Ok, so ive had a 12" alpine type x hooked up in my car for some time now and i like it BUT the sucker with the box weighs about 150lbs....I recently acquired two 12" JL Audio W3 dual 4 ohm vc (v1 i think) subs, there the ones with the "hump" dust cap made in 03/02)

I was wondering which would you guys keep as far as sq goes, and as far as deep bass goes.

Either setup will be powered by an ma audio 1600 WRMS @4ohm according to the manual (please don't comment on the amp, or anything to do with what its actual power is...thats not the topic..)

I was wondering how the w3's would sound at 8 ohm

 

Another question i had was, Would it be "bad" to hook each of the subs up in an 8ohm load per channel on the amp when RMS@ 4ohms on the amp is 400w which would give me 200wrms @8ohm and the subs rms at 300w each.

Would this be an acceptable way to hook up the system? or should i just wire them to a single 4ohm load on the amp?

 

With a dome dust cap they are old, I would assume they are 12W3v1-D4 a 300W 12" DVC 4 ohm sub, and a pretty good one in it's time.

Now I know you said you didn't want to hear about the amp and it's rating because it was not the question, however the amp you use to drive the speaker(s), [sub(s)] is critical to the subs performance.

The Alpine type X is a 1000W continuous, [RMS] sub, the JL Audio 12W3v1-D4 is a 300W sub. [600W total], now it's always good to be a little over-powered, 1x800W RMS would be OK.
Wiring the subs to an 8 ohm load and connecting one to each channel of the amp 2x200W RMS into 8 ohms is under-powering them.
However if you can keep from driving the amp into constant clipping, at 8 ohms they will sound good, but you will not be able to drive them to their full potential.
Better to wire them series/parallel, VCs in series for an 8 ohm load then subs in parallel to bring it back to 4 ohms , bridge the amp and it should make 1x800W RMS into 4 ohms.
As for weight, the Alpine type X is 35lb and optimum vented box is 1.3cuft, two JL 12W3 will be about 23lb and optimum vented box is 3.50cuft, I am pretty sure the box for the JLs will weigh more then the 11lb diff. is sub weight.

Now back to your question, which should you keep, as weight is not really the issue, it's a toss up between the two, the two 12" JLs should move more air then the single 12" Alpine, technically a 3dB gain in output over the Alpine, but then the alpine can handle about double the wattage over the two JLs, a 3dB gain in output over the JLs, so that's a wash.
So it comes down to which do you like the sound of better, both are pretty good subs and if installed in proper boxes and powered properly would sound great, be just as loud and weight would be about the same.

For no other reason other then it is newer technology I would stick with the Alpine Type X.
Maybe look at a spare tire well fiberglass box to cut down on the weight and move the center of gravity down lower. 94

 

Wow thanks for the great comparison between the two. As far as the me not wanting to talk about the amp, i just didnt the want the thread getting off topic saying things like "thats not a true...blah blah blah"

But i agree with your choice, i love the type x, just the enclosure i have it in was a slightly bad design on my part (first time glassing) so i think i will put the jl's up for sale on ebay. i think i can get my hands on the original boxs as well which is a plus.

I know their old, but im not kidding when i say they have been used for 1 month (i know both owners, and instaleld them in the second, the first owner bought them, crashed the car before he could install them, had a kid and didnt want the ruin his kids hearing so he never insalled them, they just sat in the boxs in his garrage)

So how much do you think these are worth?

 

http://search.ebay.com/search/...gory0= 94

 

thank you for your obvious statement, but i have been checking that frequently with minimal success. I was just curious in your opinion what they could be worth.

$100-150? < or >

 

Used 5 year old subs, a pr. in a box, maybe $100.
If your asking me what I might pay for them, then nothing, I would not buy a used speaker, no matter how little use they had.
Sorry if it's not what you want to hear. 94

 

no worries, i wouldnt either, i was doing a friend a favor with the trade.

But luckly the world isnt made up of ppl just like you and me

 

I'd Keep the JL... I have a 10" w7 right now but I used to have some JL w3's and they were great for sq.. I'm not against alpine but I just prefer jl's sound quality...

 

i might upgrade an 8-12" w7 this summer. i dunno i should prolly spend money on other things but oh well