# 18" Obsidian Audio d2v2 - Review....



## thisgsx (Mar 16, 2006)

Ok, so for the past couple of months I've been asking around the forums and reading up a ton of 18" drivers that would both sound good and get loud. There were a lot of contenders, but I ultimately chose the Obsidian Audio driver, due to cost and due to it's low rms power handling, on top of that Jacob is also known to be a sq guy, plus he is also with Stereo Integrity, so why the hell not? Key points I was considering was, I didn't want an 18" driver that needed 2,000 watts rms just to push it. 1) Because I don't have the power on tap 2) I didn't want to upgrade my amp.

About a month or two ago, I found a used 1 week old 18" OA D2 V2 over at caraudioclassifieds so I snatched her up. 

I contacted Jacob and he recommended a ported 5.25 cubed enclosure tuned to 28-29 hz. I submitted the specs to my builder and so it began. The outcome of the enclosure, was 5 cubed tuned to 28hz. An error on my builder's part, but I can always stuff it with polyfill later down the road if I feel like it needs it. The enclosure took longer than it should, but it was all worth it. 

While waiting for the enclosure, I was running a single 12w7 in a ported enclosure built to JL's specs, only so I can compare both OA's sound quality to the W7's. Well let me tell you guys, I've only listened to the OA for about 15 minutes, and to me, the OA sounds almost as good as the W7. I went through a whole bunch of tracks, listening only to the first minute or two of each track to catch a glimpse of how the OA picks up on different bass notes.  was all I had on my face! No regrets at all. And I believe the OA is not even broken in yet and I'm sure it'll just sound better once it is broken in. 

Tracks I played were: 
Trance:
DJ Tiesto - Just Be (whole album)
DJ Tiesto - Parade of the Athletes (whole album)
Bobina - Breakfast
Ben Gold - Life
tYdi - When I Go

Rock/Metal:
Queen Of The Damned (whole album)
Aerosmith - Crying
Gun's N Roses - November Rain
Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory (whole album)

other:
Bass Explosion USA Vol 1 (tracks 4, 8, 17, 20)


System setup:
'90 Honda CRX HF
Pioneer 80PRS
Diamond Audio Hex s600a (active)
Memphis 'small' Belle
18" Obisidan Audio d2 v2
Entire car deadened with FatMat Rattletrap plus closed cell foam and mlv on floor of car


Setup for when I was running the W7 was the same as above. Nothing was changed. 

Bottom line:

The OA hits almost as clean, tight and punch as that of the W7. The OA get's louder and lower and it looks like the OA can take more than what I am currently sending to it right now. The sub is barely moving with what I am currently sending it. Looks like the OA is a keeper, probably until the next itch to upgrade. Who knows...?


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## Boostedrex (Apr 4, 2007)

These subs also do really well in an IB setup. Just a great all around sub for a VERY low price. Glad to see that more people in the SQ world are starting to discover them. Though you might want to double check who the actual owner of Obsidian is...


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## thisgsx (Mar 16, 2006)

I'll have to double check then. I've always thought that Jacob was owner of Obsidian... Oh well, very good sub at a very good price point. So far I'm loving it and so has everyone that's heard my setup so far.


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## Boostedrex (Apr 4, 2007)

Yeah, not much at all to dislike about the Obsidian subs. That's what I'll be running in my car when I start competing again. It was a no brainer!


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## edouble101 (Dec 9, 2010)

Boostedrex said:


> Yeah, not much at all to dislike about the Obsidian subs. That's what I'll be running in my car when I start competing again. It was a no brainer!


...IB?


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## 49konvict (Mar 18, 2013)

Nick lemons is the owner and he is from stereo integrity. Jacob fuller owns sundown and is a co owner of obsidian. I ran a oa 12 for about a year and its amazing for the price. Ran it sealed and ib and prefered sealed. Ib sounded great but I'm more of an spl guy so sealed gave me the thump I needed. Had a 4th order built but my car blew up before I could install so can't say anything about that. Very versatile and 600 rms just made it laugh. Even ib it never got warm on 600. Man now I want another


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## Boostedrex (Apr 4, 2007)

edouble101 said:


> ...IB?


IB = Infinite Baffle. I cut a hole through the floor pan of my car and the back of the 18" is open to the outside. Freaking AMAZING setup for SQ but it will hamper the overall SPL ability of the sub. I don't care about high SPL though, so that is fine by me.


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## Bluenote (Aug 29, 2008)

Boostedrex said:


> IB = Infinite Baffle. I cut a hole through the floor pan of my car and the back of the 18" is open to the outside. Freaking AMAZING setup for SQ but it will hamper the overall SPL ability of the sub. I don't care about high SPL though, so that is fine by me.


^^
Zach you are so committed! Haha! I'd like to see and hear that soon.


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## tate007 (May 9, 2011)

I want a pair of these. 

How do they compare to 18w3? I know they are a different generation but I would like to know if someone has heard both.


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