Im curious to know what other aspects of the tempest suck? Since after all $150 for a woofer that is capeable of reproducing frequincies that subs "10 years ago" that cost well into the 1000's could barely do. The Tempest is an engineering masterpeace. None other like it. it was originally designed as a home audio woofer. why do you thinkg it has an FS of 18hz? you make any woofer with an Fs of 18Hz with with such low q and it will crave a large enclosure. the SQ from a tempest is amazing, responce flat, and it is very SPL capeable.
THe guy said he had the room. Im not reccomending 20cuft of enclosure in his car. tis' why i said sealed. where the tempest can perform in as low as 3cuft. Just because the norm of today is weak BL, low Q, and intern to make SPL in small encosures low sensitivity, craving for high power, and loose suspension. How many other 15's do you know of with low Fs that can bottom out their suspension in a 4cuft enclosure with 400w that cost less than $200? i can think of exactly 0.
Adire is one of the leading companies in audio innovation. RE would be lost with out XBL^2. the XXX is what made RE known and the XXX just wouldnt be an XXX with out XBL....
how many other companies can create a driver capable of moving over 2" from 9v DC?
The Tempest is an amazing driver and so are the Shiva, Brahma, Koda, Tulmult, Parthenon, etc....