Impious

$182 + shipping. So it is in the same price bracket with the Dcon (although the Shiva-X is more marketed towards the home audio segment). I happened to purchase mine while it was on sale for $135. I didn't link to the Shiva-X in any of my posts because I didn't want this to turn into a "Dcon vs Shiva-X" thread. I wanted the main focus to be on the Dcon. But as I said above, the Shiva-X's parameters simply lend itself to be more suited to my particular installation.

Indeed I would agree based on my listening thus far that the Dcon's ideal alignment for overall frequency response reproduction is ported. I have no doubts that the low end would come alive in a ported enclosure, as the driver specs dictate. In this alignment it's a good sounding driver with more than adequate output in the higher passband, the design of the driver just doesn't allow for a strong low end sealed or IB. Which wasn't a surprise to me. Hopefully people reading the review thus far will take into account the design of driver and what alignment I tested it in (which is why I attempted to stress "in this particular alignment" in my initial review). It would be unfair to berate the driver for a lack of low end in an alignment it obviously wasn't design to excel in based on T/S parameters. I'll probably go with a 2-2.25cuft tuned to 28-30hz for the enclosure....that's just from 2 minutes of fiddling around though. If you have a different suggestion Aaron, I'm all ears

My initial listening impressions are that this is overall a pretty good driver. To reiterate, I'm presently running the driver IB on a 500w amplifier with a lowpass crossover of 63hz @ 18db/oct. Sound quality wise the driver is pretty well defined. This no noticeable overhang. The driver is tight and accurate on fast bass lines and fast transitions. There doesn't seem to be much blending of the various notes. For the most part they seem to be well separated and distinct with good transitions between notes. On faster bass lines, like those found on Mudvayne, and on more complex notes that transition fast or are layered the driver has no problem keeping up with no lag or overhang. It does an acceptable job of sounding "real", instruments sound like instruments. There also doesn't seem to be exaggeration of the notes. And with proper level matching the sub blends well with the rest of the system. The driver isn't perfect, but it's a pleasant driver to listen to with no obvious or obnoxious deficiencies in the way of sound quality. Output wise the sub is fully capable of getting sufficiently loud at frequencies above approximately 35hz. Enough to be overpowering if so allowed....certainly more than enough output to suffice for all but a true basshead. I honestly haven't got a clue exactly how much power I'm running to it (amp is rated 500w, but I'm certainly not using all of that juice), but from fiddling with the settings I can tell it's capable of more output than I'm utilizing from the driver for daily listening. On the downside, however, in this particular installation the driver lacks impact in the lowest half octave to octave. Of course, it doesn't take a genius to figure out from the looking at the specs why this would be so. A lower Q higher Fs driver is inherently going to have a weak bottom end in this alignment. Running IB however does give the driver some advantage in low end compared to a sealed enclosure. I did end up bumping 20hz - 32 or 40hz (can't recall off hand) by around 2db to give it some additional low end without trying to overly stress the driver. This helped some, but it's still a little lacking. On tracks like Planet Kryptonite and Beasty Boys the low end is present, It isn't non-existent, it's just not strong. For this reason, I could not foresee running this driver in a sealed enclosure as that would simply serve to further reduce the low end output.....unless you had the available power and excursion to EQ in the low end. I do however believe this driver would greatly benefit from being ran ported in a low tuned enclosure as this should increase output in the last octave where this driver needs assistance. Sealed would probably be acceptable for just a good sounding daily driver setup.....but expect the low end to be further impaired. Some of my listening material to test this driver all around for accuracy, performance with different music genres, output, etc; Michael Jackson Audioslave IASCA disc Puscifer (testing for output) Eagles Mudvayne NIN Tool APC Beastie Boys And a whole lot of weird shit at Dave's house, most of which I'd not heard of before. As of right now, I'd probably rate this driver a 7 out of 10. Sound quality is good while not prefect. Output in the upper passband is more than sufficient, while the low end is lacking in this particular installation. Right now if you were to ask me if I were going to keep the Dcon in my car or reinstall the Shiva-X, I would probably have to say the Shiva-X will be going back in. Why? Well, the sound quality of the Shiva-X was at minimum on par with the Dcon....the Shiva-X seems a little more refined in definition. But, in my particular installation, I need the low end output the Shiva-X provides since I plan on sticking with IB. However this statement could be different if we were discussing a different alignment, such as a ported enclosure. We'll see how this weekend pans out.....hopefully I'll be able to test it in a ported enclosure.

http://fortwayne.craigslist.org/ele/933446820.html Deciding if I should bust the guy's balls a little for trying to hock worthless white van scam speakers on teh craig. At first I thought it was spam, but the ph # comes up as a local cell. But then again, it's probably just a poor guy who got duped himself in the Wal-mart parking lot and is trying to recoup his costs

I'm sending you a KJV Bible you heathen Hehe....I actually need to get one. Have it in my wish list right now

I always get all giddy when I order books from amazon. The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason Principia (On the Shoulders of Giants) Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists Parallel Worlds: A Journey Through Creation, Higher Dimensions, and the Future of the Cosmos The Age of Reason - Thomas Paine Dialogues and Natural History of Religion (Oxford World's Classics) The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design I should be set for the next 6 months....

