Alpine Type R to the rescue

[Alien Mantis]

Do you need BIG bass? Do you have little money to spend? TYPE R to the rescue.

I really didn't want to give up all the cargo space in the hatch, but the shallow sub I was running just wasn't putting out the SPL.

So..... gotta do what ya gotta do.

[custom Lftback]

I bought mine a couple weeks ago but that thing is sooo power hungry I ended up buying a RF P3. Putting that in on friday. Type R is a great sub tho.

[The Architect]

nice little setup there, I bet it puts out.

What ya powering it with?

Ive got triplets.

[bitz767]

Ive got 1 10" type R in my hatch and that is plenty for me, 3 of the 12's, thats nuts

[Alien Mantis]

I bought mine a couple weeks ago but that thing is sooo power hungry I ended up buying a RF P3. Putting that in on friday. Type R is a great sub tho.


You do know that an RF P3 is also power hungry, right?

You are trading your Type R for a P3?
So you are downgrading?

:smoking:

j/k

[Alien Mantis]

nice little setup there, I bet it puts out.

What ya powering it with?

Ive got triplets.


I have a Pioneer class D monoblock on it.
Sub is wired for 2ohms, so it's getting 400watts RMS.

I was worried my amp would get hotter at 2ohms, but it seems to be running cool. I had a 4ohm load on it before, and it never even got warm.

How about a PIC of your triplets!
Are they in a sealed or ported box?

My single Type R bumps pretty hard, I can see maybe two of them, but THREE? I don't want to buy an AMP that will power three!

I'm up to $550 spent on my whole system, and I don't want to spend another nickel on it!
Car audio is not my life, like it is with you, Tlnlnky and SQcomp.

:biggrin:

( But I do like it! )

[Alien Mantis]

I see in your avatar you used to run a pair of RE subs?

So you swapped em out for the TYPE R's then?

RE makes great subs. You like the Type R better?

[custom Lftback]

I see in your avatar you used to run a pair of RE subs?

So you swapped em out for the TYPE R's then?

RE makes great subs. You like the Type R better?

I think he rocked a kicker 15" at one point :) a true audiophile

[The Architect]

yea Ive been through lots of brands and lots of subs, Im just in an experimental phase.

The RE's were very very nice subs but I wanted to try new things. The '08 S15L7 in 6cuft. sealed was the loudest single sub setup I've had.

I seriously need to upgrade my amp and I intend to in due time.

here's the current setup (little dusty)

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q29/thenixonyouth/P1030948.jpg

[Alien Mantis]

I think he rocked a kicker 15" at one point :) a true audiophile


A true audiophile = someone who is NEVER satisfied with his audio gear, no matter how much money he spends on it!

:biggrin:

[Alien Mantis]

yea Ive been through lots of brands and lots of subs, Im just in an experimental phase.

The RE's were very very nice subs but I wanted to try new things. The '08 S15L7 in 6cuft. sealed was the loudest single sub setup I've had.

I seriously need to upgrade my amp and I intend to in due time.

here's the current setup (little dusty)


NICE.

It looks like you totally removed the rear seat, and filled the space with BOX!

SQUARE subs are so ugly looking. I hate them.

What amp are you looking to get next?

[Kaotic Lazagna]

Love mine. Pounding bass and it's just in a sealed box, not even ported.

[The Architect]

Ill get a brz2100.1d once the price comes down.

[sqcomp]

A true audiophile = someone who is NEVER satisfied with his audio gear, no matter how much money he spends on it!

:biggrin:

:middlefinger:

Hey! I resemble that remark!

Someone call me?

I'm trying to land a contractor job to pay for some Audison Thesis line amps...

[talnlnky]

A true audiophile = someone who is NEVER satisfied with his audio gear, no matter how much money he spends on it!

:biggrin:

Obviously you've never listened to a Pair of the Linkwitz Labs Orion Stereo Speakers.... best speakers i've ever heard.... they too can be yours for around $10,000... bargain considering they are some of the best speakers you can buy, regardless of money.

