NB Audio - Air Core Inductor - 18 AWG

Just like capacitors, inductors are often sold with mystical claims, secret winding techniques, and price tags that assume you’re building speakers for Elves in Valinor. In reality, an inductor’s job is brutally simple: let low frequencies through, restrict the highs, and do it as cleanly and consistently as possible.

The wire
18 AWG (1.0QA) uses a thicker conductor than 20 AWG, which reduces resistance even further and maintains output more effectively, especially in higher power or lower frequency circuits. It’s a great choice when you want lower DCR without jumping to physically massive coils.

Air Core vs Solid Core
Air Core inductors are preferred in mid and high frequency crossovers because they keep their inductance value consistent and predictable. Solid Core designs rely on a metal core, which affects how the inductor behaves and can introduce small nonlinearities that change the response. In the mid/high ranges where precision shapes clarity, those shifts matter. In low frequency circuits, these effects are far less noticeable, so Solid Core is usually acceptable, but for accurate mid/high filtering, Air Core is the more reliable choice.

Our NB Audio Air Core Inductors use high-purity 18 AWG copper, tightly wound for consistent values (5% tolerance), low distortion and are rated to 300W RMS. The thicker wire delivers lower resistance, making these coils ideal for builds where efficiency and precision both matter.

Values are available from 0.10mH up to 4.0mH.