Yep

Nevermind, found it Stealth FTMFW! It's not going to win any best install awards anytime soon....but I was pretty happy with myself for finding that little cubby area to hide it in And yes....everything is dirty and I need to clean. And come to think of it.......I actually think this is the first time I've posted any pics of any of my installs on the forums

I'm sitting here wearing my Kinetik hat right now Hit up ebay, normally there's some "wearz" on there. Also hit up manufacturer-attended shows. Free stuff FTW !! I've got an RE/US Amps backpack thingy around here I'd sell ya

It's a '96 Olds LSS.....basically a Bonneville with Oldsmobile badging....LOL

Yes, it is. I was wondering how long it was going to take someone to spot it... It's the neighbors. I've lived here 5 years, and it has not moved an inch the entire time I've been here. And no, they won't sell it. We've talked about it.....

Yeah, me too. That was high on my list of goals (like, #1) when I was redo'ing it.

Yeah.... Right now I want to stick with a single amplifier..... The H701's features still come in handy though, even with a simplified system. Plus it allows for future expansion should I decide to go back to active.

No sub at the moment. I actually haven't had a sub in my car for.....oh.....two and a half years. Need to decide (soon) what I want to go with for substage. In the mean time.....shot of the amp tucked into the cubby on the other side; Board needs carpet, and I may try to figure out a way to build a trim/cover panel for it....haven't decided if it's actually worth the time yet...LOL So far the only thing not installed is the sub and I've lost virtually zero trunk space and still have full access to the spare tire Have the passives, distro block and all wires hid aswell. Only thing visible ATM is the amplifier. Though I'm kind of upset that the bend was too tight for the 4ga wire into the amp, so they had to run through the outside of the endcap Would have been a lot nicer to have clean lines there aswell.......

Nostradamus couldn't even predict his own bowel movements....... Every civilization has had "end of days" predictions, and every civilization expected it to be within their lifetime. I however do hope something dramatic or catastropic happens in 2012.....I could use the change of pace. I'm praying for rain and I'm praying for tidal waves I wanna see the ground give way. I wanna watch it all go down. Mom please flush it all away. I wanna watch it go right in and down. I wanna watch it go right in. Watch you flush it all away.

Well, the main reason I was trying to avoid just switching amplifiers is because I was trying to avoid spending any out of pocket $$, and the only amplifiers I could find that offered the power I was looking for either saved little space, or would have required a decent amount of out-of-pocket expense. But, in the interest of experimenting I made an impulse buy the other day An MB Quart Qaa4250 should be arriving at my doorstep a little bit later this week. 250w x 4 @ 4/2ohm is a whole lotta power. It makes a great single amplifier for a simple 2-way passive + sub setup, and if I can pick up a 2nd one that would give me 250w x 6 for a 3-way active frontstage (what can I say...I like headroom) plus 500w for a sub (more than sufficient for my listening habits). Depending on what all I sell (3 current amps, for example) I should be able to get it done for little to no out of pocket expense. And being they are a tad smaller than the 75.4II's in LxW, and I'd only need 2 of them......it'd save a decent amount of space even in a 4-way total configuration. I think the 18's may go.....they're just impractically large for my plans for the car and don't have the WAF necessary for the home......

So, I've finally come to the realization that it's quite cumbersome having a large, complex stereo. My original goal was to have adequate equipment for 3-way active frontstage plus substage....but the fucking gear just doesn't fit in my trunk the way I'd prefer. I want to maintain as much trunk space as possible plus have access to my spare....and it's just not working out well. Too much equipment, not enough space. So, I'm contemplating some potential system revamps/simplifications. I currently have (of importance to this question) an Alpine 9860, H701, two JBL GTO75.4II's and a GTO1201.1II [all of which are fucking huge], and for the substage two JBL 2241H's (18"). The possible paths I've decided on, that you will be voting on; 1) Say screw it, original plan was awesome, live w/ the consequences. Essentially, just keep plugging ahead with the original plan and don't change a thing. Pros: Would make for a pretty kick-ass setup and would have enough processing power, amplifier power and amplifier channels to do anything I would want to do. 3-way frontstage, dual 18's for the subbass, good EQ/Xover functions, etc. Cons: Takes up a ton of space, way more space than I really want. It's frustrating, period. Trying to convince myself that the ends are worth the means. 2) Keep everything, but only run one amp. Basically, keep the 9860 & H701 but only run a single 75.4II to my passive 2-way comps in kicks off the front two channels and bridge the rear two channels to a single 12" IB sub. But I wouldn't sell anything....spare equipment (i.e. two amplifiers and the 2241H's) would be stored away for now. Pros: Would still have good processing power and would save on space.....plus I'd still have everything for future use should the upgrade bug bite again. Cons: Limited on power, still have additional equipment to mount & wiring to deal with plus the storage of the excess equipment. And if the bug does bite again, I would just be back in the same position of trying to fit too much stuff in too small a space...so I'm just delaying the headache. 3) K.I.S.S. Sell it all, and go super simple. Something like a Denford for a headunit (which I loved), powerful 4-channel amplifier (MB Quart QAA4250?) and single 12" sub IB. Pros: Super simple. Minimal components. Super space saving. Yet still provide good sound. Puts a little $$ back into my pocket. Since I lack access to an RTA at the moment, I haven't EQ'd my current setup, I currently run passive, and I don't use any T/A with the kicks....and I'm pretty happy. I could live w/ it. So I don't know that I'd really "miss" the processing, per say. And actually I'm pretty fond of the idea of going back to just a basic yet good sounding setup. Cons: Completely screwing myself out of future upgrades as I'd essentially have to start over from scratch. Having to deal with selling all of my current equipment and buying/finding new equipment. VOTE