[sqcomp]

...and then we get stupid with the speakers...

I hear you on the $$. I remember some Wilson Audio speakers at a boutique audio shop in Beaverton, OR that ran around $80K (for pair of monitors).

I really like the idea of making my own setup though. Parts express/Madisound project types.

I'm wondering what a pair of IDQ 12"s off a good bit over the advertised 1200 Watts will do. He he he...

[why?]

Alpine Type' r's seem to be crazy popular. I get headaches with the 15 year old jbl I had running in my car, i think the Type R would make me black out, lol.

[The Architect]

Ehh the type r is a good budget sub that does well in ported enclosures, the are far better and far worse.

[centrysis]

Ehh the type r is a good budget sub that does well in ported enclosures, the are far better and far worse.

So what is a little bit better? For say around 650 watts rms. A dual 4 ohm 12".

[The Architect]

Id go for an RE SE 12 D4, 600 rms but underated slightly and relatively cheap, they're wildly popular over at ca.com

[talnlnky]

I really like the idea of making my own setup though. Parts express/Madisound project types.

you're in luck... they have the parts so you can just build them yourself... and save some money

http://www.linkwitzlab.com/orion_challenge.htm
http://www.linkwitzlab.com/orion_construction.htm

Nobody in Oregon has made one yet....

[Alien Mantis]

The Alpine Type R subwoofer is the best quality sub you can get for the money.

That's why they are so popular.

You can buy a better sub, but you will pay way more money for it!

:bonk:

[The Architect]

you seem to be rather passionate, see if alpine needs any reps lol

[Slick]

Alpine blow, nightshades ftw :P

[The Architect]

oh god, lets all just go out and get IA Warden 21's and call it a day.

[Slick]

oh god, lets all just go out and get IA Warden 21's and call it a day.

+1 lol

[talnlnky]

The Alpine Type R subwoofer is the best quality sub you can get for the money.

That's why they are so popular.

You can buy a better sub, but you will pay way more money for it!

:bonk:

there is always something better when it comes to best bang for the buck... especially when comparing to name brand companies... honestly buying from the diy sector often gets better quality, for less money... tho you don't get as many chrome or plastic parts on the sub.

[Alien Mantis]

you seem to be rather passionate, see if alpine needs any reps lol

The Type R sells itself!

I seem to recall YOU running 3 of them in your ride?

*ahem*

:laughabove:

[Alien Mantis]

oh god, lets all just go out and get IA Warden 21's and call it a day.

And the price is HOW much exactly?

:thumbdown:

[Alien Mantis]

What do you experts look for when choosing a sub?

Big magnet?
Long excursion?
Cone Diameter?
Big voice coils?
Power rating?
Sensitivity?
Overall construction?
Dustcap color?
BRAND name?
Thiele Small parameters?

For me... I try to look at the SPECS, and then imagine how those specs would translate into real-world performance.
I look at RMS power that matches my amp, and what enclosure it needs.
I try to find a balance between SPL and SQ, because I can't afford the gear needed to achieve BOTH.

Do you guys just go for the latest "flavor" trend, or do you try and copy what the PRO competition guys are doing at the shows?

With "boutique" audio gear... the sky is the limit.
So where do you draw the line? When is "enough" enough?

:frown:

[The Architect]

to each their own, some are fine with a 10 in the back sealed and say its loud as death and then some like have upwards of 36 inches of subwoofer for spine tingling visor flapping goodness.

I need my bass to be some sort of tight and defined, I dont want blurred, muddy or undefined bass even if its loud loud loud.

I never said type r's werent great for their price range, purpose & quality. they get the job done just fine.

[Slick]

I like big floppy base. Playin low 20 htz where it forces your breath in and out for you.

[The Architect]

im not sure you've ever experienced that unless you've been at least in steve meade's ride

[Alien Mantis]

I like big floppy base. Playin low 20 htz where it forces your breath in and out for you.

