Bass imaging?

[BobbyG2]

This is more a curiosity of mine than an actual goal.

A little while back someone asked why 18's weren't generally used in SQ cars and the answer came down to imaging.

I was wondering how well it would work to somehow get stereo imaging from a pair of 18's. I was thinking, maybe building two separate 4th or 6th order enclosures, with the ports as close to the sides of the cabin as possible? Probably a sealed wall.

Has anyone tried something like this? If this could work and sound good, I may try it some day...

[AI James]

the problem with having 2 18s in a sq oriented application...or even one...your front stage is going to have a very hard time blending in. unless you have nice stuff.

thats imaging. doesnt really matter what kinda box you put those 18s in they are goign to have to either be turned dowm som much its pointless or youll have to invest heavily in a front stage.

[BobbyG2]

Say I were to have 2 Obsidian 18's, each on an Skar 800. What do you think it would take to have a front sound stage that will blend in?

I was looking at the Dayton reference series, specifically thinking 2 8inch woofers, 2 dome midranges, and 2 silk tweets per side on a Sundown 100.4.

Reason for the 8inch woofer was because OA's testing was showing that the 18 starts rolling off around 60hz in their recommended enclosure.

I'm probably going to settle for two oa18s in a 14cuft ported enclosure tuned to 28hz and two pairs of decent components (such as the RF T2's) on an SD100.4.

I just think it's fun to speculate, and explore other options while I save up for this expensive investment.

[bobobass]

Lol at 2 18"'s in a sq system.

[RooTxBeeR]

The other thing is, There is a very huge difference between SQ and SQL and even SPL. I have yet to hear a SQ system, but I know that they do not have that much bass. They just have enough so the full range is playable and at a good level of loudness and clarity. Theres no point in have a 18 for SQ because a 18 isn't going to be made with the purpose of Sound Quality, They are huge subs so people tend to build them in the sorts of SPL. Hope that helps a bit/.

[BobbyG2]

I was more wondering about how well it would do imaging, than how well it would do in a SQ competition.

It's probably a little impractical and difficult, but so is any large or out of the ordinary build, and this is both.

And I'm sure there are 18's out there with just as exceptional sound quality as the smaller SQ woofers...

[Trey_Dog650]

There are a few people that use 18" in a SQ build. It's rare but not impossible

[Jaloosk]

I've seen an 18" in an SQ vehicle once (I've only been to a handful of shows, mind you). It was a mid-90's Thunderbird, and also had a 10" sub, a pair of 8" midbasses in the doors and ID horns. Dude had actively crossed everything; the 18" was used for 50Hz and under; the 10" was used for 50-100 (I'm spitballin' here...these are not the exact xo points) etc. The point is, the 18" only had very limited duty in a specific range. The rest of the bass range was handled by the 10".

[Joe X]

I was more wondering about how well it would do imaging, than how well it would do in a SQ competition.

It's probably a little impractical and difficult, but so is any large or out of the ordinary build, and this is both.

And I'm sure there are 18's out there with just as exceptional sound quality as the smaller SQ woofers...

Sure there is, here is one:

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=293-666

As all SQ stuff is really expensive.

[BobbyG2]

That's been my dream woofer since before audiopulse when Mike Singer was bumping two in his eclipse. That's actually what got me into car audio.