Myth 18M1200
Well this has proved to be interesting, Myth audio - who is this brand?
I have tested endless products from china in the past & this my friends will never change, the whole market is changing as people want to pay less and less for speakers!
Even the good brands are becoming trapped into the same downward spiral of sell sell sell, volumes of product at low margin to everyone and anyone who has money & it does not matter if it breaks as they cheap enough to just replace.
Marketing and lies to try sell a R50.00 Item for R500 & sell as many as you can - it never ends.
Myth introduction
I was introduced to myth audio through a dealer Audio Corner, nice store & lekker bunch of guys who said give them a call & so it began.
- Expectations vs reality
Did I struggle to try and get product to test, after being told sure come and grab what you want to test just bring it back in the best condition. So I list a whole range of products that I know you guys will most likely use after walking through other stores to see what's being sold. I send the information through and on collection I get invoiced, this was not part of the agreement. Argument after argument it became to tiresome and at this stage I start to question why am I even bothering to test more low cost products?
- I care about you, the Dj & box builders and anyone who is into audio that might land up buying into this brand "Myth"
I might not know you - but I do believe to my core that music and sound is something we should all be able to enjoy & I want people to not only gain my knowledge or a degree of but I don't want people to genuinely be ripped off .
I started this Business to educate people about sound, offer good advise & with enough luck sell something in return. Nothing gives me more pleasure when I see a smile on someone's face!
Music can bring people together and bring out the best of us as people no matter the colour of our skin or the language we speak.
- The bottom line
I paid full price for every single item even though I sell speakers for a living as a business, yup no dealer discount or any special price... heck I could not even return the stock. However this is good, let me explain!
Having purchased the product I don't feel an ounce of concern about it being good or bad, I get to be 100% open and honest with you about the speaker and Myth cant do anything about it because our test results can be repeated by anyone with the tools to do so. So with nothing to hide outside of losing tons money I know what you are all wondering... get to the point!
Myth 18-1200 is it good or bad?
Excellent Value for money, sure for a couple Rand extra you can get a better speaker from Nexus, Celto Acoustic, LaVoce & Redcatt but nothing close at this price point with the same features the end.
- Water proof treated cone
- Cast aluminum frame
- 4" inside outside voice coil
- Large motor structure for handling long term power handling
- Replacement Parts are readily available
Now I'm not saying rush out to go & buy these for the next project or replacement driver but to be honest it would not be the worst choice under R3300 for an 18" sub woofer.
The Myth 18-1200 follows the trend of more affordable drivers with a slightly higher Q and a larger Vas vs a professional touring grade bit of kit, my parameters don't match up to the specification sheet provided. This is both good and bad because most of the guys in South Africa & Africa just throw any speaker into any box design for one so specifications mean nothing which is bad... very bad.
Though its very much inline with trend from P audio Gst series & others only cheaper price for similar parameters, in the end even though my parameters do not align to the Myth spec sheet overall parameters are good enough to make some bass. I would recommend using this 18M1200 in large vented enclosures also known as bass reflex in design and would not recommend horn loaded enclosures. For full specifications & design you cant contact us.
Myth 18 1200 Parameters
* f(s)= 34.45 Hz
* R(e)= 6.553 Ohms
* Z(max)= 75.72 Ohms
* Q(ms)= 5.701
* Q(es)= 0.5401
* Q(ts)= 0.4934
* V(as)= 218.9 liters (7.729 cubic feet)
* L(e)= 1.322 mH
* n(0)= 1.58 %
* SPL= 94.09 1W/1m
* M(ms)= 211.9 grams
* C(ms)= 0.101 mm/N
* BL= 23.59
My findings differ from the quoted specs by Myth audio, however I can say that I had very little shift at all in the general parameters throughout the testing which confirms a good overall range of quality parts.
Power handling
Myth Claim 1200 watts, it is in fact meeting the claim of 1200 watts after bringing up the power on 3 separate test's under different ambient conditions from being 37 Celsius to my most recent free air test being 4 shivering degree's.
The motor heated up and when you start to smell the glue.. boy oh boy did I smell the glue lol and I literally thought 2 minutes and flames but the driver soaked it up without failing 3 times!
Power compression is strangely good here but reflects the over sized magnet and motor doing its part exceptionally, mechanically the driver never failed at extreme levels of cone excursion & I promise I did try to break the driver.
I was very tempted to push to find the boundaries but for now I will stand behind the 1200 watts rating but I cant help but sense we could get some extra watts out of the speaker.
Mechanical Quality
I can say it is tough & reliable, though it is not the most linear speaker at high levels of cone displacement. This means it's generally going to have a little more distortion due to non linearity as it moves back and forth but just remember my aim was to fault find and push the driver to breaking points as I try find the worst and the best of the speaker, kindness is not part of speaker power & mechanical testing! The water resistant coating on the front is a nice touch, I think that this should be a standard on all speakers. This is a confusing speaker as it wants to be premium expensive speaker but its not, some things can be improved or upgraded however its marketed as affordable so lets keep it that way.
Conclusion in short
Sure my test results don't match up to the Myth 18M1200 18" Subwoofer spec sheet, it would be great if it was a match or closer than what I have tested and found.
The speaker is generally well made and for an 18" first generation speaker from Myth I don't doubt as the brand grows in popularity a 2nd generation of speaker could only improve on what is good value already retailing for under R3300. Will we stock & recommend the speaker for budget busting bass I think so, I really cant fault the driver at its cost but some parameters could be tweaked. Overall we had a negative start with Myth Audio but in the end I cant say anything bad about the product - Good Job Tony & Team!
Want more details about the Myth 18M1200, you can contact us directly & don't forget to let us know which speaker you would like us to test next!
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