Carvin LS1801NA

Purchased 2 LS-1801's and a DCM 2000 power amp to enhance the bottom end of our bands existing PA. This sub cab is hands down the best I have ever worked with. Extremely light weight and relatively small for an 18" sub.
The cab is rugged and 100% made in the USA. Has a pole mount if needed. (I guess for dancers :) )

Went with a passive sub for 2 reasons, distributing weight and not a fan of internal speaker amps which require power and can burn up. External allows for a spare and eliminates the need to run 120v all over the stage.
Have run this in two setups first sending the full range mono off the board and using the built in band pass. This sounded great but lacked the "kick you in the balls" punch.
Using a 2X3 crossover and summing the sub out. Could tune the subs for the room and sounded great at all x over freqs. 300hz and lower. The power amp provided the limiter but these subs ran @ 4 ohm and 2000W and sounded fantastic.

These subs blow away any I have owned in the past, I would put them on on par with all of the subs in this category for JBL or Yamaha. (@ half the cost).
2 of the LS1801s easily cover a large club if you get about 20 inches of elevation on them. They can put as much punch into your mix as you would ever want.
In their price range (less than $400) Carvin LS1801's are the best out there both for sound quality and packaging.

Features are good although the specs on Carvins web site are incorrect for this sub (Impedance is not 4 ohm) . Carvin is bad about publishing bad information on their web site (They could use better tech writers)

I have some of their LS-1523's too (Best sounding mains I have ever used) Impedance on these speakers is listed incorrectly too. My manual said 8 ohm the web site said 4. I finally tested the impedance at 2k hz and at 500hz and it is actually 4 ohm. (Good thing I didn't blow up an amp).

18" 700 watt RMS powered subwoofer.

Slightly compact, actually about the size of most brands 15" sub cabinet and very light for an 18" powered sub at 73 lbs.

This sub is American made in San Diego, designed, tuned, and ported using LEAP??? software and tested with LMS??? software for optimum system performance.

It is constructed of multi-ply hardwood and covered in black DuraTuff???. It is very well made, no cheap hardware or crappy materials used here, but that can be said about all Carvin gear.

The LS1801NA is very compact, powered, high Q subwoofer, it comes with handles, rubber footpads on the bottom and the side for stacking a dual 15 cab on top of it, and a 1-3/8-inch pole mount cup.

I wish it was covered in Carvin's DuraTex??? scratch resistant coating, but I guess that would make it a TRX1801NA instead! If they made that, I would definately by that too.

From Carvin's specs:
System Type: Internal Active SubWoofer system
Speaker Protection: Active Sub Limiter
Crossover Frequency: 80 Hz or 120 Hz switchable
Internal Amplifier Power: Full Range 700w continuous /1400w peak
Sensitivity (1w @ 1m): 98dB
Maximum SPL: 128dB
LF Driver: 18-inch woofer
Enclosure: 18mm Multi-Ply Hardwood
Suspension/Mounting: Top: 1-3/8-inch Pole Mount Cup
Finish: Black DuraTuff???
Transport: 2 Recessed Handles
Grill: Black Powder-Coated Steel
Connectors: Two Bal. XLR (one input, one pass thru or selectable high pass), One Bal. 1/4" TRS phone jack input
Dimensions: 23.5" high, 19.75" wide, 22.75" deep
Net Weight: 73 lbs, doesn't really feel that heavy but I'll take their word for it.

I was slightly dissappointed when I first hooked it up, seemed like I could'nt get enough gain out of it. As the first set progessed, it got louder and punchier, and deeper, everything I thought it would be. This tells me this speaker needs a bit of a break-in period. I used to install custom car audio, and we would always play new subs at medium volume for about 20 minutes or so to burn them in. That way, when the customer got in the car and cranked it, they would'nt be dissappointed because the subs were'nt broken in. I highly recomend giving it a break-in work out before you use it at a show.

That being said, this sub is amazing for it's size and especially amazing for it's price. I have used Yorkville, Mackie and JBL powered subs, Yamaha and Selenium (once I smoked the Yamaha stock speaker) passive subs with QSC amps and no other single 18" cab (or 15" in the Mackie's case) was better than the Carvin in any way. The passives never sounded as dialed in as this setup, probably because of the Carvin's tuned cabinet, crossover and built in limiter. The JBL is as good as the Carvin but costs at least double and it's way heavier! I never cared for the sound of the Mackie powered 15", but then again I'm not a fan of bandpass enclosures that are good at one thing: THUMPING, the Mackie is not musical at all, it's great for a one note pounder (ie. kick drum) but that's about it, oh and it's HEAVY, HEAVY, HEAVY!
The Carvin is a very musical speaker. I've used it at my acoustic duo gigs as well as my 4 piece band gigs and it has been stellar every time. The acoustic guitars are very full in the bottom end without being muddy, the bass drum is authoritive without sounding like the enclosure is gonna tear itself apart. The sound never over shadows the mains, which sloppy subs will always do. Very clean and accurate sound. I can't wait to get a second one!!

It has really nice handles and at 73 lbs, it's pretty easy to transport.
It also has a 1-3/8-inch Pole Mount Cup on top as well as rubber footpads on the bottom and the side of it for stacking a dual 15 cab on top of it, which is nice. It doesn't have casters, but it doesn't need them because it has a Neodymium woofer so it's already at least 10-15 Lbs lighter than it's competitors!
Don't let it's smaller size fool you, it goes very deep, it's punchy and it is very musical!

This sub is fantastic! I highly recomend it! Buy 2 of them and you'll never get the smile off your face! You'll also still spend less money buying 2 of these than buying one good JBL powered sub!
I would immediately order 2 more if this one were stolen, that way I would'nt have to wait if it got stolen again. I have been running sound for my band as well as numerous other bands in my area for over 15 years. I have bought (or borrowed for an extended period) and sold tons of live sound gear over that time, and this sub is a definate keeper! Carvin has tuned this cabinet, subwoofer and amp perfectly. I do advise giving it that break-in period to loosen up the suspension on the Neo woofer, but I should have figured that out before I took it to the gig!