Hey Tofo,Thats ok, you dont sound negative at all :-) And yes, if I do decide to go the Pi route, then I'll be using mostly different parts, except for the crossover and JBL horns I guess. But I do think the Eighteen Sound drivers are very good, and I enjoy the 18LW1400 a lot which I have.
As for knowing my stuff... I can say that for subwoofers anyway. Not so much multi-way designs, but hey, I'm gettin there! I've had my share of crappy subs from bad designs of my own, but not anymore (not to say I'm a complete expert of course!). If the Pi speaker I build does sound real bad, then at least theres stuff to be learned :-) But I dont think I could go too wrong choosing parts that I know are good. Besides, I wont cut or purchase a thing until I am certain that it will perform well. I know one person who uses the 15LW1401 from 70-300Hz, William Cowan uses this in with his Unity Horns, and apparantly they work very well too.
Then again... I might indeed go the Eminence Delta route. The 15LW1401 I think costs about AU$420... but the Eminence Delta 15 costs just AU$225. So thats quite a saving, especailly because I'd be needing a pair. Do you think I would be disappointed with the Delta's? I have scanspeak 8's too, so I am looking for an good/noticable improvement over these.
Not sure if I'd go the reconed 2225 way. I know they say specs of aftermarket recones are very similar, but thats just taking the manufactures word for it, which most of the time isn't a good thing to do :P
Thanks!
Adrian