass speaker.

My room is 2500 cubic ft, Paradigm Monitor 7 fronts, CC490 center and Titan rears pushed by a Yamaha RX-V663.

I have no perspective with this stuff as I don't know anyone with real "HT". One thing I do know is it's very cool having equipment that shakes my guts!

Thanks Pete!

I just moved my ULS-15 QuadDrive back in my HT room. I had them setup briefly a few months back.

My room is a dedicated sealed HT.

13' 10" W x 21' 7" L x 8' 6" H (2538 cf)

There are GIK Tri-Traps in all 4 corners from floor to ceiling.

Floor is thick pile carpet over cement.

Could someone explain how the ULF Trim operates? In a room this size what would be a good starting point?

I will be using an SVS AS-EQ1 for correction.

John

+1

cocobeli

Have you come up with a vocabulary to describe your Dual Drive yet?

John, the trim control will adjust the low frequency rolloff of the subwoofer when measured in an anechoic environment. So if set to 50Hz, the sub will gently roll off below 50Hz when measured in an anechoic environment. When set to 16Hz, the sub will gently roll off below 16Hz when measured in an anechoic environment, etc.

There is no "correct" setting per se. Some people prefer to have a bit more mid-bass punch, and/or have a lot of room gain in the deep bass, and may opt for the 50Hz setting to maximize headroom. Some people prefer to have a deep bass response that gradually slopes upward, and/or have less room gain in the deep bass, and may opt for the 16Hz setting. Some people split the difference as a good compromise.

With a room of your size, the best starting point would be 50Hz.

If you get a chance, listen to the canon pulse scene on the Hulk Blu Ray disc. The ULS-15 is much more powerful on that burst than any of our ported subwoofers, even when set to max extension mode.

Let us know which trim setting you end up preferring.

Thanks

Sincerely,

Here is a waterfall of the canon pulse scene.

I didn't say "holy cow!"... I said "HOLY COW!".

So I take it that you really really really like it. Anyway you made a good choice and now you need to save your money so you can buy a sibling so they can play together (pun intended).

I wish I could say I've come up with some worthy descriptors, but so far my similes stink and my metaphors miss their mark. I think about the deepest, darkest chocolate. Words like thick and rich and creamy come to mind.

Or, how about they purr and mutter at need or blast and surge when asked. There's a palpable thickness, a sepulchral presence, from movie sound tracks that I've never heard before. They are full and rich and mellow; orotund and abyssal. They boom without boominess. I can hear to the bottom notes the way I used to be able to see all the way to the bottom of Tahoe back in the olden days. Elephantine infrasonics.

Maybe HOLY COW! sums it up pretty well.

Note, since speakers like our subs are part of a system, it's probably well to mention the rest of the story. My HT speakers have for years been satellites of one sort or another. I very much liked having three identical speakers across the front. To fill in the hole between the satellites and my trusty HRSW10 subs, I've employed an old C-V Sat-6 subwoofer unit as a mid-bass module. It was the shredding of the surround on the C-V woofer and then the acquisition of different speakers all around that led to the ULS-15s. My receiver is a Denon 988 and I've employed the Audyssey MultEQ XT (a marvelous accessory) throughout. I will note that I used to spend hours trying to EQ the room, looking for that perfect flat response and all the while lusting for an Acousta-Voice Equalizer. I never got that flat response or that equalizer. But I think I was tilting at windmills and now I try to just enjoy the ride. The 15s are currently positioned with one up front and the second in the rear, behind our seats.

I could wax on, as others have, about how clean they sound and how deeply the ULS-15s reach. They can do that while hitting volume levels exceeding my desires in an 8000 cu. ft. space. I've read about gizmos you attach to chairs to get a magic fingers experience, but our chairs are vibrating already.

