Impious

MDF, zip ties, and epoxy? Now that you brought it up, I expect a few pics in the hop once it's done. Epoxy and MDF are WAY too much work. Just find some shit to zip tie it to and I'm good I'm terrible at taking pics, never remember. Main reason I never do build logs. That and it's never much to look at Functional but not that pretty.

I'm stoked, pretty well planned out my amplifier/processor/wiring layout for my trunk within about an hour and started working on it. I know this sounds like a simple task, but it usually takes me the better part of two days just to plan how I want to lay everything out because I'm a perfectionist and run through just about every possible option before deciding on something I like. This time I thunked up a great plan on my first "try". I still have some thinking to do about how fancy I want to get. But the main layout is done in my head, and that's the major hurdle.

You do realize pictures aren't going to help Nick at all, correct?

All teams should be doing that.He crossed a line. While I agree, they should strive to be as healthy as possible, it's still ultimately up to them what they put in their body. They are grown men.I'd disagree. As long as the Eagles are paying for the food and putting millions of dollars in those men's bank accounts, the Eagles can decide what to serve in the cafeteria. They're nothing but employees, and employers can decide what food the company is going to serve in the company's cafeteria. Now if he tried to dictate what they ate outside of the company cafeteria, I'd agree. But on company property, company money and company time....company decides.

Fs, Cms and Qms are different between the drivers. Could be a difference due to production tolerances, or it could be a difference in the suspension of the two speakers. Based on the listed Re the coils are also different. I know you said "differences seem to be in the motor", but the voice coil is part of the soft part assembly.

T/S parameters describe the low frequency behavior of the driver at low power. That includes amplitude, phase and time domain behavior (overshoot, ringing, etc). What they don't tell you is, for example, how the parameters shift as power is applied or about distortion related behavior. If the parameter shift is audible and different between the drivers, or the distortion behavior is different in a significant way, it would be entirely possible for two drivers with nearly identical classical T/S to "sound" and behave different at listening levels. That said I don't know enough about the differences between these two particular drivers to say how their performance might differ in those two particular criteria.

Just have to start by process of elimination. Start simple. Check cables make sure everything is still tight & secure, including ground cable. Check voltage under load. Move on from there to the subwoofer. Check impedance & continuity @ different excursion levels.....i.e. push & hold the cone inward & outward.

I'm the same way. My daughter always complains because I'm impossible to keep up with in a store, parking lot, etc.

If you have two subs in an install and one is inverted and the other is not then the polarity on one of the subs has to be reversed so they are both acoustically in-phase with each other and pressuring the cabin at the same time. If two subs are installed and they are both inverted, then the polarity needs to be reversed IF AND ONLY IF that keeps them in relative phas to the rest of the system. Really you should always check phase and verify if being wired in-phase or out of phase places the subwoofers in relative phase to the rest of the system. The only time the inverted sub MUST be wired out of phase is if there is two or more subs in the system and not all of them are inverted. Push-pull mounting in a common chamber cancels even order harmonics produced by the subwoofers since the asymmetry in the motion of the cone between the two subs should be more or less equal but opposite. Unless you are talking about isobarically mounted subwoofers, which is another can of worms.

Purely cosmetic. Sometime people do it because of space constraints & if they have multiple subs it can allow them to make the enclosure a few tenths of a cubic foot smaller. Not sure what you mean about trim ring. Most subs have a gasket that functions correctly both mounted regular & inverted. Some subs do, however, have the basket design in such a way that inverted mounting isn't easily accomplished.

Don can get overwhelmed at times, if he doesn't respond in a few days shoot a follow up email to him and he'll get with you. It's not going to hurt leaving the asphalt stuff in places that you don't intend to re-deaden. Removing it you would be best to ask Don the most effective way to get the crap removed.

I would have to agree 100%, but if you just can't bring yourself to spend the money with Don then RaamAudio's RaamMat BXT II isn't a bad alternative. While Rick is a super nice guy with a pretty good product, the money spent with Don is money well spent for his knowledge and assistance.

