My apologies for my blunt and brief reply above. I’ll elaborate on my comments further.
Let me first give you some personal background:
I have worked in the car audio industry for nearly 15 years. Retail sales, installation, purchasing, marketing, store management - I have been involved in nearly every aspect of the industry in one form or another.
I have spent the last 6 years working for a nationally recognized, top 10 retailer of the year - specialist car audio store.
I currently offer some of the most highly regarded brands in car audio - including BOTH Alpine and JL Audio.
I have nothing but respect for both brands - the comments/specs used in the statements below are in no way meant to show a personal bias toward either.
As to the statements made by atomic pinkie:
2) the JL subs have more movement ability, I've torn 4-6 Type-Rs from over-extension with double kick drums.
What is ‘movement ability’? Are you referring to excursion? If so you are incorrect. Per each manufacturers listed specifications listed:
XMAX = Peak linear travel of the cone, measured in inches. In other words, the maximum movement in one direction.
Alpine SWR1241D - XMAX 13.87mm one way, 27.74mm peak to peak
JL Audio 12W3V2 - XMAX 11.7 - 13mm one way, 23.4 - 26mm peak to peak
The Alpine has a greater XMAX. - or as you call it ‘movement ability’
The fact that you damaged several Alpine woofers speaks more of your obvious abuse of the woofer and/or your inability to properly install/set up your equipment. It flat out screams abuse or improper application..
3) W3's have more room than the Type-R, the W6 sounds twice as good as the W3 (which by the way, max out at around 350w (little more, but if you go to a store, ask to see the company warranty information, they have a graph. If you have too much power it will void the warranty.)
I failed to find a specification from either manufacturer that lists how much ‘room’ they have???
My girlfriends apartment has more ‘room’ than mine - Does that qualify her apartment as better than mine?
The JL Audio W6 model number IS twice as big as the W3 - is that how you determined it sounded twice as good? Sound quality is purely subjective - there is NO measurement for it. Telling someone that something sounds TWICE as good as another can be compared to saying hamburger pizza tastes TWICE as good as sausage pizza.
4) 1000W is too much for a Type-R setup. I ran a single Type-R off a 500w and tore it to hell (as stated above), switching to a single W6 10" now (possibly another switch to a 12", which is what the type-r was)
My personal system consists of 1 Alpine SWR1241D powered by a 500W Alpine MRDM500 amplifier. I have owned this since both came out 3 yrs ago and have had NO product failures. See my above comments regarding user abuse and/or improper installation/application.
5) Something to inspect with your subs, do they have a rubber lining to the cone or a foam. JL has foam which improves life expectancy, where as the type-r will seperate after time.
When you say ‘rubber lining’ are you referring to (the correct term) SURROUND? If so, you are again grossly mislead. The debate over foam vs. rubber surrounds has been well debated for years. BOTH have their merits. JL Audio admits in their training sessions (of which I have attended many) that foam surrounds DO NOT last as long as Butyl (rubber) surrounds. Have you ever seen an old home/car speaker with a foam surround that has literally decayed from ‘foam rot’? Its quite common - so are the speaker re-cone kits to repair them. That is the PRIMARY advantage to using a butyl rubber surround - no rot or decay. But, because of the life expectancy of a typical car audio speaker (short), there are technical advantages to using foam surrounds that out way butyl rubber.
However, the poster is not looking to put in high quality subs.
Where in his post did he say this? Both the Type R and W3 mentioned ARE high quality.
Type-R's are near obselete until later this year when they come out with a re-created version. Currently the Type-S is the same as the Type-R of old.
Simply stated - NO. The Type S has NEVER been an old version of the Type R. They are COMPLETELY different designs and ALWAYS have been.
If the poster is looking to get new subs from a retailer, he's most likely going to be offered Type-S' unless it hasn't sold out of it's Type-R or ordered the new Type-S.
Again, NO. The Type S in NOT even being re-designed this year. However, both the Type R and the Type E series will be undergoing an engineering/design change.
He is going to be getting the old type-r, pushing that much power and he (obviously wants boom), will lower the lifetime of the sub considerably.
He suggested he would get a 1000W amplifier to run 2 12" Type R’s or W3's - That’s approximately 500W per driver - well withing the listed min/max power rating for each model. The only thing that would effect the life expectancy of the driver is the end users ability to properly install and use the equipment. Again see my statement regarding user abuse and/or improper installation/application.
I ran 1 12" Type-R off of a 500w, i tore the cone from the rubber lining numerous times.
Mis-use and/or abuse - sorry, there’s just no other reasonable explanation.
Type-Rs are being rebuilt FOR A REASON.
This is actually a CORRECT statement!!!!! The REASON is that they have reached the end of their product life cycle! That’s it - nothing more. The C5 Corvette was regarded as the best vette ever - did that stop Chevy from creating the C6? No. And you assertion that the reason they are being redesigned due to poor performance is pure ignorance.
Most stores only have a warranty that covers a one time issue. Others, like Ultimate Electronics, have a more long term guarantee.
Alpines warranty is 1yr. - as long as the product is purchased from an AUTHORIZED retailer. The 1 time clause you speak of is a policy of the retailer. These policies stem from the abundance of abusive customers such as yourself who shred woofers, and other products, and fail to see their own abuse/mis use as the cause. Ultimate Electronics DOES NOT have a more long term guarantee. They offer extended service plans. Having been a former Ultimate Electronics employee (and a current stock holder) they are a fair value and I was paid quite well for selling them.
I would highly suggest buying a JL as it will be a longer term investment and you won't have to replace it as soon.
I suspect you will have the same problems with your JL if you do not take care of the true cause of your failures. I have a feeling I would get arthritis from typing if I tried to get you to understand.
Enjoyable, seeing I had just come from researching on my own and discussing at length with a variety of car audio techs (not salesman)
Are these ‘techs’ the ones that provided you with the brilliant ‘tech’ terms you used above? LOL
, furthermore, as someone who has owned a type-r for the past 3 years, I know my sub.
No - you know how to ABUSE your sub.
What part of my statement was crap by the way? That i've torn multiple cones from their lining? That the Type-R doesn't sound as good? That 1000W is too much for two type-r subs? Or perhaps the Type-S sounding like the Type-R right now?
All of the above. Nuff said.
Fact: Recreated Type-S has been released, currently taking the spot the Type-R. Type-R is to be released later this year.
WRONG - The ONLY part of this statement that is correct is that the Type R has been re-designed for ‘05.
Fact: There is more room for cone movement on the JLs, I've personally witnessed this.
WRONG - see my XMAX specs above.
Fact: I've torn my Type-Rs multiple times running off a Rockford Fosgate 500W amp.
OK - ARE YOU PROUD OF THIS?????
Fact: The sub was overpowered by the amp, tearing the kevlar cone from its rubber lining after time. (it lasted roughly 8-12 months this past time around, most lasted 4-6 months before dying when I was out in Arizona)
WRONG - the user abused the woofer and/or used it improperly.
Fact: The type of music he listens to is very important in determining the sub.
I AGREE COMPLETELY!!!!
But I see how you provided any reasonable suggestions to aid in his choice.
Got my new JL Audio W6 10" installed...I can honestly say its better than a single 12" Type-R running on my 500W Rockford Fosgate (pre-best buy sellout days)
It hasn't even been broken in and I'm making this statement. Sounds better, reacts better, has more visible room to move. I love it.
I like pepperoni and onion pizza - it tastes much better than hamburger and mushroom pizza.
Im tired, have typed WAY to much, and this argument will continue I’m sure.......