95Honda

You need to model for Qtc, this will tell you more than anyone's personal opinion. If the Qtc ends up between .7ish and 1.2ish, most people are more than happy with the sound...

My favorite is vented 4th order alignments that are "mass loaded" or "chambered TLs"...

Model and look at system Qtc. Nobody will have input that will be more valuable than this. If Qtc is less than say 1.3 ish, and more than say .7 ish than you will be happy 99% of the time...

This and most people who build TLs and Horns don't realize they are building neither... I have yet to see a true TL posted on here for car use...

Clipping will happen when you reach the voltage threshold of the amp, not the power threshold (assuming it can supply the needed current to keep the voltage up). What this means is, you could run a 500 watt amplifier into hard clipping while producing less than 500 watts if the impedance is relitively higher than the power rating load impednace. This happens all the time... The whole point here is, what is the reason to set something very precisely when the results are meaningless?... You spend all day with a voltmeter measuring down to a mv, but as soon as the impednace changes (additionally, you have no idea what it is) everything you have done is for nothing... Also, clipping doesn't hurt a thing. Too much power does. I wouldn't worry about clipping at all, I would worry about potentially sending too much power to my subwoofers and causing thermal failure...

The P3's will work fine. The Dayton grills are here, they look awesome. I'll post some pics in the next few days...

Look at this impedance plot. It is actully a pretty flat one, and is probably smoother than what you have. If you look carefully, you only see 2 ohms at roughly 20Hz and 35Hz. Everywhere else it isn't even close to 2 ohms... This is why it is impossible to set a gain threshold with a voltmeter into a reactive load. Anyone who says otherwise is full of crap...

This doesn't work. At all.

I ordered the P3 and Daytons, we'll see what works better. Thanks for the input!

The Dampeners. You can see where I found the larger ones... I needed to find some with a 10-24 or 10-32 thread... Jegs was the only place I found that I didn't have to order a shit-ton from... I will use 6 of them for the amp...

Yes I did notice... Hard to believe it will move almost 3"... I would say it is the stiffest suspention I have ever used... I can't wait to get this project rolling...

You will have better fidelity with the higher impedance, with the cost of a small amount of output... And I mean a small amount... Little enough that you would probably never notice...

#1 you cannot set the gain for output level using a DMM and mesuring voltage because you have no idea what the impedance is... #2 I have an LC2i but haven't installed it yet. What part are you talking about "All the way up"? There are several controls on it... I also know the manul for it is "lacking" to say the least... I would always caution setting devices like this to "maximum" without at least a little experimentation first...

Please just remember that the driver RMS isn't a requirement, in fact it has nothing to do whatsover in how much power you may need...

Any idea what volume the enclosures are? I would try and seal up the Aperiodic vent and stuffing the box. It would have a high Q, but may get you the sound you are looking for... I only make this suggestion as the high system Q and ripple in response may help the region you feel you are lacking in... I have used the Variovent in the past. But not for at least 10 years. The advantages never seemed to outweigh the cost of them considering I never had a box that was too small or an usable impedance peak. I also built a few Aperiodic boxes with 3/8" holes drilled in the rear baffle. I never got the results people talked about in places like Speaker Builder and Audio Ametuer. I could also hear air chuffing when I was near-field

might be a good idea... I think I have a few laying around...

Thanks. I am on the road right now, but I am trying to maximize the cabinet the cabinet dimensions. I ordered these grills and am going to use one for the front baffle: http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=262-884 The grill will sit flush with the front of the baffle. This poses a few problems. The first being that the grill only has 1" of standoff, and while this will be good for stability, it isn't enough to clear the woofer at full stroke. I need to set it at 1 3/4"" to be safe. So I will build a small (1/4") wide lip under it that is 3/4" tall. I will also have to build standoffs that are 1 3/4" tall, I plan on using 3/8" alumunim tubing cut to 1 3/4" in length. A 1/4-20 allen head capscrew will go from the outside of the grill, through the spacers and into the baffle with a rear mounted T-nut... I also need to figure out what size to build the dimensions of the box so the grill fits inside with little clearance, taking into account the Line-X thickness. So I have a tad of work ahead... Jesus Christ that Mayhem is a beast....

OK, so the Mayhem arrived today. This things is pretty stout to say the least. The 3500 and LC2i are oriented exactly the way they will be on the front of the box. You can see how tight the RCA connection will be. I am trying to figure out what RCA ends to use, I need to find some short ones. I was going to use some locking RCA's from Parts Express, but I think they will be too long. I see the P3 ones are pretty short... Any ideas? I plan on using microphone cable, I have several different types, 6-6.3mm O.D. You can see the XLR connectors. I was making sure the cable will fit with the mesh braid over, I cut a small test piece. It fit fine and I could close the chuck on the strain relief all the way down. The cable is 18 awg 4 conductor shielded. I am going to start on the box when I get back from New Mexico next week...

OK, so the first batch of dampeners show up last week. They were much smaller than I anticipated. They are perfect for the LC2i, but too small for the amp. I order another batch in larger size. When everything gets here in the next few days I'll shoot some pics and show how I am going to orient everything...

Right, just not a TL...

You didn't model a TL. A TL with a 20 Hz cutoff is roughly 7-10 feet long. At a marginal Sd ratio, you are still talking huge. (like 5-8ft3 if you fold it up) Also, by nature, a TL will never be 2-3db more efficent than a 4th order vented...

If you can master everything in the Loudspeaker Design Cookbook, you are golden. Heck, if you can master the first 3-4 chapters you are golden. There are many online calculators that are freeware, but you need to be carefull, if you don't have a good foundation of knowlege, you will make mistakes that will cost you. Research first, reads some books and then get some software. I am a fan of Bass Box Pro by Harris, but I think I had to pay about $200 for both of thier programs. When I had a Mac about 20 years ago I was using MacSpeakers by Clear Image Audio, not sure if it/they are still around. It was about $100 back then, no idea now...

Do you plan on doing it all yourself or is someone (shop) going to do it for you? Post a pic of your current system so we can get idea of what it looks like in your trunk, maybe we could help more after that...

Good question. 3 reasons for the 5 pin XLR: #1, size. I am using 18/4 stranded cable that is roughly 1/4" in diameter. This fits perfectly into the Nuetrik chuck system with the braid over the top. You have to remember that the input impedance of an LOC is very, very high. So there will be no real current draw at all. 18 awg cable is completely overkill, 20-22 awg would be fine. The 5th pin on the XLR will be connected to the shield. I do not plan on connecting this at all, but may bond it to the source or load end, depending on wether or not I get any RFI/EMI interferance (very, very unlikely in this situation). #2, complexity. The Speakons do not come in a male and female cable mount version. You need a coupler wich adds about 3" to the whole thing. And a part to loose... #3, Speakon is overkill. They are rated at 20 amps. They are big and bulky (compared to an XLR). I am goint to be running in the neighborhood of miliamps... XLR is completely adequate, if not overkill also. I chose the XLR for it's ruggedness instead of something like a S-Video or DIN plug. I will put the female end on the cable interfacing the factory system so there is no chance of short circuit when the box is out and the cable is laying around. Hopes this makes sense... **Edit... Ha, just saw your edit, oh well I'll, leave the explanation up anyway...**