Display problem and slow response in Manipulate[ ]?

Questions
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1

I am relatively new to programming in Mathematica (so please excuse my novice code) and am having trouble displaying the updated values of my constants c1, c2, … , c8 which are displaying to the right if my controls for v1, v2, … , v8. So as I move the sliders for a1, a2, … , a8, the values of c1, c2, … , c8 should be updating.

Also, if you can identify which part of my code is causing the program to run so slowly, that would be appreciated. As I move the sliders, there is a delay in the update of the bar charts.

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2

Everything inside the Manipulate gets re-evaluated on every update, but a large part of what you have there is constant, like the vector constant, the plot[1], … plot[8]. My advice is to move out of the Manipulate body as much as possible, the Initialization option could be useful for this. Also, for better updating control and performance I would use a DynamicModule instead of a Manipulate.