The new 18XL1800 cone woofer from FaitalPRO is designed to recreate and reinforce very low natural audible frequencies of 20 Hz to 30 Hz.
The company notes that the 18XL1800 offers very high mechanical excursion—at least one and a half times greater than the other 18-inch woofers in the FaitalPRO catalog.
Rated power handling is 1,600 watts (3,200 watts maximum, AES standard). Sensitivity is stated as 95 dB.
The 18XL1800 is equipped with two demodulation rings to reduce unwanted harmonic distortion and modulation of inductance.
A new design approach was applied with the new geometry of the magnet assembly. Usually, a large neodymium ring would be employed, but for the new 18XL 1800, the design team implemented a “sectors” structure, which substantially reduced the overall weight of the magnet assembly without impacting performance.
Other notable aspects include a high-winding voice coil, very large spiders (over 230 mm) and a wider cone edge, which are all distinguishing features derived from the company’s 18XL1600 and ceramic 18HW1070 cone woofers.
Entirely designed using FEA modeling techniques, the new 18XL1800 implements a new waterproof cone made up of cellulose pulp mixed with high-quality synthetic fiber. It also has a large thermoformed and treated border as well as an efficient cooling system capable of considerable reduction in air turbulence noise.
Excellent symmetry and strong suspension compliance (even with large signals) result in exceptional functional stability of the moving parts over a very extended excursion. BL values are almost constant from -15 mm to + 15 mm excursion, indicating high linearity even in cases of considerable excursion.
Flavio Naggi, pro audio division manager of Faital, states, “Although the new 18XL1800 has an average efficiency of 95 dB and is not exactly suitable for pure horn applications (to emphasize the acoustic efficiency) because of the Efficiency Bandwidth Product parameter of only 69 Hz, its Thiele & Small parameters set suggests use in standard reflex speakers with large cross-section tuning ports or, even better, in double or folded transmission lines like Transflex or tapped horn.”
The new 18XL1800 is suitable for various indoor applications such as cinemas, theaters, concert halls, sports facilities, churches, as well as applications with high-end sound reinforcement systems and touring. It could also be used in a sealed box of appropriate internal volume, providing an emphasis on the audio signal for the first two-thirds octave of the spectrum to achieve an “Infra-Sub” quality suitable for high-end home cinema systems.
In addition, FaitalPRO also notes that the 18XL1800 could complement the LF section of a line array for playback of extremely low frequencies (up to 28 Hz), as well as joined with more traditional subs that work down to 40 Hz.