Alpine Type-X

[alpine_1122]

i am wanting to know where i can buy a Alpine Type-X for around 230-240$ and i am also wondering, is there a better subwoofer than the type-x for less money???

THANKS

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[Kold_Killa 10+ year member]

the type r is probably a better spl woofer.

 

[bdavies11 10+ year member]

i am wanting to know where i can buy a Alpine Type-X for around 230-240$ and i am also wondering, is there a better subwoofer than the type-x for less money???






THANKS

U've got to give us more info than that. Are u looking for spl or sq?

 

[SethPhillips 5,000+ posts]

i have had the opertunity to install a few type X's... never was really impressed...

did sound good hit all the right notes....just never felt that it had eye shacking output. seald or ported. w/ 800-1000+ w on it. but i dunno... im sure there is someone that's got a type x bangin out there somwhere.... but not worth it if you ask me..

 

[stevo1988 10+ year member]

I have had the luxury to SEE a 12" Type-X in action with 1000W RMS going to it, i had more hype about seeing it than what it turned out to be, I also have a buddy from school with a 15" Type-R with 1000W RMS to it and I have to say that sounded much better than the Type-X in quality and bass...the 15s are cheaper too...i suppose if you feed a Type-X closer to it's peak power handling you could get some crazy bass but for the money, a 15" Type-R would be much better

 

[swimfreak26 10+ year member]

As said, more information on what you want is necessary to recommend subs that will fit the bill. How much power do you have? At what load? Looking for SQ, SPL, or mixture? Etc...

If you want the type X though:

http://www.etronics.com/product.asp?stk_code=alpswx1242d&store=&catid=369

 

[Steven206Seattl 10+ year member]

In the long run you may want a type-r. May cost more but will save you money when you realize you want more bass. Unless you arent looking for dbs

 

[Da64u 10+ year member]

type-x's are $ 182 on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/Alpine-SWX-1042D-Type-X-Series-Subwoofer-Brand-New_W0QQitemZ200115340950QQihZ010QQcategoryZ3291QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[swimfreak26 10+ year member]

In the long run you may want a type-r. May cost more but will save you money when you realize you want more bass. Unless you arent looking for dbs

Type-x is more expensive //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

 

[stevo1988 10+ year member]

In the long run you may want a type-r. May cost more but will save you money when you realize you want more bass. Unless you arent looking for dbs

um, yeah, type-r's are cheaper...so you save money instantly AND for the long run! lol

 

[Lightninghoof 10+ year member]

The Type-X is a rather unique subwoofer design that is optimized for a very specific purpose and application. If you understand the design and what it excels at (and consequently what it lacks), it's performance, in-car frequency response, and output capability makes a lot more sense.

It's a great niche subwoofer for those who recognize what it can and cannot do, and implement accordingly. Unfortunately most people purchase or audition the Type-X with the preconceived notion that it is a performance upgrade of the Type-R subwoofer. This is partially the fault of Alpine marketing department, and partially because it is significantly more expensive than the Type-R. (and partially because people do not know how to analyze and utilize T/S parameters). At any rate, this is incorrect.

So what is the Type-X optimized for? It's a high Qts/Qes driver design (weak motor), high Mms/Mmd (very heavy moving mass), moderate Fs, low EBP, low SPL sensitivity. This all points to a driver that is optimized for sealed box use. Enclosure size requirements are moderate. (Not outrageous, but not exactly small for a 12" driver). Anechoic F3 in a medium sized sealed enclosure is extremely low, lowest I have ever seen in a 12" driver, especially for car audio use.

Remember, Hoffman's Iron Law dictates that a loudspeaker can possess (or rather, be optimized for or excel at) any two of the following three properties, but at the expense of the third property:

1) Small box requirement

2) SPL efficiency

3) low-end sensitivity and extension

For example, if a driver was designed to work in a small enclosure and have relatively high SPL efficiency per watt of input power, low-end sensitivity and extension would be greatly reduced or compromised as a result.

