BootyPillager Posted April 12, 2016 Report Share Posted April 12, 2016 I haven't been able to find a ranking of the top 5 or top 3 drivers on this website. So I want to ask which are the best? What are the highest value per dollar? From what I can see its the Ultimax 18 and the SI HT/DS 18 so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricci Posted April 12, 2016 Report Share Posted April 12, 2016 "Best" is a slippery term and may mean different things for different people. It's sort of like asking what is the best sedan or the best knife. Some offer excellent bang for the buck, some are optimized better for a certain application, some are incredibly durable and abuse tolerant, others leverage engineering and materials to increase performance but cost many times what other drivers do. It depends on what the job at hand is. The 2 drivers you mentioned certainly seem to offer very high value. (I haven't tested the DS4 yet but I don't see any reason to doubt that it'll perform well.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukeamdman Posted April 12, 2016 Report Share Posted April 12, 2016 http://www.parts-express.com/titan-15-purple-glitter-cone-yellow-surround-woofer-4-ohm--299-1054 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infrasonic Posted April 12, 2016 Report Share Posted April 12, 2016 No. The correct answer is "none". 18's are terrible for music. Maybe movies since it's all boom but music you want "tight" bass. 18's will be sloppy and not keep up with the beats. Needs to be 12's or smaller even. I had this friend that had eight 8's in his pickup. Bro, that thing pounded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukeamdman Posted April 12, 2016 Report Share Posted April 12, 2016 No. The correct answer is "none". 18's are terrible for music. Maybe movies since it's all boom but music you want "tight" bass. 18's will be sloppy and not keep up with the beats. Needs to be 12's or smaller even. I had this friend that had eight 8's in his pickup. Bro, that thing pounded. Imagine how tight the bass would be if you wired up like 1,000 1" tweeters... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infrasonic Posted April 12, 2016 Report Share Posted April 12, 2016 They have small magnets so they can't take much power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowan611 Posted April 12, 2016 Report Share Posted April 12, 2016 http://www.parts-express.com/titan-15-purple-glitter-cone-yellow-surround-woofer-4-ohm--299-1054 Lol, awesome!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukeamdman Posted April 12, 2016 Report Share Posted April 12, 2016 They have small magnets so they can't take much power. Oh yeah right...duh. Should have thought of that... I guess I'll keep the Othorns and cancel my order for 1,000 of these: http://www.parts-express.com/grs-1tm-4-1-mylar-tweeter-4-ohm--292-438 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilmike Posted April 13, 2016 Report Share Posted April 13, 2016 But this one is ribbed, for added pleasure. The inductance is nice and low too, 0.96 mH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukeamdman Posted April 13, 2016 Report Share Posted April 13, 2016 oooOOOooo...lower Fs too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BootyPillager Posted April 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2016 "Best" is a slippery term and may mean different things for different people. It's sort of like asking what is the best sedan or the best knife. Some offer excellent bang for the buck, some are optimized better for a certain application, some are incredibly durable and abuse tolerant, others leverage engineering and materials to increase performance but cost many times what other drivers do. It depends on what the job at hand is. The 2 drivers you mentioned certainly seem to offer very high value. (I haven't tested the DS4 yet but I don't see any reason to doubt that it'll perform well.) Ok I'm looking for the best in SQ for music and home theater. Not really concerned about anything else. Purely from a performance stand point for both applications. What is the best? What it seems from what I gather is the Aurasound, UXL18, HST18, and the XXX18. Of these 4 which is the best? Also Aurasound has disproven that notion of 18" subwoofer sounding bad for music. That is a thing of the past. I've heard the Aurasound and it sounds as good as my brothers JL Audio Fathom F113. According to many others the same is true for the ones I listed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BootyPillager Posted April 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2016 http://www.parts-express.com/titan-15-purple-glitter-cone-yellow-surround-woofer-4-ohm--299-1054 Now that is a sexy driver..........GLITTERRRRR!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archaea Posted April 18, 2016 Report Share Posted April 18, 2016 Ok I'm looking for the best in SQ for music and home theater. Not really concerned about anything else. Purely from a performance stand point for both applications. What is the best? What it seems from what I gather is the Aurasound, UXL18, HST18, and the XXX18. Of these 4 which is the best? Also Aurasound has disproven that notion of 18" subwoofer sounding bad for music. That is a thing of the past. I've heard the Aurasound and it sounds as good as my brothers JL Audio Fathom F113. According to many others the same is true for the ones I listed. Define sound quality? Lowest distortion level? Perhaps the now off market LMS-5400, but most likely 4 Dayton HO 18" drivers would have lower distortion levels at any given SPL level for about the same driver cost. If Aurasound was the one to disprove 18" subwoofers don't sound bad for music - then you should buy an Aurasound. I guess nobody else has good sounding 18" drivers. Realistically - don't get too hung up on 'sound quality' for a subwoofer. Capability, as it relates to your expectation, is a more important term and that can come from buying robust drivers with properly designed/mated enclosures, or multiples of inexpensive drivers with properly designed/mated sealed enclosures. The end result isn't too dissimilar from either path. With the lesser expensive 18" you have more of them to keep the distortion profiles low. I've been in home theaters driven by LMS-5400 Ultras, and I've been in rooms with 8 or even 16 SI HT 18". Both can sound equally great. The times when a subwoofer sounds bad is either bad integration (time alignment/impulse response or poorly integrated EQ) or poorly designed/mated enclosures to the servicing driver's parameters... Take a look at that glittersub linked earlier. http://www.parts-express.com/titan-15-purple-glitter-cone-yellow-surround-woofer-4-ohm--299-1054 To properly mate an enclosure to this 6lb monstrosity in a sealed box with an FS of 30hz says you need an 8 cubic foot sealed box. Nobody using this thing is putting it in an 8 cubic foot box. So the rolloff point is going to be much higher. Someone won't realize that buying it - will drop it in a way too small box for those driver parameters and say it sounds like crap. That driver isn't a good driver by any stretch of the imagination (3.5mm xmax on a 15" - ha) - but build the box appropriately and it'd probably surprise you with what it would do for a $15 driver, at least be a wee bit surprised instead of disgusted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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