Alpine Type R 12" 2 Ohm... wanting SQ, sealed or ported?

Question

I have 2 kicker solobaric 12's right now, very loud, but I found I would rather have better quality than quantity, plus I really want to keep my hearing in tact. So far I have found that the Alpine Type R 12" is what I am looking for, I want clean rich bass, not really boomy bass all the time. Since I dont need it loud, and I want to save weight, I am only going to run a single type R. My amp is an Audiobahn A8000T running 800 rms@ 2 ohm, and 400RMS @ 4 ohm. Some say that the type R likes a ported box no matter what you are trying to achieve. My kickers only hit hard on a few frequencies, and I want a nice clean hit on all bass frequencies, basically just more bass everywhere. So, ported or sealed, and what size box.. Any other suggestions for woofers under $300 new?? Thanks

Answer 1

always use a sealed box for sound quality. you lose a ton of SQ when you go to ported and by giving it up you get the spl.

Answer 2

it depends on what r u putting it in ,trunk or ? , car truck ?, a sealed box for 12's makes a solid bass hit any day i do punches, (fosgate) all day everday

Answer 3

Regardless of which sub you choose, if you want SQ then you should consider only a sealed enclosure.  

If you're going to run a single Type R, a sealed enclosure around .85 cubic feet (internal volume) is close to ideal.

Tricky to find good SQ subs at the 800W RMS range ... most good SQ subs cap around the 500W mark.  Perhaps if you look for a good sub and run it 4 ohm, there are quite a few in the market that can suit you.

Answer 4

"I want a nice clean hit on all bass frequencies"

A sealed enclosure will give you just this.  A very smooth response curve that will work at all frequencies and many types of music.  

If you really are only concentrated on SQ then sealed is the way to go.  If you want a little bit more output still then a low tuned ported enclosure will be what you are looking for.  

The Type-R can give you some good SQ though if that is what you are looking for then there are some better subs out there.  The Boston Acoustics G5 and the Polk SR4 are a few that come to mind.  

Good Luck!!!