Impious

Do you have a link to any actual "specs" for these magical speakers other than the frequency range he posted in the one thread I found (I admittedly didn't search over there, that thread just happened to be right at the top on their forum). He doesn't give any specifics as far as how that frequency range was determined. Did he go by -3db points in the response? -10db points? How is the distortion performance within that frequency range? What is the cone break up like? How flat is the response within that bandwidth? Any manufacturer can throw out any "rated" frequency response that they want as there's no set standard for determining that range. Hell, some sub manufacturers rate their 12" subwoofers up to several kilohertz even though they realistically aren't going to be worth a shit in that range due to inductance/cone break up/beaming/etc. A manufacturer could "rate" a tweeter for response down to 20hz since it will technically play that frequency. Without any more clarification on how that frequency bandwidth was determined, or a response and impedance graph, just writing numbers on a forum is pretty useless. Rule #1 of driver design compromises; Hoffman's Iron Law. I would be interested to see how he's rating the frequency response and what the sensitivity of these "pro audio" drivers are, as good low frequency response and high sensitivity are contradictory performance terms. This is the reason, based on the laws of physics that I can promise he did not defy, that most "pro audio" mids do not perform well at low frequencies. Their high sensitivity necessarily excludes them from having good low frequency response. Oh, and I would highly recommend against trying to run any 6.5"+ drivers up to or over (or anywhere close to) 5khz.

Engineering impossibility. Driver design like everything is a series of compromises. The driver is going to have flaws. It's a basic fact of physics. What his goals were and what he gave up to reach those goals I don't know. But that statement basically says he had a perfect driver designed....which I can tell you right now didn't (can't, and won't) happen without knowing anything more about them than that statement. If the goals for his driver align with yours, then it may very well be a great fit for your needs. But it won't be perfect. Sounds like he's laying the marketing on pretty thick.

If I can talk audiolife into to carpooling with me, and if I actually remember the dates....I may go spectate.

It's a little more involved than that. Having an understanding of the electrical engineering involved....what the parts are and why they are there.....is going to be useful and necessary. Understanding why something was damaged is vitally important. The damaged part that's easy to see might have been damaged as a result of something less obvious to see. Ofcourse there are always simple fixes like an old cap that simply went bad. But things aren't necessarily going to be that easy and in some cases some diagnostic work will be required. If you don't understand anything about the operation of an amplifier, then you aren't going to be able to do this. If you want to learn how to repair amplifiers, I would start with learning how amplifiers are designed. If you have to ask what's necessary equipment to repair an amplifier, then you aren't ready to start repairing amplifiers.

Not picking on you today ///5M, but my Clarion 9375 w/9300 did 4.2 volts at 30/33 volume. The Clarion DRZ9255 (states 4v) tested 9volts!! Yea that deck is in a different league.... And yes that was w/a 60 Hz tone. Good luck hitting anywhere near those voltages with music and normal listening levels Ofcourse a deck is going to reach it's rated voltage with a 0db test tone near max volume.....which is extremely useful if you drive around listening to 0db test tones near max volume all day long. For the rest of us who listen to music at normal listening levels, we aren't going to see those voltages in actual use. And how did you test distortion levels during those measurements?

How is the headunit connected to the factory amp?

I just did.

If you don't need the additional features of the SAZ (strappable, 18V power input, etc) than go with the cheaper SAE.

Xovers today are not all that complex as people make them out to be. Something is complex if we don't understand. 90% of the time when a company uses a xover, it's used for all of its sizes. 6 1/2", 5 1/4", 4". They look at it as it's the tweeter that remained constant so the xover point should too. It's just limited by how low the comp set will play after that determined by the driver. I will also point out, as I didn't mention the first time around, that the speakers sensitivity will also play a big role, hence tweeter attenuation. Reread what you quoted, then reread my post. Those two sentences that you quoted from yourself completely miss the boat, sorry. There's much more to it than simply tweeter attenuation/protection, which you then followed up with "other than that it doesn't matter". False. Much more than that does matter, as I briefly pointed out in my post. Companies using the same passive crossover for every comp set within a given line are using horrible design practices, and are probably better off not being purchased in the first place.....much less using the already poorly designed crossover with a different mid. There is absolutely no rational logic based on the physics and acoustics involved that supports this statement; "as it's the tweeter that remained constant so the xover point should too". As I said above.....using a different mid on a passive crossover may technically "work", but not recommended unless you fully understand all of the variables involved. Some people may get lucky and it might sound ok, good or even great. But unless it's actually analyzed before hand it's nothing other than shear dumb luck.

