The compact enclosure houses a single 4.5” voice coil, 18” (457mm) neodymium LF drive unit and is constructed from premium grade multi-laminate Birch plywood and finished in impact resistant paint. The enclosure includes a single polemount adapter – either 35mm or M20 threaded – allowing the mounting of EMS Series fullrange loudspeakers above. The EMS-118 is also supplied with two steel bar handles, tour-grade castors and is fitted with rubber feet underneath and matching recesses on top to allow stable stacking of multiple enclosures. The front of the enclosure is protected by a rigid steel grille backed with acoustically transparent fabric for a discreet appearance, and two NL4 connections are provided on the rear for input and enclosure link. The enclosure is finished in black or white textured paint as standard, though RAL colour matching and weather protection options are available.

The EMS-118 requires an active crossover to function correctly – although the choice of filter points is very wide, allowing the user to tailor the response to exactly what is required. Cardioid DSP program settings are also available to create arrays with significant rejection to the rear of the subwoofers, by stacking three enclosures in a block (two facing forwards, one facing backwards). The EMS-118 can add low frequency power and extension to systems based around any EM Acoustics fullrange product, or for full range products from other manufacturers.

The EMS-118 requires active high/low pass filters and a single amplifier channel capable of delivering 1500-2000W RMS into a 4 ohm load. For optimum results, the EM Acoustics DQ10 or DQ20 Advanced System Amplifiers, or the AQ-10 or AD-9 power amplifier in conjunction with the DSC48 system controller (for loudspeaker filter slopes and protection) should be used.