I would heartily endorse your thought to get a Martin.
I presume you know that one big difference is that the D-28 has EIR back and sides, the D-18 mahogany. Great tradition there.
However the new D-18 for 2012 has vintage style shifted and scalloped braces. This makes the new -18 much deeper sounding and more resonant than the older model. This is a dangerous notion, but I find the tone of the new -18 to be more open and freer than the straight-braced -28, and having much of the same bassiness . But the tonal pallette is still 'hog.
So they don't sound the same. I definitely prefer the new -18 (and -18GE, and D Mahogany) to the straight D-28. If/when the -28 gets the same bracing treatment (like a HD-28 V), the choice becomes narrower to my ear.
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Chris
Larrivee's '07 L-09 (40th Commemorative); '09 00-03 S.E; '08 P-09
Eastman '07 AC 650-12 Jumbo (NAMM)
Martin '11 D Mahogany (FSC) Golden Era type
Voyage-Air '10 VAOM-06
-the nylon string-
Goya (Levin) '58 G-30
Yamaha '72 G-170A (Japanese solid top)
Garcia '67 Model 3
-dulcimer-
'11 McSpadden
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