Jon, always appreciate your thoughts/inputs! Thanks!
IB is far from an option at this point. Doubtful that it'll be an option in my next place - I'm pretty much sold on the merits, though. I would definitely give it a try if I had a space that worked. I'm very happy with the quality (and pricing) of my sub right now...so will end up just building 1-3 more (have the 1 box built...will have to build 2 more if I want 4...I wouldn't go for more than 2 in my current space (read:apartment)
Your comments on the MLs having great distortion/power handling even at thundering SPLs is very encouraging. I think the removal of the passive X-over is probably an important step.
I'm hopefully VERY close to auditioning some Final Sound 400is, which I think would mate very well with a midbass array...so if they are as good as hoped, I might forgo the planar tweeter line (use them in another design later on) and just go with a closed back (critical Q) midbass array of 8945Ps. I should certainly give the daytons a chance in a closed back config...but in their current dipole configuration, I've come to the conclusion that they're likely underdamped. (I get under/overdamped backwards...) For pure bass performance below 500Hz or so, there shouldn't be a huge difference between the Daytons and the Ushers....but I'm definitely enjoying the sound from the Ushers in their test box much more than I do the Dayton line. Need to do more experimentation...
On the tweeter front...it might be something about being used to having a huge radiating surface in the treble/midrange (which a line might fix) but I'm not nearly as enthusiastic about the BG tweeters as I am about the usher woofers. Love the woofers to bits...BG I'm considering alternatives too...Also, using something else would allow me to keep the crossover out of the midrange, which I'd prefer.
Question for you...wouldn't an IB also be under/overdamped (whichever one results from having too little backpressure) causing it to have less than ideal response? I was under the impression that a critical Q box was ideal for transient response. I just don't know that much about it though.
Yeah, I was referring to keeping each woofer enclosure seperate from each other. The tweeters have a back-cup, so it probably wouldn't matter if I put them in the same enclosure...but that's a different question.
As I see it - Having seperate enclosures/compartments for each woofer
Pros - ??? More rigidity?
Cons, - can't share internal volume (ie, have a 7ft box, with 4 ft of arrays...so you have an extra 3 ft of height to share the internal volume), have to be more precise in placement of braces...to keep each compartment the same size.
What are the pros, really?
I want to build the thing with a curved back, and think I've found a good way to do it. If the finals fit the bill for the midrange+ part, I'd love to build an enclosure that will house it along with the midbass array, and look finished. Basically, I'm jealous of your design
