Impious

Clamp tests are pretty much worthless. PAP....LOL

I believe Buwalda requires a minimum of 8 orders per group buy to place the order, which means he's already moved atleast 24 units @ $1200 a pop

Two things. No more ellipses. Your "sentences" aren't understandable when you type that way and it is probably a good portion of the antagonism you feel. And as for pointing in the right direction, that is what we are doing. If Robert promotes the PA2 it is a fucking joke. Completely unecessary product at this point. In fact EVERYTHING is not helpful to the OP unless he has a current situation that he is dealing with and wants to make better. EQ's in the wrong hands just cause problems and do not help the sound. I would also like to point out that finding a sound you like isn't challenging; duplicating that sound is.

It's been released in Japan. Buwalda has already had 3 group buys for the JDM units over on DIYMA, I believe the first two shipments are already in the owner's hands. There's a couple reviews up over there already aswell. The price from Buwalda is $1200 to your doorstep, which is cheaper than the MSRP of the North American unit. There's already conversations over there about differences between the JDM & North American market units for anyone interested. For one, the JDM unit comes with a small 6 channel amp which I believe they're saying the NA units will not. If anyone is seriously interested, Buwalda stated in his last Group Buy Thread that the next order will be March 20th, so you may be able to get in on that. My personal opinion.....meh. It doesn't do much more than my H701, and I'm spoiled by only having to run 2 wires from the headunit to the trunk now (Ai-net & optical cable).....I couldn't imagine trying to stuff 4 pairs of RCA's in the dash behind the headunit, 3 pairs was a gigantic PITA.

Opinions may differ, the laws of physics however do not. And ultimately that's what we are discussing; the laws of physics, not opinions. It doesn't matter how fancy the equipment connected to each end of the cable is. It doesn't matter how golden eared someone thinks they may be. The laws of physics dictates that the LCR properties of a cable will determine how that cable affects the signal. If there LCR properties of two cables are close enough as to not audibly alter the response, they will sound identical. The likelyhood of a non-damaged RCA cable having a significant enough difference in the LCR properties to affect the signal is remote unless an electric circuit is added to the wire to intentionally alter the response as some extremely high priced speaker wire manufacturers do. But at that point you are no longer comparing the wire itself and instead comparing wire to a passive equalizer.....that could be accomplished with cheap wire and the same passive elements. Although I'm not sure why anyone would ever want to purchase a wire that intentionally alters the signal, but they do. And you do realize directional is only directional if there's a drain wire used for noise reduction, right? If directional cable is claimed to be directional because of "how the crystals in the wire are oriented" or "how the wire is drawn" or some other marketing bullshit it's exactly that; bullshit. There is a saying I like from a pretty smart fella on another forum...... There are 3 great mysteries scientists are facing in modern physics; 1. A unified theory of gravity and sub-atomic particles, that finally comprehends and unites quantum mechanics and general relativity. 2. Dark matter and dark energy, that seem to be causing the rate of expansion of the universe to be increasing. 3. How the hell to pass a 20kHz audio signal through a cable.

.... Isn't SB2 an SPL competition class? How do you not compete in SPL when you're entering a competition in an SPL format?

First thing I would double check is that you have the DMM on the correct measurement setting (Vac) and range setting. If it still doesn't work, toss the DMM back in the toolbox and set the gain by ear.

Asking for suggestions on an EQ at a decent price is a pretty vague question. First, as M5 pointed out, what type of EQ you need will be determined by what exactly you are trying to accomplish. If you are trying to target specific areas, you might be okay with a 5-10 band parametric EQ. If you are trying to shape the overall response, you might need a 1/3 octave graphic. If you are wanting to use all 3 preouts from the headunit to retain all of the HU's features, you would need to find an EQ with atleast 6 channel inputs and outputs. The other option is to use only a single preout and potentially lose certain features from your headunit (like front to rear fading, crossovers, etc). Audiocontrol I know off hand makes EQ's that offer 6+ channels of input, however for their cost you would be much better going off with a more powerful digital processor like a used H701. That would run you $300-$400. IMHO, your would best bet would be to simply use a deck that offers a decent EQ and live within it's limitations. It appears you want to use an EQ simply to change things to where you think they sound best rather than their proper use which is primarily to fix identified problems with the frequency response.....in which case, spending a lot of money on an EQ that would do everything you would like wouldn't really be worth the cost.

Doubtful, unless one of the cables was physically damaged.

