A little about the subs:

The subs are a double loaded reflex box with 2 18inch 800watt drivers made for Thomann by JBL, the cabinets are made from 18mm Birch ply and are painted with a weather resistant black paint. They're 1300 x 550 x 680 mm without the optional wheels and feature a fair few handles to allow easy movement of the subs. They weigh around 100kg with the wheels which is around an average to slightly above average weight for this type of cabinet. This in itself gives a good indication to the build quality.

First Impressions:

The subs are shipped in huge cardboard boxes with around 2 inches of further cardboard insulation around them, a drop from a pallet wouldn't hurt these subs in transit, it does however mean a lot of packaging material to dispose of. One thing you notice straight away is the build quality, these are not expensive subs and yet are built to extremely high standards which match and exceed standards from big named manufacturers.

The subs don't ship with wheels but these are available as separate items, the fixing bolts are already placed on the subs so fitting a wheel is simply a matter of taking out 4 bolts and putting them back in with the wheel in place.

Transportation:

These are certainly not small subs, and are quite heavy, this makes transportation a key factor when buying them. They work very well on their wheel (although this of course depends on the wheels used, I used wheels from Thomann at about £3.50 each and these work very well) and lifting them up the odd step is not too difficult. There are 2 negative points I can see with these subs, one is there are no transport lids available, although I'm in the process of designing one and the other is there are no handles on the longer sides to the subs, just on the ends. This can make loading up larger steps or onto and off of a van a little tricky. I have spoken to Thomann about this and they say it is not possible to place handles on the long side due to cabinet construction, and they are unable to design a transport lid due to copyright issues with certain manufacturers.

In use:

The subs are 1600watts rms each so you do need substantial amplifiers to drive these, I've used Powersoft Digam series amps and JBL Mpx series amps have also been used on these both with success. They stand up or lay down and can stack very easily due to their built in locating pegs.

The subs certainly sound the part too, I've worked with these subs for a variety of recorded and live music of different styles and they cope very well. They are happy to work with very minimal input in small rooms for 100 people (although their physical size can create worrying looks on people faces) and are equally happy in indoor and outdoor environments for up to 1000 people without any trouble. With their easy ability to stack I would be happy to use multiple pairs of these subs in medium scale festival work. These subs tend to work like 15's in their quick response and 21's in th LF extension. There are subs that cost 3 and 4 times the price which do not give the flexibility of the TP218 when it comes to sound. It's 106dB 1w/m in half space, and will give theoretical peaks of 142dB per box in half space.

Overall:

A fantastic sub for the money and beyond. Whilst these are never going to be rider friendly subs, I cannot see anyone being disappointed with them.

So, to conclude.

+ • Only £1200 per pair • Built very well • Sound fantastic for a wide range of program material (Live or playback) • Easily stack with their locating pegs and feet • Efficient • 3 year warranty from Thomann

- • No transport lids available (yet) • No handles on the long sides • A little bit power thirsty • Fairly heavy at 100kg but no more so that typical other 2x18 examples. • Not rider friendly