Why are there not many 18" subwoofers available?

[J.k.Wilson]

Besides the handful of over priced companies you just can't find a decent 18". Why?, are they taboo or something? I mean you can find a ton of 15" at a fair price but step up one level, and BAM. Example, you can get a Dayton quatro 15" right now for less than 80 clams, try that for an 18". Maybe i wrong and just have'nt looked on the right companies site.

 

[Cal Weldon]

HI JK,

A lot of people consider 18" too big for a dynamic driver. Some manufacturers agree and stop at 15", some make 18 and bigger.

By 18" the moving mass is getting pretty heavy. The larger the cone gets, the stiffer it has to be to prevent flexing during excursion. The stiffer it is, the heavier it is, the bigger the motor structure must be and so on.

And we don't want "slow" woofers now do we?

There are quite a number of 18" PA drivers but that's a different story.

This is a very simple look at it and there are exceptions but hopefully it helps.

 

[J.k.Wilson]

you said 18" and bigger. Bigger? Who, what when and where?

 

[exhausted mule]

http://www.precision-devices.com/home.asp

pa. sure.

but still huge. in my opinion. anything over 12 for the average system and 15 for your real hometheaters is overkill.

but for real theater or actual concerts...

nothing is too big if implemented correctly.

 

[Arx]

you said 18" and bigger. Bigger? Who, what when and where?

Clarion makes, or maybe used to make, a 32" driver. It was around 1000W. Unfortunately it also falls outside of the reasonably priced category.

I think for anything practical in any way, a good 15 is plenty, which is probably a view shared by most manufacturers.

Of course, we don't always want to be practical, do we?

 

[phase_accurate]

Not exactly cheap:

http://yu-ra.tripod.com/fostex/FW800.htm


a little cheaper:

http://www.magnat.de/content/carhifi/product_detail_de.asp?p=130616&pl=7, 8&s=10

Regards

Charles

 

[simon5]

http://www.ascendantaudio.com/allliance_page.html

This one is 400$, but it's a serious woofer!

 

[myhrrhleine]

>Why are there not many 18" subwoofers available?

18" usually means a *very* large Vas.
A large Vas means a large cabinet.
Usually too big for most home enviroments.
So, there is little demand.

I personally have two 18"ers in a 60 cu ft box.
Awesome bass

 

[xstephanx]

........two 18s in 60 cu ft you say? is this IB?

if not















...............youre my hero

 

[Burnedfingers]

Like some have already said... the 18" are slower in response. My sub is a custom designed 18" driver that is tuned 4th order with a 2nd order electronic filter. That cuts the size of the box down from 13cu ft to 6cu ft. Awsome bass for those effects movies in the theatre.

For music I enjoy two custom 15" subs with similar tuning in two 4 cu ft boxes.

 

[Hayden]

Audiobarn and clarion makes a 32” driver
What about the 18" kicker s18x its pricy 5000wrms but I guess nice bass lol
Don’t go for quantity!! It’s the tuning is most important.
What are you going to use it for?

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.

 

[Geenius]

I use two 21" woofers.

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.

 

[chops]

http://www.precision-devices.com/home.asp

pa. sure.

but still huge. in my opinion. anything over 12 for the average system and 15 for your real hometheaters is overkill.

but for real theater or actual concerts...

nothing is too big if implemented correctly.

So you're implying that my four 15" drivers in two 12 cu.ft. ported enclosures tuned to 12Hz is overkill?!?!

 

[J.k.Wilson]

Tony talk to me!

Where did you get 21"ers And would you tell me about your setup. They look kick ****.

 

[AJinFLA]

Pepsi budget: http://cgi.ebay.com/2-Madison-X-21-...ryZ47095QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Champagne: http://www.loudspeakersplus.com/html/paudiosd.html
There are others if you look around.
Geenius' looks like PD's http://www.precisiondevices.co.uk/showdetails.asp?id=16
not availble anywhere stateside that I'm aware of.

Cheers,

AJ

 

[sam9]

I guess it's time once again to watch the opening scene from "Back to the Future".

 

[J.k.Wilson]

Man thanks for the links.

I've googled and never had any luck. Heck you even found one on ebay. You the man.

 

[demogorgon]

why so few 18' driver?

my guess would be cause it's just so damn more practical using 2*12\15 for the same efficency, powerhandeling and price.

but big subs are macho though..

 

[Hayden]

Those 21" look like for "loud" PA style not bass but anyway still loud
don’t forget having 2 subs that have the same cone area as one is better

 

[myhrrhleine]

don’t forget having 2 subs that have the same cone area as one is better

You really should explain why for the uninformed readers