I finished building a custom box from plans I bought from local box guru Rezn8r. (which were spot on) The cubic space was roughly 2.87 FT. I am running 2 12" alpine E series subs, which call for between .8FT to 1.7 FT each. I put 1 LB poly fill in just to be safe(which made a diffrence vs none) The base line I was going off of was the old plate system I had in the rear. It gave what I thought as more thump. Maybe I was expecting night and day diffrence but I have not experienced this yet. I have and old Alpine MTV-500 v12 amp running my subs(about 10 yrs old) and a Alpine 7874 HU. Plus another old Alpine amp running my front end. The amps are mounted below the sub box in the well, enough space was given for air flow. Anyone have any suggestions I'm all ears, In this area I'm greener than the grass. The box is sealed like a drum so air leaks are not a issue and the Subs are new as my last ones expired. Thanks

 

all pillow stuffing does is slow bass waves down to trick the sub into thinkin it's in a bigger box........how many watts does the sub's amp put out??

 

Make sure that your subs are not wired in reverse polarity (+ to + and - to -)

 

you only have 2 12" alpine E's what are you expecting. I think their mostly just for sound quality? Get better subs for that box. Why would you want pollyfill, the box's cf is fine. These cars are hard to get a lot of bass out of. For instance I ran 2 15's with a rf 1001bd amp. He said it would hit 147 in a regular sedan in the sealed box I have. I set it up in our hatch and only hit 136.6 .... so yeah. I always thought 1 sub in the trunk ported would be much more effecient then 2 because of the lack of air space.

 

adjust your tuning *****. Check and make sure everything is in perfect working order too...You said youve got a box right? Plates suck. Oh as mentioned Type-rs are better subs then those Es...

 

Okay I returned the Type E subs and spent another $70 bucks a picked up a pair of JLW1v2.4. Hopefully I can purchase a new amp this summer if not the Alpine MRV-T500
will get me through the summer. It only produces 200w plus its 9/10 yrs old so shes on her last legs.

 

I wouldn't say last leg, older then some, but if it's still works it still works.

 

You can't expect too much out of 200W, especially if that's a peak number. I'd upgrade the amp to something that matches the subs, make sure they're wired right, and give it a shot. With 1.4cf/sub, you should try out some beefier subs. That box may be too big for those type E's. Sure its "within the range," but at 1.4cf each you will get better SQ and not so good SPL. Also, is there a divider between the subs? I highly recommend it to increase bracing; and if you blow one sub, the other will still play normally.

 

200 watts peak is nothing. But it should still thump pretty good if you set it right...I had 2 lightning audio 12s and a crappy LA amp 50x2RMS I was sending or something. While it wasnt the loudest boomiest thing on the planet lets just say it was better then alot of the people around here...

 

mono amps are nice a had a rockford 200M before upgrading 2 years ago to a 301m. Both are reasonably priced and push really hard. I have 3 JL 12w0's and hit a 137.2 at the local Db Drag

 

crazythirdgen, care to explain the whole "hard to get bass from our cars" i'm interested in this since i always thought hatches=more bass..........not sayin ur wrong or anything it just that you "peaked" my interest, lol

 

I hit 141 with a pair of Oz 12s (low excursion SQ subs) in an SQ setup. Getting massive output is easy in these cars if it's set up properly.

 

IMO
the box is too big
the pillow stuffing make the sub think the box is even bigger

how do you have the amp set up

box is the most important thing when it comes to subs

I hit 139.8db with 2 JL WO 12's in an 89 GMC Jimmy
because of the box, and the 800 watts driving them

 

3rd gens are easy to get loud bass out of
I did a setup with 2 alpine type s 10's with an alpine MRD-m100
in an 86 T/A hard top and it hit 136.7

it all comes down to the box

 

And the subs, and the amp. Skimp on any 1 of those 3 and you'll be disappointed.

 

true amp and subs are obviously important but you need to be prepared to drop some cash on a box or take the time to build the box to the spec of the sub

an Alpine Type E 12 needs a different box then a Type R 12

I found the Type E's 12's work best in about 1 cu.ft. per sub

my box is tuned to about 73hz, thats where I like it,

 

how exactly did you "tune" a sealed box?

I'm assuming it's sealed, because nobody in their right mind would tune a ported enclosure that high.

 

changing box size changes frequency response,

my box is set up that 73hz is at the top of the curve

I lay it all out on graphs and stuff prior to building the box

tune might not be the right word but thats what I call it,

I'm not a pro box builder but I've done at least 75 boxes over the past 7 years, and haven't had 1 unhappy customer

not even close to enough room in the back of a vert for a ported box

 

they are also really easy to get horrible, crappy rattling vibrating sounds... moreso than ANY other car I have ever driven... I think it's mosly the hatch assembly, rear tails, cheap plastic panel vibration, and interior door panel vibration...

none of those things happen on my 87 chevy celebrity, which has been wrecked several times...

oh well, you have to make sacrifices to have such a beautiful car.

 

Oh. You built an undersized high Q enclosure.

 

73hz seems awfully high...

does it just take some EQ adjustments to get proper frequency response around 40-50hz, or is it impossible?

 

reasons it might be....not saying u havent done this.

tune your amp to 50. set the gain 3/4 set the rest of your settings to 3/4, screw down your subs, turn your volume on you head unit for the subs to 3/4 or full, type-es arent the best but they should thump pretty good. Especially in a thrdgen.