Alpine SWR 10D4 with Alpine M1100

[tommymilan311]

As my title says I am using a 10" Alpine type R Sub with 4 ohms of resistance with 1000 W RMS. I am pairing this with a Alpine M1100 amp rated at 650W RMS at 4 ohms and 1100W RMS at 2 Ohms. I have this brought down to 2 ohms and I'm running at roughly 850W (Use multi meters at formulas to take my voltage and resistance to get watts.) The only problem is that it seems very low or quiet... Not loud. I also have type R door speakers, but I'm only pushing those at roughly 25W because of how unflattering the sub is.

I'm super hesitant to turn my gain up any louder because I burned through one of these type Rs in about a week with the gain turned up to around 1-2 O'Clock (It is currently at about 10 O'Clock now) Granted I did make some rookie mistakes with "enhancers" on the head unit and forgot to turn any boasters off. I had boasters on with the factory speakers because the had pretty much nothing pumping under 80 Hz. So those are now turned off.

Do I have something hooked up or tuned wrong? Okay, so I bridge my dual coil sub (+ to + and - to -) to bring my resistance down to about 2 ohms. I then turn my eq setting on my head unit and amp to flat and tune my gain with multi meters to about 41V or 850 W. (√ 2(Resistance in Ohms) X 1000 (Your desired wattage) = 44V)This sets my gain at about 10 O'Clock. I then have my subsonic setting at about 15-20 Hz, my LP Filter at about 80 HZ, and my bass EQ brought up to about +6 Db. And it still can't come close to my speakers. It actually sounds good with anything that isn't supposed to be bassy. Rock, country, metal, reggae, all sound just fine with this but when I listen to hop-hop, pop, or techno/dubstep/D&B it is just a complete disappointment. I did purchase a bass knob so I could just tune the sub down with that when I wanted to listen to less bassy music after all.

Would going up to a 12 make a world of difference?

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[C1500martin 10+ year member]

you have it wired properly, but why you only giving it 800w? why not the full 1100 the amp has to offer? is it ina ported or sealed? and pre fab or custom? but at the end of the day its only a 10.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

okay leave your bass EQ off and always off, it distorts the signal. You need to raise your head unit volume up higher to get proper signal output and set the gains for 1000 watts, the sub should handle it fine, i used to run them with 1200 watts and they took it no problem.

2nd and most likely culprit could be your enclosure, do you have it in a sealed box or prefab ported box or something?

 

[tommymilan311]

leave your bass EQ off and always off

I will turn the bass EQ down, but right now that is the only thing making me able to hear it with my speakers, otherwise it doesn't even come through. I have 4 SPR-60Cs at about 25W/Speaker.

I'm taking it into the shop tomorrow to hook it up to a scope. Would it be safe to run it at its highest gain setting I can get as long as I'm not getting clipping?

2nd and most likely culprit could be your enclosure, do you have it in a sealed box or prefab ported box or something?

I also have a sound ordnance bass bunker 1.1 Cu FT Ported.

Also, this amp is rated low, I was reading around 75V at 50Hz when I had it set at about 1-2 O'Clock on the gain(Completely tore apart one of these Type-Rs, but replaced by warranty). it is reading 41.5ish at 10 O'Clock

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

I will turn the bass EQ down, but right now that is the only thing making me able to hear it with my speakers, otherwise it doesn't even come through. I have 4 SPR-60Cs at about 25W/Speaker.
I'm taking it into the shop tomorrow to hook it up to a scope. Would it be safe to run it at its highest gain setting I can get as long as I'm not getting clipping?

I also have a sound ordnance bass bunker 1.1 Cu FT Ported.

Also, this amp is rated low, I was reading around 75V at 50Hz when I had it set at about 1-2 O'Clock on the gain(Completely tore apart one of these Type-Rs, but replaced by warranty). it is reading 41.5ish at 10 O'Clock

Heres a link to a thread to show you how to use a create and proper test tone instead of random ones you find on the internet. http://www.caraudio.com/forums/advanced-sql-spl-discussion/613379-best-way-tune-your-enclosure-set-gains-based-your-music-library.html

That ported box is garbage. No where near close enough port area for the sub to breath or have any real output. You need around 20-25 sq inches of port area that box only has 4-9 at most. The tuning is in the 40s so no lows from that either. If you have any woodworking knowledge, i'll hook you up with some legit designs and cutout sheets to get you some real lows.

Best thing i'd say is use your ears, have the head unit volume at 75 or 80%, play your hardest hitting song, slowly turn up the gain until you hear distortion or it stops getting louder, at that point you will be clipping so back it down a notch. Then do 5 minute full blast test runs, if the sub at any point gets hot then back off the gain even more, if it only gets slightly warm or is still cool, you are fine. Measure your voltage drops too that can lead to clipping and distortion if your volts get too low.

 

[tommymilan311]

I can send this one back, I have wood working skills, but a lack of tools, so just buying something would be very beneficial. I have been told to just go with a sealed box, Should I send this one back and get a sealed box?

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

I can send this one back, I have wood working skills, but a lack of tools, so just buying something would be very beneficial. I have been told to just go with a sealed box, Should I send this one back and get a sealed box?

No, you'll lose even more output with a sealed box. You need a proper custom ported box. 1.25 cubic feet of usable airspace after port and sub displacement tuned to 32hz with plenty of port area. You can build it with 3/4 mdf for a strong box without flex.

 

[tommymilan311]

I See...

But would the box be the cause of lack of volume then?

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

I See...But would the box be the cause of lack of volume then?

your port is too small, the box is too small. Sub is struggling to breath.

If you want an amazing enclosure, go with a T-line design. Amazing output and sound quality, just takes up a bit of room.

 

[C1500martin 10+ year member]

right now your sub is a kid with asthma running through a smokey field without an inhaler. he'll make it out but barely. you want the sub to be a kid with asthma running through the fresh woods with real oxygen and a brand new inhaler. he's going to thrive and run all day without a problem(the bigger proper ported box)

 

[tommymilan311]

I get that, but is that going to make such a big difference that I'll actually be able to hear and feel it?

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

I get that, but is that going to make such a big difference that I'll actually be able to hear and feel it?

Night and day. Theres a reason why people in competitions never use prebuilt chinese cookie cutter boxes. Zero performance.

If I were you man, I'd return the 10 and the box and get a refund different sub if you can go up to a 12 then do so. Definitely do not buy from crutchfield, their subs are way overpriced.

a sundown SA 12 will destroy that type R in every way possible.

Here's what a powerful 12 on 500 watts and a properly designed ported box can do



Even though its rated for 600 watts (completely underrated) the sundown can take 1100 watts easily. whereas the alpine will start to struggle at that point.

 

[blazian87 10+ year member]

Not all boxes are created equal, especially ported boxes where you don't have as much room for error as a sealed box. Not enough air space, not enough port is a common problem with pre-fabs, which is why it's pointless to buy one. You want to build the box AROUND the sub, not the other way around. What you're doing is buying a random box and forcing it to mate with the sub. It's yelling out help help! I can't breathe! Put it in the right box and your sub is gonna thank you.

 

[CSCStang]

I get that, but is that going to make such a big difference that I'll actually be able to hear and feel it?

I'll build you a custom ported. Pm me if you're interested. Great prices.

 

[timhof13 10+ year member]

Tommy if you wanted a basic ported like the one in this thread you could easily have some build it. I would be willing to build it for a few bucks. Boomsday builds them for free. That type r should get fairly loud, solid mainstream sub.