140L, 2500watts, and a hole(s) waiting to be cut..but what driver(s)?

Only because you said "money isn't too big of an issue" ... i think the Aura driver would be the way to go... i haven't tried modeling it, but the specs seem VERY nice unfortunately so is the list price !!!

I noticed you listed Dual AV15's or AV15 w/PRs... would you put them in the same catagory as the others? just thinking ...

How about a Clarion Thunderdome in a transmission line setup, I remember reading a post long ago stating theoretically one could get this to play into the negative hz (of course I've never modeled this but have heard it on several occasions).

How would a driver move in and out a negative amount of times?

Anthony,

I have to remind myself that you are a student and that I should not be jealous of you. Darn it!

Oh well. I do feel glad that the AV15, which is at the top of my list, is represented on yours. If I could splurge, I would go with the Tumult. There's a reason why you put it 1st on your list.

What about the Lambda Acoustics PB15 or SB15?

Al

Anthony,

If you can afford it, go with the Aura NS18. It is in another league than everything else. If not that, then go with dual AV15's. I would much rather have dual AV15's than a Tumult. Well for the price of the Aura, you could get 4 AV15's. The AV drivers from Stryke are incredibly underpriced and have been overshadowed by the Tumult 'round these parts. I think that they represent an incredible value. 4+ Liters of linear displacement by TC Sounds for $200?!?! Wow... Then again, you already owned a pair of Blueprint 1503's didn't you? Maybe you should try something different.

To be fair, I was actually going to purchase an Aura NS18, and I purchased a Blueprint 1803 to "get me by" for a little while. I stuck it in a 15 cubic foot enclosure tuned to 16 Hz and I haven't looked back. Running with a 1000 watt amp, it is hitting over 120 dB in-room from 16-80 Hz. (I own LMS from LinearX) Not bad for under $500 total. I am sure it will play louder, but I am afraid to turn it up any higher than that. When I play pipe organ music through it (like "Pomp and Pipes", the reigning champion for deep loud bass) and it plays a loud 16 Hz fundamental, the entire second floor of the house begins to shudder up and down. It is awe inspiring. I even stuck it into a 2.5 foot^3 sealed enclosure and it sounded fantastic!

Anyhow, all of the systems you suggested will have plenty of output in all but the biggest rooms. I say go for the Aura NS18. You won't regret it. I think that you should make it big and port it. Good luck on your choice...

Chad

P.S. I recently compared my Blueprint 1803 to the Resonant Engineering XXX 18" subwoofer, which is essentially an 1803 with an XBL motor, although optimized more for car audio. Although it was incredible, it didn't provide for much of a difference. After all the hype about XBL, I was left somewhat dissappointed. Just my 2 cents...

That probably has something to do with their poor implementation of it, more than anything to do with the XBL^2 technology.

Seth

The XBL^2 technology certainly offers superior 'bench racing' performance. However the reality maybe that this superiority isn't actually audible, given how the human ear perceives low frequency distortion.

My experience with some of these newer generation 'uber' woofers; is that regardless of their specs and design, all offer extremely good performance. However many of these drivers are virtually indistinguishable from each other in real world applications.

Note that I have not yet heard the newest generation of AuraSound drivers. Communication with one of the AuraSound engineers indicates that the drivers do indeed define a new 'state of the art'. If/how that translates to actual audible superiority isn't known.

People who've heard the Tumult seem to say it sounds like nothing else they've heard. People seem to think that The Brahma sounds quite good, but it doesn't seem to outpace all the other car woofers, rather equal some of the best for less money. The XXX subs seem to use the XBL^2 motor design for extra travel for that extra SPL without really going for better sound quality.

All different implementations of the same motor design with different results. I suppose it all depends how the drivers are designed.

Seth

I wonder how dual sealed AV-15s would sound here... it could be done without spending a lot of money and they would still displace a lot of air. Would sealing 2 of these guys end up sounding tighter than a ported enclosure?

I have seriously considered the use of the Aura NS18, and have done some research that has shown me that this would be truly a great Sub driver. Since I do $20,000 to $300,000 systems in mid to large business jets (like G-V's) I have called up Aura about setting up a dealer account and they were quite anxious to do so even at very small quantities of 1 or 2 drivers at $500 each for the 18's once I convenced them there would be repeate business (and there would). However on the G-V that I was bidding on we decided to go with wireless headphone system and Gallo "Due" so I never got to finish setting up an account, but if you have a business name and good BS you might be able to get them at a dealer price, I've done this in the past with great success. Maybe a group purchase would work under some business name.