best WOOFER ???

Audio Technology

The Volt 15" is nice and so is the ATC SB100-375SC but a pair of either of these woofers will set you back close to $1500, which you can use up to around 500 Hz....so you are looking at a costly speaker.

The TC Sounds LMS 18" Ultra at around $1500 for one unit is another serious driver.

Actually, you're evaluating the cabinet much more than any particular driver.

TC Sounds LMS 18" Ultra is I guess the end of storey !

Is it a boom boom driver or high fidelity ?

FOSTEX FW800 31.5IN Super woofer 1 of the best about for bass below 200hz. $3200 ea for new model just released march 14 2009. I would also nominate the fostex w400a-hr $2550 ea. Can be used up to 1800hz. Massive alnico mag advanced design. Dont know of a better 15in.

That Fostex FW800N would be great for tubes - I don't recall ever seeing a driver with a higher Vas.

What is best? The performance of a driver has so much to do with the cabinet and environment. That being said we did a 2 channel design for a client that installed two 18" infinite baffle subs in his room to augment his monitors. Pretty amazing realistic low level detail at the bottom end.

Take a look at the Velodyne DD series.

I am Waiting for the jl Audio owners to kick in, then again they probably are too busy trying to off load 'em,lol.

Johnk- a 31" cone?!. Wow................

Check out www.belifurari.com. This company has patents pending on a new driver technology. I think this might be one to watch.

Yeah, take a look at a Velodyne sub if you want good explosions.

Hey Klover, it does sound like it would be an awesome bass driver!

Hope prices are reasonable?

Working with the new fostex 31.5in this weekend a true beast. Will have bass system ready for pics in about 2 weeks. Cab used 8 full sheets of birch ply! Got the 1st new version 31.5in in US but that always happens Im lucky;)

John, there should be a permit required for a woofer that size.

As far as pricing goes I don't see any published numbers. I was reading about the new driver on the "L-A-Driver" page, the top button in the upper right corner of the home page at Belifurari.com, and if you look at the pictures of the driver itself, at the very bottom of that page, it appears that it might be fully hand made. If that is so then I am sure it is not cheap. It kind of reminds me of Feastrex, all hand made and uber-expensive. I was also reading the "Fidelity" page where it addresses free air resonance and presents a rather eyebrow raising anology. In the second paragraph of the "Natural Vibrations" section it talks about tethering the strings of a double bass violin to the body of the instrument.....and compares that condition to the spider and surround of available speakers. Do you think this could true?

TAD makes some excellent 15" woofers that have free air resonances in the mid-low 20s. They are also easy to drive: 8 ohms and 97 db.

One characteristic that I have become accustomed to is the natural low end roll off that all speakers have, usually around 40hz, why is that?? Do the spider and surround cause this? This company is claiming their driver to have a flat response beyond 10hz, and their driver has no spider or surround. Apparently this was in a large enclosure,"approaching an infinite baffle". Further reading shows a roll off when the new driver is in a 5 cubic foot box. Even with that roll off their tests show it to be 16db more efficient than the 18" driver they used. If their claims are true then the bass reproduction that this driver is capable of must be incredibly sweet???

TAD makes some excellent 15" woofers that have free air resonances in the mid-low 20s.

They sure do! TAD are among the very best.

How do the latest field coil woofers, like those used in some Shindo speakers, compare?

Johnk...Years ago EV made a 30" woofer, but no one tried to put it in an enclosure. It was usually ceiling-mounted working into an attic.

Mapman, the new field coil 15" woofers in the Classic Audio Loudspeakers are also really impressive. They are faster than the TADs, more efficient and have similar low end response.

Eldartford your right many do get mounted in wall. The new super woofers been changed enough to work in massive ported cabinet. Or even OB. These woofers are fast and produce detailed bass with massive subbass at very low distortions compared to small woofers. And even a 21in woofer looks small next to the 31.5in. So get some ply for baffle, cut hole in wall, frame out and you have a super woofer for both rooms;)