I use a profile J15 in the imperial I built, it works, and it is a car sub.  If you are going to be using it for bass only, it will work great.

Car subs do well to load the horn, but the front radiation on them is pretty useless compared to what they make come out of the horn.

Stv

My thoughts on the SO:

It is an audiophile sub, not a PA sub.

If your goal is to get a lot of clean bass for a large concert or party, use the imperial as it is now.

If your goal is to fill a moderately sized listing room with bass, wait for the SO.

I may be completely wrong, but from what I gather from what Steve D has said about the SO, it uses the horn as a resonator rather than a traditional horn.

If the front of the SO was closed, I could see using it as a PA sub, however the slot that gives it well controlled exclusive bass through the horn mouth probably reduces the over all efficiency of the horn.

I see the horn on the imperial like a port, and the horn-resonator on the SO like a passive radiator.  Passive radiators are not traditionally used in PA applications because of the power involved, along with the amount of air being moved.  I don’t see a resonator horn being as efficient as a loaded horn.

Stv

To avoid a flame war:
I am not saying anything bad about the SO.  I am just saying every speaker has a purpose, and from what I have read about the construction, theory, and operation of the SO, I do not see it as a PA sub.
[To the SO fanatics:  Offering points and supporting them contradicting what I said is fine.  Blatantly saying “I don’t agree with what you said” without support will not help anyone.]

I'm about 1/2 way into my build of a pair of Imperial SO's (single 18).  When I'm done (1-2 weeks), I'll let everyone know how they compare to my dual 18 Imperials.  The plans wern't ready at Decfest, but I got the changes straight from Steve D.  Not a whole lot of changes from the regular Imperial!  When Steve D hooked up a signal generator to his SO's at Decfest it just re-confirmed my desire to build a pair.  They have to be flat (or maybe even increase in volume) as the generator went from 40 down to 30 hz.  Wow.

DanK

Interesting.  Guess I uncovered the code for a smiley.  It doesnt show up in the preview...  Any way the Imperial SO's I'm building will have a single 18" speaker.  I have Cerwin Vega
188's and Madison Executioner X 18's to try in them.

DanK

All:

If my previous post was a bit harsh, I am sorry.

I was up until 3 doing homework.  I had a 7am class that I slept though, and I had an exam today right before lunch.

It has been a bad day.

The high point of my day will be cheese steak subs for dinner, and a chance to put my feet up, and listen to music on my imperial.

DjDj:

I would recommend building the Decware modified imperial for full-range use; it is incredible.  I am using a car sub, and a high QTS driver.  The combination is amazing, even though on paper they look like they would be less than ideal for horn loading.

Stv

[quote author=JimP  link=1129093914/0#10 date=1129157316]ps  Dank, how'd you get so lucky to get the SO plans pre-release?  Send us pics of the build and finished product for sure! [/quote]


JimP,

Must be present to win?

I am in full agreement with you about the Imperial. Oh Yeah! It's the SO version that might be too much of a specialty item to be effective as a Hi spl unit. Now we'll know for sure after Dan works it all out for us.

My attempts in the past were to have the Hi-est Fi possible. Imperials would have been perfect for small venues!

both

fullrange Imps for top end, So's to cover the bottom octave.

heh heh heh