I finally figured out how to post pictures!

So I think I messed up the stain on the veneer pretty bad...It should be beautiful cherry stained a tastefully dark red- but you can see how well that worked out. Contact cement will be avoided in the future as well.

The high gloss "wanna-be piano" black worked out pretty well though (I think.) It looks nice in person. Piano black, or something close to it, isn't nearly as hard as everyone makes it out to sound. You just need to have patience to give it all the necessary coats of paint.

That mounting ring is something I've been wanting to try for some time now. It sandwiches the driver between it and the first layer of baffle (double thick.) It has a 3/8" roundover (all .5" material) creating almost a very shallow horn throat.

I've run basic low frequency sweeps just from script in Matlab to "listen" to the frequency response. My primitive hearing test reveals a relatively smooth response down to around 35-40Hz with expected boosts at frequencies caused by room dimensions and modes.

I can't get this idea out of my head though that it sounds "hollow" or "boomy." I have absolutely no evidence to back this up, but even for a sub this small I think .5" MDF is insufficient- and I braced it pretty darn well internally with .5" plywood and Sonic Barrier and Acousta Stuf. It sounds like the enclosure is resonating and coloring the sound.

Lessons learned.

I must say, I'm pretty psyched that my first real project (from design to finish) worked so well.