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Funk 18.0E (single 18") vs. PSA 3012 (dual 15")

HooStat

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Neither of these has been measured in the tremendous @sweetchaos subwoofer repository. Earlier versions of each have done nicely in the CEA testing. But the current 18.0E version of the Funk is smaller than the 18.0 that was tested, and the driver has been improved. PowerSoundAudio (PSA) has moved to B&C professional drivers. Both are sealed designs.

I can only have 1 sub and it is in a big living room (> 5,000 cu ft plus part of an open floor plan). Speakers are Monitor Audio Silver 500 7G and the matching center channel (Silver C250 7G). No surround speakers yet (that is a separate project). Current sub is an Arendal 1961 1S which is surprisingly good but the room is just too big. I could get a second Arendal can colocate them, but I don't think they will fit and I don't think that even 2 of them will provide enough bass.

The new sub has to have a black wood finish (e.g., black ash or similar). It has to fit in a specific location that prevents anything bigger than 22" in any dimension from being acceptable (and ~18" depth is preferable). So, that brings it to these 2 options (SVS has a 16" that failed to pass the spousal "look" test but otherwise would have been fair game.)

The Funk is a little smaller, might have a little nicer finish, has a slightly more powerful amp (2,200 watts, 5200 peak) but has a shorter warranty. It is also about $1,000 more. The PSA is pretty small for a dual-opposed design and has a 5 year warranty and more cone area from 2 15" drivers but has less power spread across two drivers (1,900 watts, 4,300 peak).

I thought I would gather some opinions from here while I mull it over. In particular, I would be interested in understanding more about the drivers used in these designs.
 
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Tom C

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Personally, I’d do whatever I could to make a choice based on reliable measurements. Without that, there’s just no way to compare the alternatives.
 
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