Dissolve a small piece in an ounce of mineral spirits. If the liquid turns brown it's asphalt.

When you start listening to the system as a whole, you'll have to set the time alignment (and phase, don't forget to play with phase) before you start messing with the EQ. TA and phase are going to affect the frequency response since it is changing the interaction of the sound waves at the listening position. You don't want to get the EQ set to where you like it, hit the TA and have the EQ go out the window since you changed the constructive/destructive interference occurring at the listening position. Plus it ALWAYS kills my concentration when the time alignment is off screwing everything up from the start. Test tones/sweeps can be helpful for identifying trouble areas like Sean mentioned. And once you have an idea of what the audible tone of a certain frequency sounds like, it can point you in the direction of more easily identifying trouble areas in the music. I don't have the A2K test discs, but I do like the IASCA disc because the manual gives some instruction as to what you should be listening for in each track. It also helps to just spend some time playing with the EQ. Run through the center frequencies with music playing, increasing/decreasing the amplitude adjustment so you can hear how changes at certain frequencies affects the sound.

Best place to start would be to grab another 2-channel amp or switch to a 4-channel and run the fronts active, IMO. If you are having problems with stage height that would allow you to play with tweeter positioning while also optimizing the crossover for your install. Unfortunately you're fairly limited on EQ bands & I presume you don't have the liberty of EQ'ing left and right independently, so you'll have to focus on the most troublesome areas once you button down the crossovers.

It's not a quest for the faint of heart But yes.....environment, reflections and differences due to varying listening axis are the large factors. For example, if speakers are in stock locations then you are sitting at a different listening axis between the left and right speakers. IIRC those Bravox use a low but shallow lowpass on the mid, so they are running into their beaming range so the top end of the mids response is going to be different. Reflections or absorption from seats/center consoles. Diffraction from the door panel. Differences in response due to reflections depending on the tweeters location. It's a big can of worms. Without knowing anything about your system it's hard to give any suggestions. An idea of install locations, the vehicle and tuning capabilities would be a good start.

Off-axis response is almost entirely based on cone diameter. Cone geometry is going to play a minor roll, but not enough to make a significant difference. Cone diameter versus wavelength is pretty much what it boils down to. There can be slightly better performance with a phase plug, but it depends on size/shape of the plug and such so it's hard to predict without knowing the specifics of the driver. Problems with image movement is usually related to frequency response deviations between left and right drivers and uneven frequency response of the system as a whole.

Every driver operating outside of it's pistonic range is going to have some deviation in frequency response as you move from directly on-axis to any degree off-axis. The further off-axis you move, the larger the deviation is going to be. The question, however, is going to be whether the deviation in response is still within acceptable limits for your goals. There is going to be some range of degrees off-axis where there response will still be acceptable. However there are too many factors at play inside of an automobile outside of the direct radiated response from the loudspeaker itself to really be able to predict what that range will be with much accuracy. And that's before we consider the listening preferences and hearing abilities of yourself. The short story is that they probably won't have to be perfectly on-axis. But how far off-axis you can move before response is no longer acceptable is something you are just going to have to test.

That's an awesome way to blow a new subwoofer. Sundown even says do not play your new sub at rated power until the break in. The ONLY way to "break in" a driver is to exercise the suspension. Playing it at a low volume for some arbitrary period of time is completely counterproductive to that goal. Break-in for the normal everyday user is completely unnecessary. Plug it in and play it like you normally would. It will break in with regular, normal use. The only time a break in "needs" to be done is as M5 pointed out, to measure accurate T/S, or simply to verify the driver is functioning properly prior to use (no scrapping, rubbing, etc). IF you really wanted to break in the driver, you need to actually USE it. Play it at or near Xmax in free-air to exercise the suspension.