Yeah, that is kinda fun, huh!

( Just get your Shamwow and your big bottle of Armor-All, and you'll be fine! )

:moon:

[Alien Mantis]

I need my bass to be some sort of tight and defined, I dont want blurred, muddy or undefined bass even if its loud loud loud.


Yeah, I agree.

Loud MUD is not good.
The secret is getting your tight defined bass to also be LOUD.

That ported box I have is on the "loose" side. Seems to bump really nice, but also sounds kinda muddy on certain types of music.

I might end up putting that new Type R in a 1cf sealed box, and see how it does. I'm still getting used to it. Only had it for a few days. Gotta get to "know" it better.

:wink:

[sqcomp]

The sound of the woofer has a lot to do with the enclosure...

Taln, you want to comment on this subject?

For me, he he, the tighter it is the better. I would give up output for tonal accuracy, attack, delay, and wide response. Someone say sealed enclosure? There really is so much more now that I'm thinking about it...

The dynamic ability of the woofer when combined with the other characteristics mentioned, the pitch accuracy of the woofer, and most importantly (to me), the ability of the speaker to convey ambiance (or how the overall "picture" of ambiance when grouped with the entire system).

[talnlnky]

The sound of the woofer has a lot to do with the enclosure...

Taln, you want to comment on this subject?
.

Sure, like with anything in phsyics... audio is a game of compromises. the speakers, the box, they are all a combination of compromises.

Sealed boxes are pretty much a "if you mess this thing up, you have no business in audio" type box. it's hard to mess up a sealed box... but it can be done.

Ported boxes take a bit of knowledge to properly design and build. Ported can sound just as tight as any sealed box can if properly designed. The problem with that is that 99% of premade ported boxes are designed to have a high tuning.... around 40-45hz. High tunings cause a giant spike in the group delay of the subs which means muddy sound. In order to resolve that problem, you'd have to tune the box lower, which means the box will end up being bigger, and also be quieter in the 40-60hz range (where all the rap beats are).

The way a sub is built also can have a great effect on if the sound will be tight or muddy. Often times the high powered subs sound muddy because in fact they suck... By this i mean they have giant voice coils with a very high inductence (Le) rating which means they can't respond quickly to the changes of the electronic signal... it has nothing to do with the size of the cone (which is a huge myth). There are a few high wattage subs that do have low Le ratings, but they are few and far between. the old JBL GTI subs had some of the lowest Le ratings i've ever seen on a sub.

if you start out with a sub with a crappy Le, even a sealed box may sound muddy... if you start out with a quality sub... even a poorly designed high tuned ported box might sound decent.

For reference... the best sounding sub I ever owned was a 12", was rated 1600rms, and had an Le around 1mH. Companies often don't like to advertise the Le ratings... but try comparing that 1mH to others out there.... some subs are over 4mH, I've seen midbass drivers as low as .13mH.

[Alien Mantis]

Good info there.

Did you notice the Inductance rating depends on the frequency tested?

Higher freq = lower Le

So you need to compare the Le at the freq the sub will play at, or the number is meaningless.

[talnlnky]

Good info there.

Did you notice the Inductance rating depends on the frequency tested?

Higher freq = lower Le

So you need to compare the Le at the freq the sub will play at, or the number is meaningless.
you're kinda missing the point... I could also say that the load/inductance that the amp will see at a specific point is determined (at least partially) by what type of box, and tuning the sub is located in.

when they test subs, the generally followed practice is to do so with no enclosure (free air or open baffle) in a large room. For the values that require a signal to be playing in order to be measured... they will play a 1khz tone.

If sub A has a 4mH Le, it will always have a higher inductance than sub B which has a 2mH Le.... regardless of frequency, as long as all other variables are the same.

[Alien Mantis]

Well yeah, that actually was my point!

If they use some standard for the tests, then you could compare them.

I understand what you mean about lower inductance is better.

But everything can be overcome with MORE POWER!

:headbang:
( But mine goes to eleven! )