Custom box vs prefab

[Beerad93]

I have an Alpine 12" type R. I originally bought this sub and wanted to build a box for it but ended up throwing it in a q bomb ported prefab. Specs matched alpines recommended ported enclosure. It sounded okay in that box and I even tried a sealed. I feel like it has potential but the prefab box is holding it back. As far as I can tell from reading through forums. The alpine sub is not what it used to be? I don't want to give up on it. Is building a custom box for this sub still worth it? I like all music. But in my vehicle I want rap/ hip hop and rock and metal to sound great. I want good clean bass but still want to get low on some slappers? Will building a custom box tuned to say 32 -35 hz affect sound reproduction when I throw on some heavy metal?

Click to read more...

 

[mastershake575]

Custom box would make a night and day difference. Every Q-bomb i've seen has **** bracing and is tuned like 45-50hz range. It's basically a one note fart machine

In regards to the Alphine Type R it's not a highend sub but it's still a very solid product

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

tuned to say 32 -35 hz

Why so low?
Alpine Type R has always been pretty solid for what it is. I suspect the prefab box is too small, has too little port area, and may be tuned very high. If you are building your own box you may consider using something by way of round port which you can replace testing different lengths/tunings to see what works best for your listening.

 

[AnthonyO 10+ year member]

I have run Alpine Type R. I can tell you, in a proper custom built enclosure, they sound great. They get loud and sound really good while doing it. I was running a 1000 watt amp, clamped at 936 watts, but I set the gains to give me 800 watts of clean power. This was on a single Type R 10.

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

I can design you a box, if you'd like. I've designed quite a few type r boxes.

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

Why so low?
Alpine Type R has always been pretty solid for what it is. I suspect the prefab box is too small, has too little port area, and may be tuned very high. If you are building your own box you may consider using something by way of round port which you can replace testing different lengths/tunings to see what works best for your listening.

I tend to like that tuning range for music. 35 hz isn't low tuning, IMO.

 

[Marve_Lous]

OP, what amp are you pushing it with? A custom box will indeed help, but in my case, my Alpine X was power hungry and needed more than its RMS to really get the cone moving and pound like I thought it should.

 

[Beerad93]

Custom box would make a night and day difference. Every Q-bomb i've seen has **** bracing and is tuned like 45-50hz range. It's basically a one note fart machine

In regards to the Alphine Type R it's not a highend sub but it's still a very solid product

I thought it would be solid sub and still believe so. Custom box seems to be the general consensus when it comes down really bringing a a woofer to life. One note fart machine. Sounds about right lol

 

[Beerad93]

Why so low?
Alpine Type R has always been pretty solid for what it is. I suspect the prefab box is too small, has too little port area, and may be tuned very high. If you are building your own box you may consider using something by way of round port which you can replace testing different lengths/tunings to see what works best for your listening.

I always thought it sounded kinda noisy or restricted depending on the song. Box was supposed to my best ption for a prefab. I want to try and design my own box sometime and going with a tube port seems like it would be easy to make quick changes.

 

[Beerad93]

I tend to like that tuning range for music. 35 hz isn't low tuning, IMO.

I've never had a box that was tuned probably even close to 35hz. I've only messed with prefab. For the type of music I like I imagine based on what I've read that 35hz would still cater to my heavy metal or rock music needs? So yeah I agree 35hz wouldn't be considered a low tuning to others who have experience with some serious SPL systems. I'm thinking that 32-35 would still be musical enough and be better than a prefab?

 

[Beerad93]

OP, what amp are you pushing it with? A custom box will indeed help, but in my case, my Alpine X was power hungry and needed more than its RMS to really get the cone moving and pound like I thought it should.

NvX 750.1

 

[Beerad93]

I can design you a box, if you'd like. I've designed quite a few type r boxes.

This is something I may very well be interested in. I need to try this sub in another box before I get to the point where I just roll with the 2 kenwood 12" subs I have or ending up going into a new territory lol.

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

I tune a lot of boxes in the low to mid 30's. I usually tune my own boxes to the high 20's.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

I'm thinking that 32-35 would still be musical enough and be better than a prefab?

You can generally play 10-20% lower than box tuning with good output and before getting into trouble. I'm not sure what program material you are playing that'll require being able to play below 30hz but have at it. Just be aware not a lot of car audio oriented woofers will perform well with home theater type tuning (trying to play flat down to 20hz). Like I said, use a round port and have a plan to test some different port lengths before you make anything too permanent.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

I tend to like that tuning range for music. 35 hz isn't low tuning, IMO.

I find it depends on the sub mostly, but I tune around 38-42 normally and there's virtually nothing I'd play for music that that I'm missing as far as output.