My prior experience with true subs (the HRSW10s) doesn't give me a very broad basis for comparison. Musically, I don't notice a large change from the old subs. Standard warhorses like the Saint-Saëns No.3 (a piece that I have heard performed live) seem to me to sound about the same. The ULS-15s can certainly speak louder, with more authority, if you like; kind of like having more notes and less thrump. I wish it wasn't so doggone hard to bring the old subs (and their amp) back into the picture for a side-by-side comparison.

It's HT that puts the big demands on the subs and it's here that the improvement truly shows. I confess that I'm still running the 15s hot' right now just because I can and because it's fun. There's horsepower to spare. Rumbles and explosions certainly seem to be reproduced fully and without distortion; they sound right to my ear (but, they're noise, so who really knows?). The 15s manage the vortex scene in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, the scene that shredded my old C-V MBM, with flying colors. I believe that what I hear here is easily equal what I've heard in any movie house. We've been playing through a number of movies noted for deep bass (some new, some already on my shelf) and we're having a blast.

On the subject of the wireless capability I can say I did try it and it worked great, but since I'd already hardwired lines to the rear of the room, that's how the rear sub is getting its signal now.

So what are the ULS-15s really like? Well, back to chocolate

I am the proud owner of new walnut ULS-15s in the Quad Drive package and I thought I would share what led me up to the purchase and my initial impressions of the sub system.

For about 6 months or so I have contemplated a sub upgrade. For the past 11 years, a Velodyne FSR-18 was my HT sub. While its LF extension was fine, it was somewhat limited in output. This time I wanted something that could keep up with my Klipsch Heritage setup - 4 K'horns (one in each room corner) a Belle center and a pair of Heresy IIIs for the side surrounds. Truly, the new sub would have to have the proper mix of sound quality and output capability to satisfy me this time.

At first, I considered adding another Velodyne but the cost now floored me. For a while I looked around for a used one, but backed away from that idea. Then I looked at the Epik Conquest, but it was discontinued before I decided to make the purchase. I looked at the offerings from SVS and ED, but wondered if ported would sound OK since I had a sealed sub for 11 years. Then I looked at the Submersive - certainly it was a worthy contender. But, Mark said two were needed to really get the most out of it. I did not know anyone locally that had any of these, so anything that I bought would be unseen and unheard and based on other's reviews.

Then I happened across the AVS thread about 2 ULS-15s being equal to a single Submersive. Well, to be honest, I had not checked Hsu out and did not even know they made a 15"er now. Hmmm, looks nice - walnut veneer might look really nice with my walnut Klipsch. Folks are saying that SQ and LF extension both were outstanding. Smaller and lighter enclosure than anything I had been looking at...

I posted a couple of questions about the ULS-15 on Hsu's website and Pete supplied answers very quickly. I sent him a few PMs, all of which were answered same day. Maybe these guys are serious about customer service...

So, the decision was made. Now, Dual or Quad Drive? The discount on the Quad was almost buy three and get one free. Well, whatever I bought I wanted to truly be wowed to make the $s spent well worthwhile. If I bought the Dual, Hsu offered to sell me two more at the same price as the Quad if I did it within 30 days. There's that customer service thing again. You know, I bet these folks will be easy to contact if I need service on one of them...

After all the rationalization was done, I knew that I would end up with the Quad Drive anyway, so why not start with it. After all, Welti's paper said 4 was the best setup. What more justification does a fella need?

So, on Thursday July 30th I ordered the Quad Drive in walnut from Hsu's website. Got an e-mail from Pete saying they would ship the next day. Sure enough, Friday night 4 tracking numbers came in by e-mail. Three arrived on Wednesday, Aug. 5th. FedEx put #4 on a different route and it came in the following day.

Upon opening them, I found the packaging to be excellent and the walnut finish was stunning. I set up the first 3, set all to the same volume at the main listening chair, ran Audyssey, REW and EQ'ed them with my BFD. I fired them up for a listen. Nice, really really nice. Family watched a Blu Ray movie and I was really impressed - wondered what # 4 would do for me.

