Help...Basics

[alextheconn 10+ year member]

Maybe you guys can help me with the basics. I dnt know what anyone is talking about with the terms like: 500 RMS and 1500 peak, or like 12" Type-R Series Subwoofer (4ohm + 4ohm)....whats the 4ohm+4ohm mean... so if ya'll could help me with the basics it would really help because i dont want to purchase something without knowing what the details are. Jus all the basics list anything you think would help...Im sure it will..

Click to read more...

 

[req 5,000+ posts]

hey man, lemme try and help you.

OHM = the resistance the electricity has when passing through ANY object. think of water through a pipe - relate it to 'water pressure\resistance'

alrighty then, now that we got that out of the way, if you know anything about magnets, you will have heard of an electro magnet. basicaly, a speaker is a regular slug of a magnet, and an electromagnet - in speaker terms - the electromagnet is called a voice coil.

the voice coil is made of copper wire wrapped around a 'former' or in lamens terms - a tube of heat resistant and very rigid materal (usually kapton, or aluminum). this wire is hooked DIRECTELY to the little terminals you hook the amplifier to on the speaker via little wires called 'tinsel leads'.

now, the 4ohm+4ohm (in a nutshell) means that the voice coil has TWO wires wrapped around it, and the electricity passing through it has a resistance of 4ohms. this can also be labeled as "Dual 4ohm Voice Coil" or "DVC4".

type-r series subwoofer is just that- a brand\model of subwoofer - this particualr model will take a few hundred watts (300~500 depending on the kind of enclosure it is in) and is a low-mid entry level product made by alpine.

RMS basically is the "rated max power" - now - dont ask me why the hell its RMS - because truthfully i dont know //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

"peak" means that for a fraction of a second, that product can produce or use that amount of power without physically breaking or melting. this is ONLY market HYPE! do NOT buy ANYTHING that does NOT label its "RMS POWER @ [ohm]"

depending on the speakers you choose and the voice coil configuration (in your example, DVC4) you will pick your amplifier.

this is a site where you can put in the voice coil configuration and it will tell you how those speakers can ONLY be wired, in your DVC4 example, you can ONLY wire it to 8ohms or 2ohms... UNLESS there is MORE than one speaker involved. multi-voice coil subwoofers are simply better (in some applications) because of the flexibility of wiring in multiple options.

http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/rftech/wiringwizard.asp

and to let you know, class AB amplifiers that are 2 channel can usually be bridged (using both channels on one speaker) to ONLY 4ohm or they will break, and these amplifiers can be like 400~500w and be under $100shipped. if you are in the market for a pair of 12's and an amp, i would seriously look into this;

http://www.caraudio.com/vb/showthread.php?t=93062

and then two of those Dual 4ohm Alpine Type-R speakers would work PERFECTLY wired like this;

get somone to make box plans for you (maybe $10) on the boards (mmray, ngsm13, inhumanacura, me - but i dont have the time ATM) and build the box yourself. get a 8 or 4 guage wire kit from walmart ($20~25) and ask more questions //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

but use the SEARCH function in the top black menu bar first. im almost posative most of your questions can be awnsered there //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

oh yea...

http://www.bcae1.com - TONS of fecking info, this site can awnser every question you have had so far, just look up OHM in the right column.

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/speaker.htm - how speakers work

read the second one, lots of cool stufF!

hope i helped //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

well rms is the true measure of watts. it is what a speaker can handle continuosly or what an amp produces continuosly. peak is the most watts it can put out on a good day when lightning strikes so just leave peak watts off of your vocabulary. the 4ohm+ 4 ohms is referring to voice coil impedence. dual single etc. is not better then any others. it's just so you can wire them differently to an amp. an amp puts out different power at different ohms (well most do) so you get the voice coil configuration that bestmatches up with the amp. read the sticky in the wiring forum for wiring diagrams. in this case, that sub can be wired at 2 ohms or 8 ohms. you would then want to get an amp that has an rms rating at 2 ohms, that is close to the rms rating of the sub. oh yea i forgot SEARCH!!! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif that seems to be the popular answer around here, or this one, http://www.bcae1.com

 

[req 5,000+ posts]

i win //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[alextheconn 10+ year member]

Alrite...reg...would that amp be good for 2 alpine 12'' type r's? Or is there another amp that would be better for it. I heard you get what you payed for so is this amp decent?

 

[req 5,000+ posts]

first - its reQ

but ok. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

and it would be for a PAIR of dual 4ohm voice coil speakers that want about 200~250 watts a piece (great for a ported box).

and when people say "you get what you pay for" there is a proverb that noone knows that tails that - it goes somthing like this,

"you get what you pay for, unless you know what to look for"

there are LOTS of old sound stream rubicons that will blow your mind for under $200... and they are usually MINT condition. they are some of my favorite amps, but i found them AFTER i got my equipment. *sigh*

this amp will do just about its rated power at 4 ohms. you are saving like $23 on it from buying it this way (if you got it from the zeb) and if you got it on ebay, youd be saving $30+ (because of shipping).

personally, i have used 3 or 4 profile amplifiers, and they do what they claim for a great price. imo - i try to use them as much as i can because they are such good price for performance.

and you said in the other thread your friend has a pair of 12" type-r's for sale? is he offering 150 for BOTH or 150 PER? because if its PER sub, id just get new ones for that price (144 on ebay or somthing?) and tell him to feckoff. if its 150 for BOTH, scoop them up! id offer maybe 200\pair at most.

 

[alextheconn 10+ year member]

reQ!

Sorry man lol you might get pissed cuz i jus used ur name in my other thread...i used reg

but anyway no he offered like $150 for both..sounds like a good deal to me but they're used but i dont think he used them for very long ...hes a good guy and i know he took care of them. i think its a good deal.