...... I'm confused on what exactly it is you are trying to say? You brag about their output, then say you're not discussing output levels? And what are "sound quality" midbass drivers? Also, there's not nearly enough information here to really determine anything about your speakers or their actual performance. The parameters of the driver and size of the enclosure they may be installed in will have a large impact on the low frequency performance of the drivers. How the system is EQ'd, how much applied power and exactly what listening levels we are talking about are also a large consideration. What qualifies as "just as good" would also need to be defined. What exactly would we be comparing? Considering how many vehicles in the past have used 8" drivers with excellent results (Mark Eldridge & Doug Winker I believe used JBL 2118's in a 2-way, for example) and the subjectivity and different qualities and categories of judging, I wouldn't necessarily take your claim to 5th @ Finals as qualifying your speakers as demonstrating they "out perform" any 8" on the market....especially when stated in such vague terms and without additional pertinent considerations. Really, so far your posts have told me absolutely nothing other than you like to state subjective opinions of your equipment compared to others in a very generic manor. FWIW, I have a pair of 6.5" drivers with 12mm Xmax that can play well up to ~2.5khz and should have great low frequency extension in a vehicle, that also employ a linear motor technology and shorting rings to aid in lowering distortion (et al). I would be interested to see how these compare to your magic speakers

Just PM this guy with your name change request; denim - Viewing Profile

Yes, your car's cabin gain will help bring the response back up some.

Memphis made a nice set of 8" Msync 2-way components that I used in my car for a couple years. Problem is the 8" IIRC plays up to ~3khz, which will beam and may not work out so well in the doors. Mine imaged pretty well in kicks, however. I'm not sure of your budget, but ID makes a 2-way 6x9 component set....the 6x9 being roughly equivalent in cone area to an 8", and they are good quality speakers albeit a little pricey. If you have the equipment and knowledge to go active, Exodus Audio recently released their Anarchy mids. They are 7" drivers, but given their long stroke (12mm) have equal displacement to many 8" midbass. They are also supposed to be able to extend up to ~2.5khz, so they should work well in a 2-way with a standard tweeter. HLCD with 8's would be another option, but again require you go active and have the equipment and knowledge to effectively use them. I hate recommending going active, especially with horns, without knowing someone's level of abilities though...... What is your budget, and what is your competency level (for lack of a better phrase)?

You are getting that shaped response because it's in a smaller low tuned enclosure.

Are you looking for a component set or just 8" midbass? What exactly are you trying to do here?

Some 8" midbass may do well in a car door IB.....some may not.

No, it will probably not stay the same since a bandpass enclosure is essentially acoustic filters.

The Bass Focus feature just allows you to adjust two sets of speakers (front L&R, rear L&R, left F&R, right F&R) at the same time. So, let's say you wanted to adjust both front speakers by 1ms. You would set the bass focus for the front L & R speakers to 1ms. So then your front left speaker would have a total delay of 2.5ms (1.5ms + 1ms) and your front right speaker would have a total delay of 1ms (0ms + 1ms). For example; In my system the both left and right speakers were installed in kickpanels. The subwoofer was the furthest speaker, and as a result I ended up delaying BOTH front speakers (front left and front right) by the same amount, .5ms. This delayed them BOTH to match the subwoofer. The Alpine Bass Focus is just the term they gave the feature that allows you to do the same thing a little easier, by allowing you to delay two sets of speakers at once. Using the bass focus to delay both front left and right speakers by 1ms would be identical in performance to manually adjusting both front left and right speakers by an additional 1ms. Make sense?

There is a difference between an 8" sub and 8" midbass. Some 8" subs may play well into midbass frequencies, others won't. Some 8" midbass will play well into the subbass region, others won't. Are you looking for an 8" driver to play midbass, or an 8" driver to play subbass? They are two different things and I'm confused as to what it is you are wanting. As to the question of space; It depends on the driver and what type of response you are seeking.

It's not true, because "better grade" (i.e. fancy and expensive) RCA's are unnecessary anywhere in the system. I agree, but i know people who would object that opinion lol. As long as you keep your RCA's away from your power wires you should be just fine. They can object all they want.....they would still be wrong And there's nothing wrong with RCA's next to the power wire. That's an old myth.

It's not true, because "better grade" (i.e. fancy and expensive) RCA's are unnecessary anywhere in the system.

Have a link to the owners manual?

I'm not sure what you mean?

Exactly. Without details of the motor, it's impossible to know how well the recone will work. And it's basket, not gasket. I thought it was a typo but you've used it in both posts now. No idea, we have no details of the motor. I would guess you probably don't even know the diameter of the coil. But beyond that, you don't have enough information about the motor to even begin to determine if the resulting subwoofer will be decent or crap. Nevermind my above posts, this statement settles it. YOU HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO BUSINESS TRYING TO CUSTOM BUILD A SUBWOOFER. That simple. Don't do it. You don't know enough yet. It's not your fault, and I'm not calling you stupid or dumb as a person. But it would be a horribly stupid and dumb idea for you to build a custom subwoofer with the complete lack of knowledge you currently possess. Thiele Small Parameters