I found out the next day. I was absolutely FLOORED at the difference the 4th one made. Same setup, same EQ settings, but magic was happening. A whole new level of performance. They were set up along a 12.5 ft wall, so at least two were within 1/4th wavelength of each other up to crossover, so I was getting co-location gain.

Another poster expressed his feelings about the ULS-15 as "HOLY COW!" Well, after a few high volume pipe organ tracks and a few SACD tracks, my impression was "LORD HAVE MERCY!!!!!"

Family watched "Knowing" on Blu Ray last night. Not only did the Quads perform well at high volume, the LF extension, impact, and overall smoothness was there even at "wife's volume."

Let me close out this long post by saying that the mission is truly accomplished. The Quad Drive has a permanent position in my HT. There are so many sub choices on the market now, but let me assure you that you cannot go wrong with the ULS-15.

I will post a picture of the setup and a REW FR plot in another post.

Now for a picture of the setup and a REW FR plot. The room dimensions are 12.5' x 20.5' x 8' - just over 2000 cu ft. I have a LOT of bass trapping in the room that I added in January - that is a whole different story, but you owe it to yourself to add traps if you don't have them now. OK, here is where the Quad Drive is set up.

As you can see, the outside pair are pulled out from the corner in front of the K'horns. I wondered if I would still get corner LF gain with them pulled out, but I read that if they were within 1/8th wavelength or so from the corner I would still get gain.

Distance between the outside pair and the inside pair is about a foot; about 32" between the inside pair.

The first REW plot is without any EQ other than Audyssey. Crossover was set at 80Hz and only the subs were on. I have a BFD, but it was bypassed for this measurement. Three plots were run - one at each recliner (about 11 feet back from the screen wall). The gold plot is from the center recliner; the other two plots are with the mic at the adjoining recliners.

Measurements were taken with a Behringer ECM-8000 mic and a Behringer mixer connected to an X-Fi Notebook sound card. Sound card and mic calibration curves were loaded into REW.

Although I cut the curve off at 15Hz, the output was still climbing up to about 5Hz or so. But, I did not know what the accuracy of the mic is that low even with the cal file loaded. So, I cut it off at 15Hz.

Now here is the plot with the BFD engaged. Three filters were used to get this response. This time the blue curve is the center chair and the other curves are for the adjacent chairs. The dip in the green curve is a room node that apparently is only present at the left chair.

Anyway, that is my story so far. I will close with this: With the Velodyne, the Skadoosh scene in Kung Fu Panda was barely audible. I woundered what all the fuss was about. I found out when I played it with the Quad Drive! Lord have mercy indeed!!!!

I found out Thursday that it is very easy to hurt your ears with these things. High volume low frequency content kinda sneeks up on you. Since the ears are less sensitive to LF you really don't appreciate the SPL that can come out of these things. Of course, you don't have to play them that loud, but it sure is fun.

After a few pipe organ tracks at pretty high level followed by a few SACD tracks - all played at elevated LFE settings - my ears were hurting. There were no audible signs of distress from the mains or subs. Like I said, it kinda slipped up on me as I was having some fun trying to find out the Quad Drive's limits (never did).

So, Quad Drive owners, perhaps it would be wise to have a SPL meter on if you decide to test the limits of this awesome system.

cocobeli,

When I asked for a vocabulary to describe your Dual Drive I did not realize that I would need to use the dictionary to look up "sepulchral" and "orotund".

I did understand "Holy Cow". That's not the exact words I used when I first listen to the pipe organ songs, on the supplied CD from Hsu, but this is a family forum. Anyway thanks for the review and the two new words of the day.

Welcome to the club hjones.


That setup is just insane. You have all of this in a 2000 cu ft room?


That is one of the reasons I went with them too. My very first call to them was answered by Pete and he seemed to be very knowledgeable about his products.


