Hey guys
Im normally on the performance side of this forum but I do like to listen to loud music here and there. I've had an Alpine Type S Subwoofer sitting in my garage from my last car and I hate to see it rot away. I'm not really looking to ad another amp or anything like that. Would it be possible to replace my old sub and fit the type S in its place?

 

What size is it and is it a free air sub? Free air and 2 ohm is stock so if your Alpine is 4 ohm you will probably need an external amp to drive it.

 

If it's 4 Ohms DVC, the load will be good, but the stock amp probably won't make it sound any better than the stock sub. Though it is possible if the Type S is suited for free-air applications. What's the model number of the sub?

 

I have to check. Let me get back to you guys. Thanks for the help!

 

Ok so I didnt get the specs for the Type S Subwoofer but while I was at Best Buy I asked the tech there if it would work and he said they're compatible and whether the stock subwoofer is a 10" or a 12" the type S is compatible with the amp and will make a modest improvement.

1. After doing some research I see that you can only use a "Free Air Sub"? This Alpine Type S was in a box originally. Will it work fine?

2. About mounting it I dont want rattles. In case the whole dont line up and I need to drill new ones I see theres a plastic material to buy that would eliminate rattles. Is there any other methods people have used to ensure no rattling occurs?

3. If the factory sub is a 10" sub, aside from the diameter of the hole, will I the housing unit be able to accommodate the 12" sub?

 

Not sure if that sub will work well free air. I do know it wont fit. And thats the worst possible location for a sub if your worried about rattles

 

^ This.

Factory sub is 8". I assumed yours was too, but if it's a 12" it definitely won't fit and you'll have to do a substantial amount of fabrication for it to fit properly.

The fact that it was in a box doesn't really tell us anything. You are correct, if you want to place a sub in the factory location you need a free-air sub.

"Compatible"? Lol. As long as a sub's impedance matches the output rating of an amp and the amp's power rating doesn't exceed the power rating of the sub, it's compatible, so that's a rubbish explanation he gave you. In theory, you can install a capacitor in parallel with a sub and hook it up to a 14W radio and that would be considered "compatible".

To answer your question about rattles, do some research on "sound deadening". There are a number of different types of materials that are used to block, dampen, and reflect sound and each has it's place. I plan to sound deaden my car before doing any audio work so that it has the ambiance of a Bentley. (Wishful thinking... :-P)

Sorry man, it doesn't sound like it will fit. But if it's one 12, you can probably drop 100 bucks on some gear and use the box!

Edit: There are many generalizations in these statements so take them with a grain of salt. I wanted to add this disclaimer before getting flamed haha.

 

I wanted to check before doing anything. So ALL of the Acura TLs have an 8" subwoofer?

 

Yes. If your sub is not a free air type then you will have to build a box for it that will attach underneath your rear deck. Plus the fact that you would have to do some cutting and fabrication to the deck to make it fit. And the rattles will certainly increase if you do all of that, so you'll need to use sound dampener. If your sub is 12", then you will need a TON of dampener, and it's not always cheap. I totally do not recommend putting a 12" subwoofer in your rear deck...

Bottom line is, if you want to replace your sub without using another amp and using the stock location, you need an 8" free air (no box) preferably 2ohm sub. I have been looking at swapping out the stock sub as well, and those are the specs I'm looking around for.

If you want to use your Type S sub, then stick it back in the box, mount it in your trunk and hook up another amp to it. Otherwise, sell your sub and use the money to buy an 8" with sound dampener to quell the rattles.

 

none of my friends have a bently, so may be i set my standards lower
i'm right where BMW 5 series is with it's active noise cancelling (i've checked my my co-workers car with SPL meter)
my noise dips just below 50db on smooth pavement ~45Mph
suspension is the weak spot, it's too harsh
the vibrations ruin the "ambience", for me anyways

but it can be done! have faith!

 

My boss drives a Bentley and its not all that.

 

can you hear your nose hairs grow while in it?
cause if you do, i'd have to buy another 5000 pounds of hushmat

 

nope! but I would rather hear the twin turbo V12 a bit more in any case!

 

Any sub will work in free air. I've used lots of them and every single time they've sounded better free air than in a box. I would not hesitate to run that sub freeair.

With that said its a mistake to use another sub in the factory hole and its a huge mistake to power it off of the factory amp no matter what the resistance of the sub is.

You'll be much happier with the sub in a sealed or ported enclosure or infinite baffle if you want to try it freeair mounted correctly behind the seat. Same with power. You will not gain output but you might lose output using this sub on the stock amp. Giving it enough power not only improves output, it drastically improves sound quality, specifically distortion and dynamics.

 

My friend has had 3 Meredes CL65 AMG cars. All of them are loud but the turbos are silent unfortunately. The great thing is be drives them like they're supposed to be driven and asked me to slide it around when he first got it. It's a very fun luxury car, silent on the inside and the smoothest ride I've ever experienced but with 704hp and 1000lbs of torque along with a weight of 4,300lbs you have to respect it when sliding. There's a mode called dyno mode that eliminates all of the electronic safeties like traction control and stability control.

 

I HATE CARS! I admit I was surprised to see you on this side of the forum. You know a lot about performance but I didnt expect you to know about sound! Thanks for the advice. I guess this Sub is going For sale if anyone wants it!

 

^ After lurking around this entire forum, I realized that IHC is the authority on anything automotive and I'm willing to bet that he is in the top 0.01% of SQ in any TL. Just a token of my appreciation I hate cars, I've learned a lot from all of your posts!

 

I really appreciate it but I didn't know much about car audio until about 2 years ago and there are a few people in here than know more than me. There are a couple guys on this board with better sounding systems than mine. I've got some really good gear but the tuning to bring everything together is a steep learning curve and I've almost given up several times. I listen to every SQ system I can to show me where mine is lacking to for new ideas. This is by far the best sounding I've personally owned and the loudest (while sounding good) I've ever owned.

Performance is easy. With the help of a calculator you can estimate performance to an accuracy of +-10%. If something is not right it's easy to troubleshoot and correct the problem. With car audio while there's a ton of science and data out there that help tremendously, but a lot of it is not understood at this time so you have to try new things and experiment until you get lucky sometimes.

In other words I'm making excuses for my lack of tuning ability. I have to say I'm very lucky to have the Dynaudio speakers, they sound great out of the box before eq and time alignment is applied. The reason it doesn't always sound great is because of me. I need more experience tuning.

JPM, are you selling the sub because it won't fit in the stock location? I think it would be just fine especially in a ported box. It should have plenty of output and sound great in a low tuned box.

 

I'm sure it would work great, just would need to make a box, run wiring to the trunk. I had this sub in my old car and it sounded great but to be quite honest just not looking to ad a box in the trunk and do the work. I'm more into the performance anyway and considering I autocross occasionally not looking to put anything permanent.

 

I hate cars, where do you get your audio work done at or do you do it all yourself?