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You aren't going to find too many more reliable sources than you can get here. To help answer your original question. There is no optimal dimensions it is about optimal volume and tuning for what you are trying to install it in and and how you want it to sound. The recommendations that were posted here tell you exactly what you are after. You just need to crunch the numbers to get the volume desired to fit in your car. The tuning will be good around the 32hz area. We can not tell you port dimensions or port length without know the dimensions of the box you can fit. The number of drivers is also something that we can not help you with as that is a preference that only you can decide on. If this did not answer your questions then let me know what I missed and I will try to answer it for you. People enjoy helping out here but not spoon feeding so please give us as much information as possible on your next post.

Gain setting doesn't mean power setting. Just because the gain is at half doesn't mean you're only getting half power from the amp. You are likely getting full power from it, and it's possible to be well into clipping with half gain as well. As a matter of fact, the JL 1000/1 uses a regulated output IIRC, which means you are getting 1000 watts no matter what. They don't underrate those by much, 1100 watts maybe.

The USPS priority mail package arrived, and I knew what was in it. I had been excited about their arrival, as they were the final piece to my upgrade from a more entry level set of CDTs to one of their very best 2 way component set offerings. The journey took about a month. The heavy box revealed the monster CDT ES-06 midbass drivers. They are pretty beefy drivers, with a big rubber boot over the motor. Jerking the boot off, I discovered a super shiny chrome motor. The basket is a nice cast 4 spoke basket. The quick release spring terminals offer a secure and quick connection. I quickly yanked out the old mids and modified the door to fit the motor, and they were in place about 1 hour later. I fired them up and let them have a little break in time while I e-mailed Mike at Vertex Audio, who was a great help in getting me set up with the units best suited to achieve my goals, and let him know I got the set and I had just carved up my doors to make those puppies fit. Essentially my upgrades left me owning the CDT Audio ES-062i GOLD 6.5" Component Set which I will review as a complete set .The tweeters are the DRT26A aluminum dome modular tweeter units, which would be an upgrade to the normal set. The tweeters are very attractive, and obviously very well built. You can change the driver itself from the silk dome, to the aluminum dome, to the titanium dome by using the supplied tool, grabbing the base, and turning the tweeter module until it clicks. Then the tweeter slides out of the base and you can insert the new module just as easily. It takes about 20 seconds to swap both tweeter domes. The tweeters have just an awesome amount of options for mounting them. The crossover is the EX550i, which was designed specifically for the ES-06 mids and the DRT26 tweeters, as it brings the crossover point down to rolloff (2.5kHz) of the powerful mid. The crossover is a decent size, not tiny by any means, but not obnoxiously large. It appears to use very good components and has several setting options. There are no jumpers in here, all settings are done with switches, and admittedly the switches could be marked better. Crossover on the right, with the switches circled) Mid and tweet installed. Now, on to the install in question. I wanted to let everyone know the important factors surrounding the set, as they can play a role in their performance. I used 2 different amplifiers while running this set. The first was a solid state Cadence FXA-5100 bridged, running 300 WRMS/ch. The second was a tube amplifier, Butler TDB475 bridged to provide 200 WRMS/ch. The source is a Pioneer Premier FH-P800BT. Everything is set flat unless otherwise indicated in the review, all bass boost and enrichment modes off. I set the HU to highpass at 63Hz. The substage consists of a Cadence ZRS6000D which is ~650@2ohms, and 2 Adire Koda 10” subs in a midsized (1.2 per sub) sealed arrangement, crossed at 80Hz and run in reverse polarity. The mids are in the stock location in the lower front of the doors, decoupled from the sheet metal, spaced out with MDF, in a well damped door in an IB alignment. The tweets are well angled in the kicks, with a desired soundstage in the center of the windshield. Here is a little speaker porn. This is the ES-06 (the large black driver) compared to the EF-62FG (the red driver) Now for the review This set is a very solid offering from CDT for those of us who like a really warm, powerful midbass that can really get down deep. The only shortcoming is that the midrange may be a little soft for some listeners when listened through a mid level solid state amp. The tubes really opened the midrange up tremendously, and I have to say that this set with the tubes is a winner all the way around. I really like the aluminum dome tweeter, as it is crisp and detailed, without evidence of sibilance or ringing at all. It really allows for a broad soundstage and a great image. The soundstage is just huge in the car without much work. My only complaint is, there may be a little too much shimmer with the SS amp, although the tubes really pulled it back and tamed it where it might get a little domineering. Overall, it is a fantastic tweeter, one deserving of it’s reputation. Tonal accuracy is very good, but the midbass of the set is a bit silky to be called perfect, although I like the buttery smooth midbass. I have always liked Tantric’s self titled album for midbass detail and depth. The mids definitely handled the usual tracks with precision; the drumbeats accompanied by Hugo Ferreira growling voice showed the mids could really handle transients exceptionally well. I love the way they blend acoustic guitar and electric guitar too. It allows us the ability to determine how realistic the differences are between the 2, with particular attention to the decay. The EX550i has them crossed perfectly (I had to make a small tweeter aiming adjustment to compensate for a tiny dip in frequency response), and the DRT26As handle the low crossover point with ease. Tantric does nothing exceptionally fast, but the separation of their instruments in their first release really helps show off how well a set can provide detail and accuracy during reproduction. Dream Theater’s Train of Thought was next on the list. Mike Portnoy attacks a drum set like it is his enemy… and the ES-o6 handled the attack with ease. Kickdrum separation was precise; the ES-06 almost belittles his speed. I love Pink Floyd. They got a lot of play on these speakers. I stuck to Dark Side of the Moon (30th Anniversary Remastered SACD Hybrid, original copy), and Wish You Were Here. Dark Side of the Moon really was amazing. My old lady commented “Wow, this sounds amazing, did you buy new speakers or something?” to which I replied, “No way honey!!!” Even she noticed the difference at very modest listening levels. Floyd’s psychedelic trips through both of these albums really presented imaging that is so deep and the stage is so vast it seems to extend beyond the doors and windshield of the car. The usual suspects played on the system as well. Dave Matthews Band’s 34 showed amazing depth with the set, and the Tenor Sax played so beautifully it was frightening. I love to use Warehouse, and Ants Marching as well, because they provide a ton of detail from the bottom of the audible spectrum to the top, with explosive woodwinds and brass, pounding bass, harmonicas, cymbals (from delicate high hats to huge crashes) guitars, and of course, Dave’s voice. Everything is so accurate, and the image is amazing with so many instruments exploding around you, with amazing depth and clarity. Sarah McLachlan and Norah Jones both maintained composure, and beauty. Their voices didn’t seem to feel strained at all, no ringing on the high notes, and the mids don’t even seem like they are trying. Pianos rolled behind them with amazing precision and detail. The decay is as perfect as we can expect in an imperfect environment like a car. In conclusion, this set is very accurate, very fast, and finely detailed. The mids’ attack is aggressive, and their decay is natural. They provided more impact than the FG mids, but they are not fatiguing like many aggressive midbasses can be. Their depth is impressive, and they handle their midrange duties in a very mellow, laid back manner. Transient response from the mids is impressive. The tweeters are very precise, and controlled, and delicate. I heard no audible ringing, no sibilance, and harsh isn’t a word that comes to mind. They are critical, without being bright, laid back without being flat. The crossovers handle the mid to tweeter transition smoothly. This truly is one fine component set. They are a well rounded set that really encompasses the whole package audio enthusiasts are searching for.