Almost identical to my shipping experience with Hsu. I called at 3:00 PM EST on a Friday and received tracking numbers at 8:00 PM EST that night and I swear that the Fedex driver drove all weekend from Cali just so that I could get my first one on Tuesday morning.


They do play nicely at lower volumes but I bet they perform even better in your room due to your bass trapping.


I'm really glad that you are happy with your purchase and was glad to help you make that decision. It almost seems like that the ULS-15 were purposely designed to work really well with the older 90 Db+ efficient Klipsch speakers. But of course they are just well designed subs.

I pulled out the old Telarc 1812 CD this afternoon - the Quads handled the cannon shots very, very well. Also put in Danley's demo sound effect tracks from their website. Sounds OK, but kinda boring...

What surprised me the most in this afternoon's music session was the impact of the bass drum and electric bass on the Michael McDonald Motown II SACD. Very, very tight control, these subs have. Couple that with the ability to move a lot of air and it is a very realistic presentation.

I did not get a demo CD with the Hsus that others mention. Was it supposed to be in the box, or is it mailed separately?

The CD was attached to the outside of one of the boxes, packing slip style, if I remember correctly.

Thanks, Jed. That is exactly where it was and I have it now. Guess I overlooked it in my excitement of getting them unpacked.

You might know this but I have another recommendation for a Video concert with excellent bass. And that would be the "Two Against Nature" by Steely Dan DVD with DTS sound. I just re-visited it this weekend for the first time with the Dual Drive in the house and it sounded great. You need to check it out Mr Jones.

For a serious subwoofer workout, check this dubstep mix out by Bunzero, and also this one called Cave Dreams by Shutta, they both have heavy, deep, and massive bass.

I received a Behringer ECM-8000 mic yesterday with a calibration report from Cross Spectrum. The report lists mic correction factors to load into REW for that particular mic. The calibration goes down to 5 Hz and up to 25 kHz.

I re-ran the REW freq. response plots of my Quad Drive subs with the new mic's correction data loaded. Only the subs were on. Here is the plot with Audyssey off and the BFD EQ bypassed with the mic at the primary listening chair. Note the significant room gain below 20Hz. I made sure that the HVAC was off when I ran this and the other plots that I am uploading. I believe that the resonse below 10Hz is very real - with the REW signal generator at 10Hz, there was significant shaking of the back of the recliner.

The green curve is REW's plot for the default 80Hz crossover response.

Now, here is the REW plot with Audyssey on and 4 BFD filters. I did not try to address the notches above 100Hz - that has to be done with the mains on, which I will do later.

I believe that I can live with this response!

After I ran this measurement I turned the Velodyne FSR-18 on and made a few more BFD filter adjustments. The overall response with all on is not quite this smooth, but is pretty close. Perhaps moving the Velo around from its current position in the back of the room would help.

Of course, I don't need the Velodyne and I guess I could sell it, but everytime I sell a speaker I end up regretting it later on.

Far out! I am impressed.

I ran more REW plots this morning of the Quad Drive with the Left Front Klipschorn also driven to obtain a composite. The Hsus are still in the same place as before, spread across the front of the room.

In addition to FR, I plotted waterfall and spectral display. The benefits of the bass trapping that I added to the room early this year are evident in the waterfall plot.

The calibrated ECM-8000 mic was used and only the main listening position was measured. No smoothing was applied to the plots and the Velodyne was turned off. The BFD was engaged with 6 filters.

Very nice graphs Mr. Jones. You now seem to have a pretty flat response.

I had a friend over yesterday and showed him some of the usual demos. The one that I got the most enjoyment out of was when I played the lightning scene from Ratatouille. He literally jumped out of the seat. After he sat back down he said "I even knew that was coming. My daughter watches that movie often, but I have never experienced that movie like what you just played." He also said he liked how good the gun shots sounded. He was also impressed with the Ironhide flip in Transformer. I replayed that scene at least five times while watching the grin on his face.

extreme poison

"Say it ain't so" Hsu Research.