The Zapco would be good if you needed the amplifier to have internal processing. But it's still expensive. Another, more affordable, option; http://cgi.ebay.com/JBL-GTO755-6II-6-CHANN...1QQcmdZViewItem

Yay for a new book order; # 1 of: Letter to a Christian Nation (Vintage) - Sam Harris # 1 of: The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark - Carl Sagan # 1 of: Cosmos - Carl Sagan # 1 of: God: The Failed Hypothesis. How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist - can't remember the author's name off hand, but it sounded interesting. # 1 of: Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution - Neil deGrasse Tyson Now I just have to wait a flippin' week for them to arrive The wait is always the worst part.

Warranty? I know it doesn't matter as you shouldn't be having problems with it in the first place ... but multiple friends have had problems, sent the units in, and the turn around time was fairly quick. Yea, its still under warranty just a pain in the ass. MORALLY its wrong, but go return the bitch.............tell wal mart u got it as a graduation gift (or something) and it crapped out on you. You want a new one. OR go buy a new one and return it............with the old one in the box. J Hmmm, i still have the original box and everything still... Just a warning about the returning the old one in the new one's box......I was standing at walmarts return one time and this middle-aged guy was in the next line over returning a playstation 2. The lady behind the counter opens the box and says to the gentleman "Sorry but I can't accept this return." The guy of course asks why and she says the reason is because the serial # of the unit does not match the serial # associated with the box. The guy then gets this fake confused look on his face, says "huh, that's odd", grabs the box and walks back out of the store.....LOL

It was a reasonable 5-figures

Interestingly, today I heard what US Amps was supposedly sold for. Let me tell you, for that price I would have (and could have) bought the damned company

Finally got around to getting a receiver. Pioneer VSX-816. It's cheap(er) and does everything I'll need....full preamp outputs and good internal power. Now I need some speakers for HT duty. Been eyeing the Dayton 8. The things that have my interest on them are that the Dayton 8 is supposed to have good midbass and LFE, and sound pretty decent aswell.........and ofcourse the price as it would be around $200 total to build. Likewise, going this route would allow me to use already designed plans and speakers from the same model line for the surround and center channels such as the Dayton budget 2-way or Dayton II for the surround channels and the Dayton III for the center as designed by Speakerbuilder.net This would provide a cost effective means of full surround (should I decide to actually do an entire surround system) aswell as good "voice matching" of all of the speakers given they all utilize the Dayton Classics. My main "problem" is that the D8 is nominal 4ohms and the receiver isn't technically rated down to 4ohms. I've e-mailed Pioneer about this before and their response was something to the effect of "you'll be fine as long as the speakers have a sensitivity over 90db"....with which I'm guessing they are implying that I'll be fine as long as I don't drive the amp overly hard. Anyways.....if you're still reading.....I'm looking for either input on the above and also other suggestions that fit within the same general price range. Good midbass and LFE is a must as I don't know when I'll add a sub. I'm willing to sacrifice a smidge of midrange clarity for the benefit of midbass/LFE as I'm not looking for anything audiophile grade....just want to enhance movie watching a bit and have something decent to listen to tunes on. If I DIY I want plans that are already available...I don't really want to design the thing from scratch (too time consuming). However, if anyone can think of any readily-available pre-built options in the same general price range (used is fine) that would be great aswell as it would save the headache of building the speakers. I was bidding on some JBL HLS series on egay that were pretty local to me (no shipping expense) but some pucker out bid me at literally the last second. I figure the drivers are probably in the same price/performance range and the design couldn't be much worse than a DIY of the same relative expense.....and it would have saved me the time and headache of building them. But....bleh. Holy chit....this sort of turned into a novel

http://cgi.ebay.com/Genesis-Media-Labs-R-2...1QQcmdZViewItem LOL