what is SQ and SPL?

sq=sound quality

spl=sound pressure level, or how loud the speaker can get in decibals

Also,

SQ = You can listen to it all day long without the sound grating on you and wearing you down, and it sounds equally good at high or low volume levels.

SPL = You may not be able to listen to it at all since the decibel level causes hearing damage, but it sure does impress the 16 year old down the street and tee-off all your neighbors.  Can also make the local cops happy when they write you tickets for violating sound ordinances.

A few very nice 8" subs that I have used in the past that have excellent SQ include:

Dayton Quatro; Focal 21H (which is made by Scan Speak); Soundstream Exact EXW-8; and my all-time favorite, money-no-object SQ champ, world class leader, the Seas Lotus CW21EX001, which is available in the US through Madisound.  There are some nice 6.5" woofers from Audax, Focal and Morel that can function as subs in the right enclosure.

Although I am not a big fan of them, for the really space-challenged, look at the small Bazooka self-powered line.  They make a 6.5" and an 8" that produce fair amounts of good quality sound for their size.

If you still have your Type Rs try using only one of them in a sealed enclosure. You could try an 8" JL Audio W7 in a sealed box (or you could buy the pre-loaded sealed box from JL). I would definitely listen to this sub first to see if its still too much bass for you.