I've decided to go with a Tempest
 

I ordered one from Acoustic Visions for $125 shipped. Not a bad deal considering they come with the 3 year factory warranty. I was also intersted in the Dayton DVC 15, but I couldn't find much info about that driver. There's literally a ton of info on the internet about the Tempest, and none of it's bad.

It'll be going into the mid "Q" sealed enclosure design recommended by Adire. I'll be using 3/4" oak veneered MDF for the enclosure. I will apply the neccesary oil/stain required to make the enclosure match the rest of our living room oak furnature.

The Tempest will be powered by a 250 watt PE plate amp. I've been told this driver, powered by this amp, in this enclosure sounds incredible. Guess I'll find out.

That's suprising. The Tempest is a very popular sub for HT applications and I figured this topic would drum up some interest. Guess I was wrong.

I'm surprised too. Keep "bumping" it the next couple of days, I am sure there will be some Tempest owners glad to share their experiences.

From what I can tell of the specs, the Dayton DVC 15 incher appears to be a clone of the Tempest.

Knowing Parts Express, the Dayton DVC 15 incher, I would guess, is probably just as good a speaker as the Tempest. But if you can get the original for the same price....

The specs for both drivers are about the same, however I was able to find out the Dayton will work in quite a bit smaller enclosure. The optimum sealed enclosure size for the Dayton is 3 c.f., while the Tempest's optimum is 4.6 c.f. The downside to this is the F3 ends up being quite a bit higher for the Dayton. Since the extra 1.6 c.f. isn't an issue for me, and because I'd rather have the lower F3, I went with the Tempest.

I will also be building the enclosure a bit differently than the way I usually build them. It will be built completely without the use of screws. Each corner's mating surface will be cut at a 45 deg angle to provide the perfect 90 deg corner. I'll be gluing the entire box together using either Gorilla glue or liquid nails, then clamping it together. I'm using 3/4" MDF which already has an oak veneer applied to it. The enclosure will be oiled/stained and sealed to match the rest of our oak living room furnature. This should be an adventure.

Perhaps the reason for the lack of response is that you did not ask for any. In any case good luck and keep us posted with your progress.

eStatic

Okay, now I'm asking. Anyone who has experience with a Tempest please post whatever you feel like posting that would be relevent to this tiopic. Thanks.

I've built two of them. The first was the MidQ design as a compromise between music and HT since I had only one system at the time. It was as advertised, a compromise between the two and quite enjoyable to listen to. Since the addition of a music only system I put the Tempest into an overdamped vented enclosure for HT only. Much better for HT than the MidQ but too boomy for music. I appreciate being able to move the driver to different enclosures as my needs change and have it perform well in every situation.

How did the bass in music sound with the mid Q enclosure? Was it tight, punchy bass, or was it more boomy sounding?

Well, like I said, the MidQ is a compromise between music and HT. A little boomy for music and not enough impact for HT. It wasn't bad for music, just not up to the level a purist would like. The LowQ design would be better for music. You could always build two. :D