For all Beef lovers.

Stiffening isn't a job for any vibration damper - it'd be like breaking your arm and deciding to build a cast out of Band-Aids. It might help a little, but you'd need thousands of them and it wouldn't work well enough to be worth the effort. As has been mentioned, you have to brace a flexing panel. When you introduce enough internal pressure to deform a panel you are taking it well beyond what it was designed to do. It needs to be reinforced. When that's done, you will very likely still have panel resonance and that's where the vibration damper comes in. The other important point is that vibration dampers and maximizing SPL are not a good mix. Panel resonance produces sound that can be metered. Vibration dampers convert vibration to heat which can't be metered. All of this explains why we've all heard reports of vibration damper being applied in one case gaining a dB or so and in another case, losing a dB or so. Stiffening and conversion to heat are offsetting mechanisms. It can go either way and is all but impossible to predict ahead of time. Brace without vibration damper and you can be pretty confident that SPL will increase since you aren't losing energy to panel distortion or conversion to heat. It'll sound terrible but sounding good isn't always the goal

By doubling the impedance you cut the expected power in half.

haha saying that is the only fail about that topic. Is it that hard to get a custom order through the phone/email? that way you get exactly what you want and can get all your questions answered without the trouble of getting something you ordered online and it turns out not to suit your needs at all. See that big CONTACT button on their site, did you try that one? here ya' go http://www.ascendantaudio.com/contact.php there are multiple dealers on here as well. through that link you can get set up with the dealer closest to you (if there are none close, dont worry! you can contact any of them to order ) GL with your purchase, and remember to post up what you get and your install!

Lots of smack coming from someone with nothing to show!

It all makes sense. You are good the way you are wiring everything. First step, choose rough xover points and set the gains LOW. The first problem you are going to run into is getting all the different drivers in phase with each other. the out of phase drivers will be fighting/barking at each other SO this is going to the first step after choosing rough xover points. you will want to start with the highs first, once they are in phase with each other, then add in the next set and get those drivers in phase, then add the next set and repeat until you get to the subs. You DON'T want to turn everything on at first, just the highs and then work your way down adding one set at a time. You want to choose xover points for all the drivers that will allow them to work in concert without fighting/barking at each other. One tip I will give you is try a little underlap at the crossover points, More so the higher ones. The next step is matching the gains. You will once again set you highs by themselfs to the highest level they will play, then bring each set up to that level one at a time. once you have everything in phase and the gains roughly set you will slowly notice little things to fine tune. i.e. adjusting the speakers that sound out of place/barking. you can also listen to each pair by themselfs once set up to make sure you aren't staining anything. Don't expect this all to happen in one day either, it will take a few weeks.

A round of applause for super dad :woot: :woot: :woot:

Very creative and use of materials that were already there, deserves a couple :fing34: on the tweeter install.

Sweet!!! the tweeters look clean.

Yes, on both NS v.2 and Z v.2 Why did you decide to remove it? It's useless.