Is your friends ported enclosure the exact same size and tuning frequency? The simple answer for the difference would be that his enclosure, with it's enclosure volume and tuning frequency, is controlling excursion at given frequencies in such a manor that the driver doesn't excurt enough to cause lead slap. If it is supposed to be the exact same size and tuning frequency as yours, then there is something different with your enclosure that is allowing the driver to have more excursion which is causing the slap. EDIT: Missed that your enclosure was sealed. In which case, your friends ported enclosure is limiting excursion around the tuning frequency whereas your sealed enclosure is not (excursion is necessary for output in a sealed enclosure). That is likely the reason why there was no lead slap in your friend's enclosure.....it doesn't have as much excursion at the frequencies where the slap is occurring.

Unless the drivers are brand new yes, that's typically a bad thing. It means he's overheating the drivers and the VC glue is melting. It could be. It could also be for the worse depending what the changes were. The enclosure requirements will also change so you would need to know the new T/S parameters in order to build an appropriate enclosure.

Depends on which EQ he has. However, the EQ can also be dangerous as boosting the signal requires the amplifier increase it's power output. 3db of boost on the EQ would require the amplifier output twice the power at and near those frequencies, which can also potentially induce clipping. An increase of 6db would require the amplifier quadruple it's power output. It's possible the same will happen if he doesn't understand proper use of the EQ, proper gain and other system settings, and doesn't know how to tell when a driver is stressed. There will be a difference in sound if you don't use the same original parts. Given Scott designed the SE he may be able to send you the stock SE parts. But if the soft parts change, the drivers parameters will change.

You will not want to wire them together in parallel. You will want to retain stereo sound.

You need to consider more than just the impedance. You also need to consider how the new planned driver will perform with the the crossover slope and frequency of the passive. A crossover designed for a 4" midrange may have a higher crossover point or shallower slope than that designed for a 6.5" driver which would make performance lackluster. Or even if the drivers are the same diameter the new driver may roll off sooner or later than the original which will change the effective acoustic slope of the crossover which will change how the mid and tweeter integrate together. The impedance curve of the new driver may be different than the original driver which will change the crossover's behavior. You also need to consider if there are any additional "features" built into the crossover such as a zobel network, trap filters, etc which will be rendered useless and may actually hinder the new driver's performance. Or the new speaker may benefit from some of those features due to it's characteristics and since the filter network does not include them results could suffer. So while it may technically "work", results very well may end up being very poor by using a driver on a crossover not specifically designed for that speaker. Generally not recommended to mix-n-match drivers and crossovers (and expect good results) unless you understand the variables involved, the actual design of the crossover itself and the behavior of the driver.

Fixed.

As with any difference in voice coil configuration, the only "downside" (if you want to call it that) is the loss of wiring flexibility with an SVC compared to DVC.

You will not lose any functionality. What is your budget and how much power are you looking for and at what impedance?

The compression fittings suck ass IMHO.

Loose is fine in a sealed enclosure.

If you are referring to the 8mm thing.....Only if you know coil length and gap height, and even that isn't exact....more of an estimate although fairly widely used by manufacturers. If you are referring to their suspension rating then no, it's meaningless to linearity.

Parts-Express.com:�Dayton DTA-1 Class T Digital Amplifier 15 WPC Comparable power and will basically be a plug-n-play solution for you.

Preamp output voltage is ideally the maximum output voltage (without clipping) that the unit is capable of producing. Where you set your gain is dependent upon several factors. It's best to set it by ear or if you are unsure or uncomfortable trying to set it completely by ear, follow the "DMM Method" to get you in the ballpark and then make final adjustments by ear.

The Xcon is not really a strong sealed enclosure subwoofer with it's lower Q and higher Fs. It's EBP is ~88, which indicates it is best suited to ported enclosures. You aren't really going to be able to do much to really bring the low end out strong short of trying to EQ it in or building a ported enclosure. You can try adding polyfill and see what if any changes in sound you notice. There's no right or wrong. I believe the "standard" recommendation is 1-1.5lbs per cubic foot, but you can add more if you wish. You will want to avoid suffocating the pole vent.

No preamp level signal is a "fixed voltage". That is how the volume level is adjusted; as the volume increases, the voltage of the signal increases. You can just use your preferred method of gain adjustment with the PAC convertor, no reason to buy anything additional.

I would probably agree with the guy on your HTS thread.....doesn't sound like you are completely ready for something like that. Do you know what voltage your guitar outputs?