SoundSplinter RL-P 12 account (diary)

[HiAmplidude 10+ year member]

8-12-2005 7:52 PM

Several hours ago I hauled the boxes for a new pair of RL-P 12's into my office to unpack, away from my 2.5 year old son's curious fingers. Between cooking and shoving food in his face, building race car tracks, and switching out the DVD between Thomas the Train and Big Trucks, I got a chance to unpack one of these bad boys.

First impression is outstanding. The packaging is very tight and professional. It includes a complimentary SoundSplinter decal, but more importantly, enough coushioning material to protect the speaker extremely well, without warping the carton or damaging the woofer in any way.

Upon initial removal of the woofer, I was pleasantly surprised at its weight. Yes, it is heavy. Very heavy. Not that weight is a determining factor on performance, but often can indicate a level of quality in manufacturing, but more so, in subwoofers, the pull-power of the permanent magnet. From pictures and descriptions, I had an idea, but not really an idea (if you know what I mean). These drivers are serious.

After snagging a couple of quick pic's of the packaging and wrapped woofer, I removed the plastic covering, accidentally barely touching the cone with the heal of my hand. "It's cold..." I thought to myself. This is a metal cone -- Cool! It's stiff as a 2x4 but light as a feather. Better still... it's a black metal cone. Very nice to look at, extremely sophisticated, and mildly intimidating.

So, then, I took it out to the garage for a few pictures and when I placed it on the hood of my truck, the hood bowed in far enough that I was afraid the hood would be rippled when I lifted the woofer back off. Yea, it's heavy. Looking at it closer, I noticed a couple other things. The incredible attention to detail and extremely professional construction of the driver, all the way down to voice coil cables (tinsel leads) imbedded in the spider.

Now, compared to some other drivers, including the JL W7 series, Orion H2, and the Alpine Type X subwoofers, these drivers are not painted up and enhanced cosmetically. It's quite clear that everything you see is there for a very specific and practical purpose. There is almost no makeup or cosmetic surgery on these drivers at all -- which, when relating to a "hot date", could mean serious regret for you the next morning. But, with the RL-P's, it's like *that serious hottie who doesn't need any smoke and mirrors to be that hot*.

In the next half hour or so, I'll be measuring the weight and dimensions (and comparing those to the pretty substantial Alpine Type X 12" sub while I'm at it)...

Click to read more...

 

[Rattlebrain 10+ year member]

More and more I hear about these subs, the more I want one. drool drool

 

[tRiGgEr 5,000+ posts]

Look forward to the Sound review.

 

[sakufan 10+ year member]

More and more I hear about these subs, the more I want one. drool drool

ditto

 

[Spkrman]

hope it sounds as good as it looks!

be honest on the review, can't waiT!

 

[HiAmplidude 10+ year member]

08-12-2005 8:41PM

Before getting into physical measurements, I noticed a couple more things I should mention. Some I like, and one I like to be different... Which is the speaker terminals -- Although they are spring-loaded push-terminals (very nice), they are on the opposite side of each other (probably to eliminate new-installer confusion), but makes for a slightly more complicated installation with more dangling cable behind the driver. I'd rather see posts that bind the voice coils in parallel/series configuration at the driver and terminals for the input pair. Not really a big deal, but I thought it was "mentionable". Big plusses go to the rubber "grommet?" completely surrounding the outer mounting plate bottom and top. This can help with imperfect installations, to make for a super-seal plus adds nice looks to the face and some added durability.

Weight:

Alpine SWX-1242D (Type X): 29.0 pounds without screw-cover trim

SoundSplinter RL-P12: 31.0 pounds total

Mounting depth (please add for voice coil vent breathing room):

Alpine SWX-1242D (Type X): 8.6"

SoundSplinter RL-P12: 6-9/16" (excellent for tighter installs!)

Mounting hole is about the same 11.0 inches, but the SoundSplinter RL-P12 bolt holes are closer to the inside than the Alpine and some other common drivers, meaning it will not be a direct swap of 12" subwoofers in my enclosure. It is, however, the same as many other 12" drivers, so direct-swap is 50/50 (so far).

How 'bout some pic's? More to come...

 

[HiAmplidude 10+ year member]

Look forward to the Sound review.

tRiGgEr, you may be interested in the sound review particularly because they are going into a 2003 Montero Sport LTD. I'll try to get a quality RTA, but no promises. Definitely will get SPL and comparison to the Type X 12"s in the truck. Stay tuned!...

 

[sakufan 10+ year member]

Did you get the ones with rubber rims that have the lightening imprints on them?

I've seen them on more recent models...

 

[HiAmplidude 10+ year member]

Did you get the ones with rubber rims that have the lightening imprints on them?
I've seen them on more recent models...

Brand spankin' new, hot off the press. Yes, ruber rims with little lightning "S's" molded on them, all around the top and bottom of the mounting "ledge". Quite nice little touch there...

 

[sakufan 10+ year member]

Awsome.

Hope you have fun with your new play-toy. Try not to shatter too many windows.

 

[Harrison486 10+ year member]

**** Im jealous....

If only I had money and a nice car to put an rl-p in

 

[HiAmplidude 10+ year member]

What you first see when opening the carton

Bottom of carton

Back-side shot

Face shot

Side shot

Elevated shot

L-R: Alpine SWX-1242d, SoundSplinter RL-P 12 D4, Dayton Audio MK2 12-4

 

[HiAmplidude 10+ year member]

RL-P 12 D4 side

Alpine SWX-1242d side

Dayton MK2-4 side

RL-P 12 vent

Alpine Type X 12 vent

Dayton MK2 vent

 

[Ray21 10+ year member]

Nice!

My Entasi 12 shares the same fat ***. I too am getting more and more interested in SS... may have to give one of the Rl-P 15s a try .

 

[req 5,000+ posts]

rlps look and im sure they sound, so incredibly sexy.

id love to have one. cant wait for some pictures.