Tapped Horn for the Lazy and Impatient

[Patrick Bateman]

When it comes to subwoofers, there are two things I hate. I hate waiting for my subs to arrive from Parts Express. And I hate it when someone publishes a sub design, only to find that the woofer is discontinued.

Over on my forum I published a version of Mike's Insubnia sub that uses an Alpine car audio woofer. While working on the design, I noticed that nearly all of Alpine's car audio subs have been heavily optimized on the Klippel, and you guys could probably make some serious subs with 'em. They're practically perfect for a tapped horn because they have a high FS and tons of XMAX, which is exactly what you want for a TH.

Check out this BL curve:





Those folks at Alpine have been doing their homework.

If anyone wants to pop this one into a tapped horn, this subwoofer is available at thousands of Best Buy locations nationwide. It's also at Car Toys. I usually dismiss anything that I see over the counter. Most subs you buy over the counter have pretty baskets and crummy motors. Or they're middle-of-the-road designs that sell for four or five hundred bucks. This Alpine woofer seems to be The Real Deal. It's under $180 over-the-counter, and it's specs are competitive with what you'd find at that price from most online retailers. And if you have the patience to wait a few days, there are tons of places selling it for under $150 delivered.

I'm curious what you guys can come up with - all of my designs tend to be hideously complex. Would be nice to build something simple.

here's the T/S:

http://support.alpine-usa.com/produc..._S06212011.pdf

[Josh Ricci]

Yep those are good bang for the buck...I was skeptical at first but I just kept seeing positive reviews and hard data like the klippel report. Then you look at the price and factor in that they are available everywhere and backed by a huge company, so they are not going to suddenly vanish from the market... Their more expensive X series appears to use a full copper pole sleeve judging from a few pictures that I saw.

Edit: A quick Google price check shows the 15" version available shipped to your door for under $180 with full warranty. Might be worth looking into if you need something with a bit more low end and heavier duty than the Dayton 15's.

[Brian Steele]

Originally Posted by Patrick Bateman

here's the T/S:

http://support.alpine-usa.com/produc..._S06212011.pdf

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Nice subs, but Qts on the 12" is just a little too high for my liking.

OTOH, it's difficult to find a car audio sub with a Qts between 0.3~0.4 these days...

[Patrick Bateman]

Originally Posted by Josh Ricci

Yep those are good bang for the buck...I was skeptical at first but I just kept seeing positive reviews and hard data like the klippel report. Then you look at the price and factor in that they are available everywhere and backed by a huge company, so they are not going to suddenly vanish from the market... Their more expensive X series appears to use a full copper pole sleeve judging from a few pictures that I saw.

Edit: A quick Google price check shows the 15" version available shipped to your door for under $180 with full warranty. Might be worth looking into if you need something with a bit more low end and heavier duty than the Dayton 15's.

According to Jim Walter from Alpine, the tens and the twelves were the first to get this motor, and the eights got it a few months ago. Looks like the fifteens are still using the old motor. Here's his quote:

"There a 6 magnets, radially segmented and aligned around the shorting ring/frame/heatsink. The shorting ring is connected to the frame via three legs that allow the entire frame to act as a heatsink. We intro'd this design with our 2010 Type R 10" and 12" and we've carried this into the new 8"s as well …. it’s a pain in the butt to tool and assembly but the results are worth it. Check out the cut-view model, you can see on the left side, the shorting ring is directly connected to the exo-skeleton of the frame with one of three radial ribs the fit through the segments in the magnets."

He's been doing a Q&A on these over at Diyma.

Not saying the fifteens aren't a good deal, but something to consider.

[jbell]

I played with a couple of these in hornresp, and didn't see anything I liked in terms of using for tapped horn.

Anyone else come up with anything of interest?

[Patrick Bateman]

Originally Posted by jbell

I played with a couple of these in hornresp, and didn't see anything I liked in terms of using for tapped horn.

Anyone else come up with anything of interest?

Here's a comparison of the Alpine Type-R 8" versus Exodus Audio Anarchy, 250watts into 2ohms:



I used Mike's "Insubnia" as the baseline, and widened the box to 9.5" to accomodate the woofer. Everything else is identical. (Height, Length, etc.)


Here's what the insubnia looks like (not my pics)

Here's additional info:

Audio Psychosis • View topic - Cheap and Different Sub

I think you could get similar results with the dual four ohm 10" woofer, which is stocked at Best Buy. Would have to make the line a bit longer of course.

[littlemike]

Originally Posted by Patrick Bateman

Here's a comparison of the Alpine Type-R 8" versus Exodus Audio Anarchy, 250watts into 2ohms:



I used Mike's "Insubnia" as the baseline, and widened the box to 9.5" to accomodate the woofer. Everything else is identical. (Height, Length, etc.)


Here's what the insubnia looks like (not my pics)

Here's additional info:

Audio Psychosis • View topic - Cheap and Different Sub

I think you could get similar results with the dual four ohm 10" woofer, which is stocked at Best Buy. Would have to make the line a bit longer of course.

I've got an evolution of that cabinet in the works as well.

It is nice to see that there are some more excellent driver choices out there. My cabinet wound up a bit larger, but I added 2 more flare rates, as well as widened it for use with 8s and 10s, and gave myself a bit more room for larger drivers.

Will have to have a play with these drivers. Nice find.

[GM]

Originally Posted by jbell

I played with a couple of these in hornresp, and didn't see anything I liked in terms of using for tapped horn.

Anyone else come up with anything of interest?

Mini DTS-10? A couple of ~6.5-7 ft^3 cabs in 1pi space theoretically should handle most music, HT apps:

GM