2x18" AA SMD vs 4pcs 15" fi BTL ufo

[superfishbone 1]

i have a audiosystem helon 9000.1 amplifier and 5pcs stinger spv70..

what would be louder between smd18s 2pcs vs 4pcs 15"btl ufo.. not going for spl.. but for musicality only.. just for playing loud or just streetbass.. both system will be powered by the audiosystem helon9000.1.. any opinion?

[Kanaworm$ 292]

4 15" BTL's will have cone area advantage. As far as motor strength that would be a Fi/AA tech question.

[superfishbone 1]

hmmm true.. but the sound of an 18" subwoofer is different from a 15s.. 18'subwoofer produces that heavy bass or really really big sound.. while as 15s will produce a more harder bass.. having of 2 18s is much easier to drive and to control.. unlike 4pcs of 15s.. correct me if im wrong..

im thinking of using 2 18" smds considering space.. easy to drive.. heavy bass kind of sound.. but im still not sure..

is smd subwoofer stronger than a btl?

[Duran 387]

They will have the same "bass" sounds, the only difference is the volume, theoretically more air displacement equals more volume.

[Kanaworm$ 292]

Here is the SMD tech page and Fi tech page. Do some reading and comparisons. Going to be really hard to say which will be louder. It will all come down to installation.

[Notorious97200 339]

Box volume may be the same.

Did you check the price difference? The btl's can be cheaper.

It's a German amplifier, isn't it ? Seems to be a monster amp !!! 11,500 watts rms, wow !

good luck

[Deto1992 5]

If it were my decision to make, I would definitely go with the four Btl 15s. Like somebody stated earlier, you will have the cone area advantage with the Btls and, therefore, it should be louder. As long as the drivers are in the proper enclosure, both options will have an outrageous amount of output. I cant imagine that either choice would disappoint.

[superfishbone 1]

yes its a german amplifier.. here in my place.. the btl is 25k cheaper than the smd18..

uhm... ok let me change my question.. because whatever i do choose will defently be loud..

my main concern here is what will be more musical? im not sure if an18" sub can give that beat beat kind of bass.. so i would need a strong midbass which is very expensive here.. but would be great on low bass.. and can defently produce that heavy background kind of bass.. this way it will be more musical.. but without that expensive midbass spectral balance with the 18" sounds really bad.. in terms of musicality its thickness will not be there..

while using 15s it could defently give that beat beat kind of bass that hard punchy midbass like bass.. but that heavy background giant like sound that the 18s can produce would not be there again there would still be a missing element in terms of spectral balance..

i havent really seen or hear the smd in action.. that is why im not very familiar with it hence the question would be better and what would be more musical..

well if on the safe side.. and i end up getting one of them.. and still not get the sound that i want.. then i just might build a sealed box for whatever sub i get for it to have a flat response on all frequency.. then again.. i fear that smd i just built for spl and will be perfect for DBdrags.. but will not be good on musicality..

the btl 18s i have installed in one of my customers.. is defently missing that beat beat having slow bass effect due to its size..

and one more thing.. is AAchaos and Fi SSD considerd equal?

[ssh 924]

Cone area doesn't affect SQ.

15s, 18s, etc, all in the same driver line will sound the same, just have different amounts of output.

[Impious 1,476]

You are incorrect on your understanding of subbass.

First, the "type" of bass has nothing to do with the size of the subwoofer and everything to do with the design of that particular subwoofer and, just as importantly, the design of the enclosure. I believe by "beat beat bass" you are referring to the driver's ability to play the higher region of the subbass bandwidth. The size of the subwoofer has nothing to do with it's ability to play that frequency range. This is directly related to the driver's design, not it's diameter. The 15" will not inherently be better in this frequency range than an 18" subwoofer. It's entirely possible for a 15" driver to perform worse in the upper subbass/lower midbass frequencies than an 18" subwoofer. So, first and foremost, stop using the subwoofer's diameter as a reference for how well they will play into the higher frequency range as the subwoofer's diameter has absolutely nothing to do with this ability.

Second, you are going to need very strong midbass driver's by going either route. Either option is going to end up being significantly louder than a standard set of midbass speakers.

Third, both drivers are going to perform pretty poorly in a sealed enclosure. They were both designed to perform optimally in a ported enclosure. Sealed is not going to be an option for either the SMD or the BTL. A sealed enclosure for those drivers is not going to result in a flat frequency response. They simply were not designed for that purpose.

The SMD was not designed as an SPL only subwoofer. It was designed for musical purposes.

[superfishbone 1]

i ended up buying the smd 18s.. hehehe

will be powerd by audiosystem helon 9000.1

[raolito1980 2]

Damn those are some beasts! Good luck with your install, and will waiting on some vids.

[slim2fattycake 85]

hope you don't put them in a sealed enclosure.

[bassahaulic 155]

Amp is.... huge.

[bassahaulic 155]

The sound the woofers make is TOTALLY based on the enclosure, it has NOTHING to do with the size of the speaker.

[Sencheezy 689]

SExy!!!

Time for a build log.

[superfishbone 1]

Damn those are some beasts! Good luck with your install, and will waiting on some vids.

the build is gona take a while but we are going to start tomrow to be installed in an astrovan.. will update you guys..

[Ohjay 116]

nice, that amp is hugemongous

[slim142 9]

Great choice

But like mentioned before, depending on the installation the 15s might have been louder due to cone area.

Anyways, post pics when everything is installed. This certainly looks interesting.

[mariobjones 5]

OMG!!! I almost pooped my pants when I saw that amp!!!

[onebadmonte 235]

Impressive buying power friend. Now let see if those installation skills are just as impressive.

Congrats on the buys. Good luck with your project.

[Robert 9]

word

[superfishbone 1]

Impressive buying power friend. Now let see if those installation skills are just as impressive.

Congrats on the buys. Good luck with your project.

sure sir.. wont let you down on the build.. hehehe.. il post pics of all our work.. ^^

these items will be installed in the shop's car to be a demo car for everyone..^^ inshort its gona be a show off car..

but yes defently.. ^^ will do post of the build..^^ and some vids.. give me 2 weeks..

Edited March 3, 2011 by superfishbone

[Dictator1992 6]

11.500 Watt

RMS Power 1 ohm 12.0 Volt 5800 Watt

RMS Power 1 ohm 14.4 Volt 9000 Watt

RMS Power 1 ohm 16.0 Volt 10500 Watt

RMS Power 1 ohm 18.0 Volt 11500 Watt

Nasty little amp 3000euro price tag pretty steep.

[superfishbone 1]

one of my helper with the helon 9000.1