Power and DEEP, DEEP BASS:

None

I have both the Definitive Technology 18TL and the 15TL subwoofers. They both put out deep, deep bass. For the Money that I paid for these subwoofers was well spent. Theses subwoofers do every thing that they are suppose to do. Power it does have a lot of power for the money. I am very happy with both of these subwoofers:

High power, floor shaking, thunderous

Requires good placement

I am obviously biased because I love this baby. For movies it's simply great. However I just can't get it to work to my taste for music, because (1) I like very subtle bass for music, (2) this thing requires to be placed perfectly and I don't have much freedom to move it around my listening room. This is why I bought a second sub (ProSub 100) for music listening. Now I have connected ProSub 100 to main speaker wires and PF18TL to LFE, and PF18TL is only active for movies. For above reasons I cannot recommend this for music listening, but for movies there is no better one for the price.

Incredibly low bass.

Sheer size.

For those unfortunate enough to buy ANY 18" sub for use in listening to music above 32Hz, they will be distraught. No manufacturer is going to sell an almost $1000 sub for use as an extreme deep bass sub (subsonic if you will) without making it capable of producing listenable bass above that point. The laws of physics won't allow a cone with kind of mass the DF 18" drivers have to move fast enough to reproduce upper bass harmonics, they would simply tear themselves apart. My PF18 is used strictly for subterranean bass (<32Hz) reproduction with a pair of MX-125 MK II's from M&K used for bass above 32Hz. (They actually overlap by about a third of an octave.) Yes this type of setup is unusual, but extremely gratifying. If any of the reviewers below can show me a sub that can produce usable amounts of energy below 20Hz like a PF18, I'll trade them mine and pay for the sub outright. And for those of you whining about the PF18's nonmusical characteristics in the upper bass harmonics, turn down your low pass to below 40Hz and get some bigger mains.

great price

very loud port in the back, nowhere near the frequency response the manual claims

please, please, please. This thing is over-rated. for the price it beats its competition only because of the price. go get the bass-mechanic cd and play test tones from 15hz up. The damn thing just chuffs a lot of air. They don't even come close in reproducing any frequencies below 25hz. what a joke. That is what you get with a ported design as they have a much steeper rolloff and just flat out suck. get a acoustic suspension sub not ported unless your fan is broke and you are looking for some air circulation. what a joke.

Similar Products Used:

velodyne hgs series

"AWESOME DEEP DEEP BASS DOWN TO 13Hz.

None That I can see from the year that I have owned this Powered Subwoofer:

I have read the below comments on the performance of this outstanding powered subwoofer. I purchased the DVD movie Saving Pvt. Ryan the other day both on DD (Dolby Digital) and DTS (Digital Theatre Sound) and experience such deep deep bass that I had to adjust the Bass (LFE) Low Frequency Effects on my receiver so that the house would stay intact. I am saying all of this to say the Defintive Technology makes I think the best subwoofers in the world. I have heard all of the others, but Definitive Technology especially the PF18TL and the PF15TL out performed all of the other powered subwoofers. There is not to many powered subwoofers that can reach down to 13 and 15Hz of deep bass power. Also these subwoofers have won Five (5) Grand Prix Awards for best subwoofers of the year. That's five year in a role. Now that tells me a lot about these outstanding powered subwoofers. The rate a Five rating in my performance and value rating.

Big, Big Deep Bass. "Awesome"

None

I have a Dolby Digital/DTS Surround System which includes the Definitive Technology Powerfied Subwoofers the 18TL and the 15TL. You talk about awesome. The two subwoofers hooked up to my Sony STRE-935 DD/DTS receiver make the surround sound of a movie awesome. I have the DVD movies to Saving Pvt Ryan on DD/DTS and the sound is better than at the movies. The bass from these two subwoofers is deep, deep and deep. To me there is not a better subwoofer. I rate the 18TL and the 15TL subwoofers a five on my rating chart>

Similar Products Used:

None

See below

See below

This is an update to my previous review. After reading David's review I crossed PF18TL very low (as low as it goes) and used it together with ProSub100. PF18TL's volume setting is at 1/4 and the result of this setup is impressive. I withdraw my comments about being musically unsuitable, since it's great provided that you cross it very low.

Similar Products Used:

Definitive's ProSub 100, PF15TL

About 3 years ago I had the misfortune of hearing this subwoofer in a local Audio Shop. Me and my brother took this monolith home to test out for the weekend (tested with Kef 104.2's, Linn Mimik Cd player, and a Tandberg amp). This sub is the most grossly uncontrolled, sloppy bass wholloping pig I have ever heard (no exaggeration). It has no musical ability at all. I would find more appealing sound coming from a set of long fingernals on a chalk board. We used the sub for both movies and music. We did a test and turned all the music down and played just the sub on familiar music and we could not distinguish one sound from the rest. One of us mentioned how the sub sounded like someone was just hitting a large piece of cardboard over and over again on every beat.
Aside from my obvious disgust in the musical aspect of this sub I do give it good marks for sheer power and the pure sound mass it pukes out.Movie lovers eat your hearts out.

I give this sub a 2 star rating... 1 star for the solid amp... and 1 for the sheer bass (I guess we can call it) whallopaknock.

My GOD cut the hype,please.When I read all those comments about how incredible Definitive subs are it makes me smile.Ok the PF-18 is big,can play quite loud,can go quite low.That is it.Oh and its cheap.The M&K subs have far more punch and are much faster.At this price point I can buy here in Canada the Paradigm Servo 15.The Servo 15 is a far better sub,any way you look at it.It will go deeper(strong down to 16Hz),its distortion is lower (its a servo-control design),the bass is tight,no boom.So the bottom line is 3 stars for the Def.PF-18 because the price is low.Good for movies,below average on music.Good for starters,not audiophiles.

The PF18 is by no means the epitome of all subwoofers. However, I bought this sub exclusively for HomeTheater use. For HT soundtracks, this sub will make your hair stand up on your head...especially during movies like Twister, Terminator2, Jurrasic Park, etc... It pushes a hell of a lotta air!
But if you want this sub for music, I would look elsewhere. This sub is not the tightest I experienced, but it does give you that sensation of being there during heavy bass scenes in movies. I have yet to bottom it out. I am very pleased with this sub.

For HT use: 5 stars
For music use: 3 stars