Back to the Type-X. The driver clearly has low SPL efficiency. It's basically 83dB for the 2007 12" model. It doesn't exactly have small box requirements either, however it is still rather small for this type of driver design.

So far we have deduced that the driver has extremely poor SPL efficiency, and good/fair small box requirement. That only leaves.... {drumroll please}.....

Yup, you guessed it, low-end sensitivity and extension. And that, my friends, is what this driver excels at. It has EXTREME low-end sensitivity and extension in only a moderate sized sealed enclosure. Couple that with in-car transfer function (cabin gain) and you have one of the sickest low bass capable 12" subwoofers to ever grace the car audio market.

It adds up on paper, and it adds up in my trunk. (I bought two of them //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif )

But as I mentioned before, it's an unorthodox design that has only a niche appeal IMO. I feel that most people prefer a driver that will work equally well in sealed and ported boxes, and most people prefer a driver that has a higher SPL efficiency and smaller box requirements, at the expense of low-end extension and sensitivity. This is actually the general category that most car audio subwoofers fit into. Quite the opposite of the Type-X.

Another thing I want to mention is that for the most part a driver that is extremely low-end sensitive like the Type-X usually lacks on the top-end without an extremely versatile EQ and significant tuning. Such a driver design will probably require an unusually robust midbass setup to compensate, and/or an unusually advanced and capable outboard processor. Most people do not possess this.

That makes this one of the more difficult subwoofers to work with and implement and tune properly. Definitely not for the average user who just wants to drop it in and go, or just wants some loud bass in the trunk.

The Type-X is supposedly a lower distortion driver than the Type-R, but to my knowledge Alpine hasn't released the technical data to confirm this. I would like to think that it is given the price difference, but I cannot verify. It's definitely well built and well designed, and offers plenty of mechanical and thermal power handling. (which is always relative, I know. this isn't a "super woofer")

I hope this helps to clear up some (common) misconceptions regarding the Type-X subwoofer.

 

[bdavies11 10+ year member]

Yup, you guessed it, low-end sensitivity and extension. And that, my friends, is what this driver excels at. It has EXTREME low-end sensitivity and extension in only a moderate sized sealed enclosure. Couple that with in-car transfer function (cabin gain) and you have one of the sickest low bass capable 12" subwoofers to ever grace the car audio market.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/naughty.gif.94359f346c0f1259df8038d60b41863e.gif

You mentioned that you had 2 of them in ur trunk and from ur post it seems like u are very satisfied with the low end extension from those woofers. I'm assuming that you do have them sealed so, can u tell me how big of a box u have them in?

 

[Lightninghoof 10+ year member]

It's a common chamber, 5CF net. (2.5CF net per driver)

Stuffed with fiberfill, I estimate effective volume to be 6CF (3CF per driver)

Most users would prefer a smaller sealed enclosure for a pair of 12" drivers due to size constraints, but the larger the enclosure, the lower these drivers drop and the better the efficiency.

I would much rather have to make EQ cuts to flatten the FR than to have to make EQ boosts due to an overly small enclosure.

For reference, .707 Qtc (butterworth) alignment requires 3.12CF for the 2007 model. (SWX-1243D)

I wouldn't recommend an overly small enclosure for these.

 

[stevo1988 10+ year member]

that makes alot of sense because I saw a Type-X in a ported box and knowing how expensive this sub was it was exciting too be there, and after reading the specs for the Type-X the frequency response goes as low as 24Hz and only as high as 200Hz, pretty low compared to most subwoofers that can go up to 1kHz and the Type-R (up to 500Hz) so it would seem that these subs are excellent for low frequency response but you would need some kind of 2-way bass system in your car to fill in the missing frequency range...i would say that around 50-55Hz or so, the Type-X starts to fall down the dB scale so you would need another pair of subs to keep up with the rest of the bass