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im curious to know what are the differences between a 18" sub and a 15", hopefully people who heard 18" subs in person can fill me in with some info. does the bass hit much lower and harder than 15'? pros/cons?

which would be the better route to go with for an SPL addict?
please let me know as much info possible

 
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Well as it implies, for a particular model of a sub, the bigger size usually does pound harder (if sufficiently powered). That said, there are 12" subs that outperform many 18" subs. Personally I think 18's look too big and are more cumbersome to install.

 
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Typically, the larger the sub the lower and louder it can play. However, this varies greatly by brand, etc. If SPL and SPL only is your goal, no reason why a pair of 15's wouldn't suffice. Only problem here is that you'll get highest SPL levels from a ported enclosure, which for a 15" sub can be enormous. You can throw SQ out the window here, as these setups are really SPL only. Personally, I WAS a SPL guy and loved the sound of 3 12"s in a sealed box. NOW, I'm a SPL AND SQ guy and love the sound of 2 10's in a sealed box, or even a single 12."

 
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it all depends on the box. if you dont have room for the 18 it will sound like ***. i had a wall in my civic and the 15 was louder because the biggest i could make the box wasnt big enuff for the 18

 
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Not a lot of people realize you can make a couple of 10s hit hard. I always see people saying that they wouldn't consider 10s because the were too into SPL, but the reward of how good it sounds when 10s hit always made it worth it for me too.

To reply to the thread, I agree with everything that was said here. The type of woofer and the enclosure make the biggest difference. Also, what exactly do you mean by "SPL addict"? Do you mean you love the SOUND of deep loud bass, or do you mean you couldn't care less about sound and you won't rest until you've hit 180db? Theres a big difference. Personally, If you care at all what your music sounds like, I'd stick to 15s or 12s. Hey, if you've got the dough, get yourself a 13W7, give it a couple thousand watts and well, break your rear windshield.

 
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^deep bass, SQ isnt as important to me. i never heard a jl w7 in person and want to, but no one around town i know of has one. does it really pound as hard as everyone makes it seem? everyone i know thinks JL w7 IS the best sub which is completely false imo.

what are some good 18" woofers on the market? the one i was specifically looking at was audiobahns aw1805q or something like that. its off their webpage www.audiobahn.com tell me what u guys think of it



thanks

 
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audiobahn subs suck. I know because I had 2 of them, and they are crap. They pound, but no SQ whatsoever. My Momos sound 100Xbetter and look 100Xbetter than those chrome POS. I suggest you to stay away form audiobahn products. W7 is NOT the best sub on the market, and way overpriced. For that amount of dough, I you could do much better. They are not bad subs though. SQ AND SPL oriented.

 
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the only 18" subs i've ever heard were the Digital Designs "Beast" subs and Treo Engineering's "CSX" series...a friend had 6 of the DD's in an old-school Dodge work van, pushed by 6 H.O. alternators, 36 amps, and 36 Yellow Tops...after one season on the local dB drag circuit, he switched the subs out for the new Treos...with both setups, he could hit 165-170 dB...pretty ridamndiculous if you ask me...

the closest thing on DD Audio's web site is the new 9900 series...they don't make the 18"s anymore, but they have new 17"s with a 300 ounce dual stacked magnet and quad voice coils that should suffice...more info here...

and if you're interested in the Treo's, there's more info here...

 
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i never heard of those brands of subs before, are they quality products? i know theirs many companies out their that are much better than what crutchfield sells but i just dont know where to look for those goodshit =\
maybe their underground companies or something?

 
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For a few other sites to look at product from:

www.woofersetc.com
www.cardomain.com/shop
www.onlinecarstereo.com
www.thezeb.com
www.ikesound.com

As for the JL. Yes, they are phenominal. Some people argue that they aren't worth the money. Personally, I'm a fan of JL. Their product has withstood the test of time, and they're constantly striving for excellence in their product. Their return rate is very low. In 4 years selling them, the shop has taken a total of 1 (maybe 2) back for a warranty return. You just can't kill them when operating them within their recommended specs. There hasn't been another company that has been able to cross over their quality product over into seevral different lines with excellence like JL has. just depends on what you value I guess. I like the reliability of them, and they will remain the most reliable and consistant in my eyes. True, I currently run different woofers than the JL's. This is mainly because the average consumer doesn't want to spend that much on product. Harder to move it by demoing off a sound board in a room. I like to have them in a car where they can have a general idea of what they sound like in a vehicle. Plus, I'm trying to find something I trust as much as the JL's.

 
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Our shop carries JL as well. I have heard the JL 18W3. Not worth the money.. go get yourself a W6 for that much. We also carry W7s and in my opinion, they are the king of all subs. If you run an impedance curve, it doesn't go much over 6 ohms which is sooooo impressive. If I wanted that much weight in my car, I would get two of them with 4000 watts behind them. Talk about electrical issues though.. ehh oh well. I am currently planning out an install for two W6s though.. I started out with W0s and I'm just kind of working myself up I suppose since I currently have W3s. As for the discussion of a 10" sub, a guy I work with has 3 10" JL W6s and he hits 153dB.. not too shabby in my opinion... definitely go with JL.

 
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i love my Kicker systems, but i have to admit that if i could get the same hookups on JL's gear as i do on Kicker's, the S15L7s, KX1200.1s, and everything else would be yanked out quick...the W7's are just plain sick, and the rest of the lineup, whether amps, subs, components, or whatever, are just as bada$$...

 
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9917 are the beasts from DD. my friend kyle won extreme 1-2 in 2000 with a pair of them and a 169.0 with only 4 amps. our team switched from those to quad coil lightning audio subs and did a best of 173.2

 
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does JL have any type of goal for a certain audience, like did they aim for people who like the bass rumble or were they meant to deliver high quality sounds?

anybody here heard the JL W7 13" or 12" in person? how did it sound? what was it powered with (rms wattage)? whats a good price for 1 of these thats worth paying for?

 
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you will find the 13w7 in a snailshell box (fancy ported box) to be stupid loud.

but even an 18" resonant engineering XXX will cost you less overall, and have a lower frequency response.

if you are looking for rediculous low bass at high volume, without regard for quality of sound, check out the resonant engineering XXX. Ill bet a pair of the 15" drivers sealed with two brutus 1500 watt amplifiers or even a single one ported with the brutus 1800 watt amp would be able ot outperform most 18's on the market. If youve got the cash, I would recommend two sealed XXX 15's over the 13w7 or even the 18" XXX. Everyone has their price however, and if you want big big budget bass without a big budget, a single XXX ported should only take 4-6 cubic feet. powered by a brutus 1800 watt amp shoudl giv eyou all the volume you could possibly want without spending 800 bucks or more.

besides. 18's look impressive and all, and are even more impractical than 15's, but a pair of 15's, even without ports, I dare say are more impressive to the kids out there. especially if you get the XXX's and invert one.

 
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This is an XXX 12" (not even the 15) compared to a kenwood subwoofer:


This is what a pair of XXX 15's sealed look like:


and if you wish to go for broke, you cna sink the money going for a pair of XXX 15's into a single resonant engineering MT subwoofer. you said yourself, care not for quality of sound, want LOUD:



makes the XXX look like the kenwood, huh