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[Jamin Lynch]

I'm about to pull the trigger on 4 new TH118's...sight unseen. Buying solely based on what I've read here.

 Please convince me I'm doing the right thing. 

[John Penkala]

I'm about to pull the trigger on 4 new TH118's...sight unseen. Buying solely based on what I've read here.

 Please convince me I'm doing the right thing. 

When you say sight unseen are you buying them used or new? What is your current subwoofer setup?

[Rick Powell]

When you say sight unseen are you buying them used or new? What is your current subwoofer setup?

He said "new" so I assume he meant "new". 

I bought my TH115's sight unseen too.

I will say that the 118's seldom come up for sale used, and the last pair I saw was offered at around $3300.  Assuming they will fit the intended purpose (assuming it is providing 150+ peak dB of fairly directed sound from 30 to 100 Hz as a group of four) the primary negative I can see is a "rider friendly" situation where customers aren't sure if they are acceptable substitutes for JBL, EAW or what have you.  This unfamiliarity should dissipate over time, especially with the high profile Danley installations at Lambeau Field, LSU, Iowa State, etc. and the familiarity of the products with the users of this LAB and other forums.

I said "fairly directed sound" as in, most of the energy from this cabinet goes forward.   I don't hear a lot of low end leaking backward on stage when we play outdoors.  OTOH, we did an outdoor show last year where a provider had four EV MTH-1's (center clustered) and the backwash on stage was deafening.

[Jamin Lynch]

When you say sight unseen are you buying them used or new? What is your current subwoofer setup?

I'm buying new only.

When I said "sight unseen" I mean never heard them live before.

[Nick Reese]

I've seen it talked about before on the forum but was curious, what are the prices (new) for the TH118? I'm also considering buying sight/heard unseen (as well as the SM80) based off of all the talk here on the forum. I live in small town Nebraska, so practically no opportunity to demo these products without a very lengthy drive.

[John Penkala]

He said "new" so I assume he meant "new". 

I bought my TH115's sight unseen too.

I will say that the 118's seldom come up for sale used, and the last pair I saw was offered at around $3300.  Assuming they will fit the intended purpose (assuming it is providing 150+ peak dB of fairly directed sound from 30 to 100 Hz as a group of four) the primary negative I can see is a "rider friendly" situation where customers aren't sure if they are acceptable substitutes for JBL, EAW or what have you.  This unfamiliarity should dissipate over time, especially with the high profile Danley installations at Lambeau Field, LSU, Iowa State, etc. and the familiarity of the products with the users of this LAB and other forums.

I said "fairly directed sound" as in, most of the energy from this cabinet goes forward.   I don't hear a lot of low end leaking backward on stage when we play outdoors.  OTOH, we did an outdoor show last year where a provider had four EV MTH-1's (center clustered) and the backwash on stage was deafening.

The reason I asked the question is that sometimes "new" doesn't mean brand new. It means new to the buyer.  I wouldn't have any apprehension buying factory new Danley speakers "sight unseen". If he is buying used, I would verify that the correct drivers are installed. +1 on the "rider friendly" comments. Additionally, the Danley subs are also popular in the DJ/EDM market.

[TJ (Tom) Cornish]

I'm buying new only.

When I said "sight unseen" I mean never heard them live before.

I did the same and have been really happy.  The form factor is really nice - they go up my ramp into my cargo van very easily, and being a vertical box, there's no awkward tipping in the truck like with subs that have casters on a long side.

I've been powering mine with an ITechHD12000, and since I'm an amp short for my Vertec stuff, have been contemplating getting a couple PowerPlate modules and an external DSP, since that's less money than another ITechHD12K.  In any case, I don't think there's a better mid-sized portable sub out there.  Danley's bigger stuff can put out more SPL per cu. ft than the TH-118 so for large shows a different box may be better, but for mid-sized stuff, the logistics of the TH-118 are unbeatable.

[Frederik Rosenkjær]

Well, since we're still just voices on the Internet, I can tell you my personal philosophy about choosing gear solely based on what you hear on the Net:

There are about as many opinions as there are people and sometimes someone will praise a product you personally loathe and sometimes vice versa. So how do you know when you can trust an opinion? Sometimes even a friend whom you trust to have "good taste" (ie. taste that's similar to yours ;o)) will screw up and fall in love with something that you find appalling.

Personally, I've never thought the passioned intense hate there is online for the AKG C1000S is deserved. Sure, it's not the greatest mic there is, but it really gets more than its fair share of flaming, I think.

And personally there's one particular, very well-known, brand of speakers at the very top level of the business, that I've never understood why so many people like (due to my affiliation with Danley Sound Labs I will leave this unnamed). All other manufacturers "in the best league" make some very nice speakers - except this one brand IMO.

BUT! Every now and again, there are products that no one seems to really diss and all reviews and opinions are quite favorable. One example could be the Great River preamp in studio world. Nobody dislikes that. There may be better ones for a particular purpose and so on, but overall it seems everyone agrees that this one is at the very least quite good.

My philosophy is that those rare few products are probably ok to buy just on hearsay.

How/if this applies to the TH-118, I'll let you be the judge on. Google it (like you haven't already ;o))

[John L Nobile]

I'm about to pull the trigger on 4 new TH118's...sight unseen. Buying solely based on what I've read here.

 Please convince me I'm doing the right thing. 

I would have been a little less nervous had I had the chance to audition my Danley system before buying it. Especially after all the "pro" advice I got to not get it. Hard to argue with "But you've never heard it". My only argument was that I wasn't happy with anything I've heard yet.
But I like horn loaded systems and I totally bought into the Synergy horn concept. The system showed up and totally blew me and the soundco away.
I wound up with 2 SBH218's. If I had the chance to hear TH118's I may have gotten 4 of them instead. I hope to hear them one day but I'm totally happy with the SBH218's. I've never had lo end like this.

[Jamin Lynch]

More details:

Most of my jobs have been country/Texas country with a little classic rock thrown in and church events. Mostly indoors. Haven't really needed chest thumping subs.  Up to 500 would be considered a pretty large event. My current subs have been more than adequate.

The problem is most of these gigs don't exactly pay very well. I'm getting more calls for Tejano, which is large in my area, and some EDM/rap events. The Tejano bands pay a lot better but require it to be really loud with big thumping subs.

I did a show for a Tejano band last week for about 300-400. They loved the quality of the sound I was putting out but they wanted more chest thump and my subs were just about at their limit. I thought it was way too loud, but that's the way they like it. The crowd...not the band.

I didn't measure it because once you hit "way too loud" who cares what the meter says.

I feel if I'm going to be doing more of these types of shows I will need to step up to better subs.

Meeting rider requirements isn't really an issue for me. Most shows I do don't have riders.

I am considering the TH118's mainly due to their output and sound quality (from what I've read on the forums) but also the size. I only have so much room in the trailer and a bunch of double 18's won't fit.

Any input from actual  users would be greatly appreciated.

[ProSoundWeb Community]