I'll quote your entire OP, pointing out the issues that gave rise to the responses in this thread: See where the problem is now? You asked about pricing, then followed that up by talking about pricing and asking what makes them worth it. Apparently you don't even understand your own questions, or aren't articulate enough to actually ask what you want to ask. We were answering exactly what you asked. You asked about why they are priced were they are, we told you why. Produced in small quantities in the USA is a big factor in their cost. What the market will bear is a large factor in their price. Next time ask the question you actually want answered.

The backplate is the area at the rear of the driver behind the magnet. It completes the magnet circuit that starts at the top plate then transfers over to the pole piece. Bumping the backplate allows for higher mechanical rearward excursion clearance. Since the Xcon utilizes a single magnet, it needs a lot more steel at the rear of the driver to allow sufficient mechanical clearance. Some drivers use multiple magnets not for additional motor force but simply to allow sufficient rearward mechanical clearance since ferrite is cheaper than steel. So yes, this is probably more costly for SSA since it's significantly more machining and higher material costs than had they used a simple flat backplate and more ferrite magnets to build up the rearward mechanical clearance. My guess for their reason for using it would be that it allows them to machine entire the gap in such a manor to optimize the air flow for cooling within the motor and it probably allows a more efficient return path for the magnetic flux. IMO neither is better or worse for any purpose as long as they're properly implemented. All things equal aluminum is lighter which allows for a lower overall moving mass, but power handling is a little lower than copper. That said the comparison is hardly ever equal. Everything is a trade-off, it's all about finding the best set of compromises. The Xcon uses a pretty long coil, my guess would be in their design the lighter coil was of larger benefit than any difference in power handling. Forgot - Four layer is how many layers of wire are used to create the voice coil. The more wire in the gap the higher the motor force (the voice coil is the "L" in BL) and generally the higher the power handling (although there are some other factors in regards to cooling that factor in as well). It really has nothing to do with SQ, it has to do with achieving the correct motor force for the design and having sufficient power handling capabilities for the desired design. 4-layer is pretty common in higher power handling, higher motor strength drivers like the Xcon. A shorting ring, also called a Faraday Ring, is an aluminum or copper ring or sleeve located within the motor of the loudspeaker. They can be located at different places in the motor (or multiple places at the same time), such as (for example) a sleeve over the pole or a cap on top of the pole, and where they are located does have an affect on their use and effectiveness and depends on the designers goals. Shorting rings, as the name implies, shorts out the eddy currents created by the moving voice coil. Ultimately they lower overall loudspeaker inductance and help reduce flux modulation within the motor. Nomex spiders are used by other loudspeaker manufacturers. It is designed from the ground up by Scott Atwell with the input of SSA and to their design specifications and performance objectives.

The problem is that you are wanting to ignore the fact that being produced in small production quantities on a per-order basis in the USA is a major contributing factor to the cost of the driver. They could take the exact same parts, have it produced on a large scale overseas and end up with lower production costs. Economies of scale and higher production costs from being produced in the USA are real and considerable factors, even though they may not be "technical". And as M5 said the actual selling price of the driver is determined more by what the market will bear than what the production costs of the driver are. The issue for the company is that higher production costs mean lower margins. I think you are barking up the wrong tree. Had you asked simply about the design features that should make you consider an SSA driver, then you would probably be more on track right now with the answers you've received. But asking about the production costs of the driver brings up the ball of worms you are trying to ignore but add significant cost to the driver compared to overseas manufacturing, independent of materials used.

Can you fit anything larger than an 8" driver? For running IB you want a driver with high displacement capabilities.

The difference in SPL is inaudible. And I'm going to gander a guess that a pair of the DC's would be less expensive than four SA8v2s, which makes them the logical decision since the response is extremely similar with either option. Not to mention the easier installation with only having to install and wire a pair of drivers instead of a quartet.

Very bad idea. You'd be better off using the subs to cover the midbass than spending the time and money on an additional midbass driver that is installed in an equally piss poor location.