Printer Friendly Forum Posts - alpine type x system

Hey Guys,

I have been reading quite a bit on here about Type X stuff, but all the threads are so old... All the Subs & Components discussed on here are the OLD original models.

I have all 2007 Components & the 2008 12" sub, all powered off the new range of PDX amps, including the PDX designed specifically for the Type X Sub, running stable at 2ohms, able to drive both voice coils at full 1000W RMS Power - PDX-1.1000
THESE AMPLIFIERS, YOU HAVE TO SEE AND HEAR THEM TO APPRECIATE THEM, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT A MONO AMP AND EVERY OTHER PDX, THE SIZE OF A HARRY POTTER NOVEL!!!! NO JOKE! they all share the same footprint.

In regards to the sub, you need at least a 2F^3 capacity box, because i had this thing in a 1.5 cub ft box while breaking in (was fine during break in) but when i had given each voice coil 20 hours of playback at 500W RMS, i piggy backed them to have them both running at the full 1000W, it ripped the lid off the box... a double layered MDF mount, 1.8" thick!!! This scared the hell outta me at first, as the sub began rattling and throwing itself round the trunk, so i stopped the car and stereo, checked the boot and there was the type x on its side with 2 inches of mdf around it and an empty box missing a lid behind it....

luckily no damage came to the sub or amp or wiring in there... but it sure gave me a wake up call..
THE POWER THIS THING HAS IS HUUUGE as i hope you have picked up thus far.

Now onto the Components i am running. The front and back run off a single ALPINE PDX 4.150 amplifier

In the front, i have the bi-amp powerd SPX-17PRO "Professional" component set, at $899 here in Australia, they arent cheap, but they are priced reasonably.
The SPX-17PRO boasts a frequency response range of 59965Hz!!! (35Hz to 60kHz ). Now this is more than the human ear can pick up on one end and may lead you to thinking "whats the point if you can't hear it??" but it means that you hear the originally produced music on proper audio CDs, not a note is lost, every single wave is reproduced and the clarity is SPECTACULAR! With an Aluminium Phase Plug in the center of the woofer, it is not a complete membraine, but that does NOT reduce the bass response at all.... In fact, it reduces resonant frequencies that would otherwise distort slightly or cause ugly noise.

The tweeter is very interesting on this unit. It has the ability to produce warm and tinny highs as well as the peircing frequencies that poorly configured tweeters are known for, without any effort or damage. The crossover has a sort of jumper you select the tweeter level with, steps of 0 dB, -1.5 dB, -3 dB, and -4.5 dB.
Aanother thing to note is that this tweeter vibrates sideways, this is supposed to make the tweeter faster and smoother response.

The crossovers are MASSIVE which is a downside, but the functionality, WOW! 4 Level Tweeter Control, 6 Phase Links, & ability to Bi-Amp wire or piggyback.

PHASE LINK TECHNOLOGY EXPLANATION - in relation to these speakers. (from cructchfield.com)
Alpine's original phase-link technology gives the SPX-PRO series crossovers the ability to adapt to many different speaker mounting configurations (locations). It's designed to optimize the performance of the speakers in real-world installations. Six different phase link modules can tune the system for optimum frequency response, imaging, and staging no matter where the speakers are mounted in the vehicle.

In terms of comparison of these speakers, i would say easily if not surpassing JL splits & rivalling FOCAL whilst kicking the crap out of Rockford Fosgates.

I'm not experienced with the enthusiast brands that alot of you have compared these speakers to, tho i can say that these speakers produce flawless sound and do it EFFORTLESSLY!

Mounting positions at the moment (in a Proton Satria GTi - Which I Doubt US readers will recognise):
The woofers are in the doors, mounted in speaker bracket adaptors with baffles.
The Tweeters are inside Grills approx 20cm from woofers when doors closed, using Phase Link Modules (included in the box are a whole bunch of phase link plugs and diagrams on speaker positionings and which ones to use to avoid that delayed sound effect from speakers in different positions).
The Crossovers are mounted inside the doors, Bolted & Glued to plastic clips.

In the Rear section, i have installed the other Type X Components - SPX-17REF the "Reference" speakers... Not sure what that is meant to mean...

The 17REF speakers are pretty much flawless in their design & their output. The 17REF has a complete membraine as opposed to the 17PRO which has the Aluminium Phase Plug in the center of it.
The woofer itself seems a little better at producing smooth low base than the PRO, but nowhere near as smooth at changing frequencies.
EG: A low frequency wave changing up or down by 10hz will be slightly noticeable - But not distorted as with cheap speakers.

The beauty of the REF, and the reason i chose them as my rear speakers, is the unique mounting bracket, allowing the tweeter to mount directly above the woofer, converting it into a Coaxial unit! A brilliant idea from alpine here, allowing these components to be mounted as one unit and increasing the versatility of them. The tweeter produces a much warmer sound than the PRO speakers, as it is slightly smaller so cannot produce the extra 20KHz of the PRO tweeter.

Both sets of crossovers for the PRO and the REF have the tweeter control and Bi-Amp ability, allowing the tweeter and woofer to be powered seperately or together.
The REF crossovers are a little bit lighter than the PRO but still the same bulky size, which is a shame, as mounting these suckers requires more than normal room.

The REF speakers are mounted inside the rear quaterpanels of the back seat facing inwards. The crossovers are mounted in the same space as the speakers, inside a plastic bag... hehe, moisture could be an issue, and i dont wanna damage these incredibly expensive units!

The amplifier hooked up to the front and rear speakers, the ALPINE PDX-4.150, a 4x150wRMS (actually rated at 167w) is powering each set of components. This amplifier is part of the Alpine PDX Digital Amplifiers, an amazing range of amplifiers that are literally smaller than an A4 piece of paper! A Large Novel! HALF THE SIZE OF THE V SERIES!!!

The amp stays cool no matter how hard you push it, how long you run it, and even whatever weather your in.
I have it running off of 2G cabling from a distribution block that is hooked to 0GA cabling to a 2 Farad Rockford Fosgate capacitor hooked directly to the Battery via a 150AMP Fuse. The Capacitor gets warm, but neither of the amps get hot at alllll

The head unit powering all this is Alpine's "I can play anything" DVA-9861E which is a great unit, with front, rear and designated Sub 4V (and yes, it is 4V) pre-outs, with optical output, and FULLL SPEED iPod support. This thing plays DVD, CD, CD-R/RW, XXD, ANYTHING!!! i got a single DVD with 1,000 mp3 files on it and it scans faster than a normal CD player!

the only downfall of all this superior quality equipment, is that the MP3 files sound like dirt, but proper studio/factory stamped cds sound absolutely amazing!

All in all, having this system causes many heads to turn, many alarms to go off, many people to be wow'd by the amps size, and me to get free back massages with my "special track" =)

If you have a problem with this post, i will not understand if you post a reply, as i would hope you stopped reading, rather than being one of those people who complain about stuff they havent been forced to take in or accept.

BUT IF YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS or QUESTIONS about this gear, post a reply!

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HU: Alpine DVA-9861E
SUB: Alpine SWX-1243D
MONO: Alpine PDX-1.1000
FRONTS: Alpine SPX-17PRO
REARS: Alpine SPX-17REF
F+R AMP: Alpine PDX-4.150
CAP: Rockford Fosgate RFC2D

& IM LOUD AND PROUD!!