Thanks for the compliments guys! And I really appreciate all your input.
I really look forward to finishing this project off, but unfortunately it will have to wait for a little while. I originally wanted to do a gloss black laminate, in large part to match my existing Definitive Technology equipment, but primarily to avoid the tedious process of painting MDF!

I was just planning on adhering the laminate and then using a flush trim bit, but I'm sure there are tricks of the trade to produce the nicest seams at the corners. Have any of you done anything that way? I'll likely end up going the route Errin suggested as I think overall it will look better, I'm likely to change out the rest of the equipment, and we've all seen the ugly wear and tear on laminate that's unavoidable over time. Nonetheless, I'm still curious if anyone has experimented.
As far as sound of this sub and enclosure I was very impressed. I didn't have the time to properly integrate it into the rest of my theater, but did perform some sine sweeps to test it out. As expected the bass extension is incredible! Cyclones are obviously a different beast and at first I was frustrated with noise produced by the flapping vanes. But I found I was simply overdriving it in an attempt to realize a perceived value in my new toy that I really shouldn't have been. We all know that really low frequency response has
absolutely nothing to do with amplitude, but now I can testify that truly deep
will surprise you nonetheless! After some A/B comparison I finally realized the subtle beauty of the Cyclone. While I wish I had the opportunity to actually demo it along with my other sub I've got some processing issues to work out in addition to the hours of listening it will take to level match and properly balance the frequency response of both drivers simultaneously.
So now all I need is a new living room and workshop to bring all the loose ends together.
