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Alright, to begin, I'd like to say i have searched, and haven't found a clear answer. Anyways...

I'm looking at getting 2 12" Alpine Type R's, have read people like them. I have found them for $108 a piece for both dual 2ohm and dual 4ohms. Which is better???

Now for the amp, I'm confused if I need a 2 channel amp to power both subs?, or just a mono amp???

Looking at getting a good amp, dont want to waste some of the potential of the subs. But looking about max of $500 for subs an amp.

So questions i have

1) 2ohm or 4ohm? Why?
2) Mono or 2 channel amp?
3) How big of amp?

Thanks for the help!!!

 
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Subs are made to operate at certain resistances. Technically it can be anything. Most are 4 ohm, or if the speaker is DVC it is usually 2 ohm or 4 ohm. This is fixed at the factory and can't be changed.

Amps are also made to operate with speakers of given resistances. Most are 4 ohm capable. Many now are also 2 ohm stable.

The wiring is what adds all the confusion. There is series and parallel. And then there can be any combination of the two. When subs are wired together, it changes the resistance that the amp "sees".

Series and Parallel wiring

The speakers resistance doesn't make it better, it just offers different wiring options that work better for certain amplifiers. JL has a great set of tutorials and examples. The possibilities are endless.
JL Wiring Tutorials

If you understand these concepts you can answer your own questions.

 
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ohms don't matter to sound. pick one type and buy them. then buy an amp.

for dual 4 ohm, you need a mono amp stable to 1 ohm. or stable at 4 ohms.
2 channel amp, almost any will work, hook each sub up seperate.

for dual 2 ohm you need a mono amp stable at 2 ohms. 2 channel, again any will work, but you will get its power at 4 ohms. unless it is 1 ohm stable on each channel (rare).

you want around 300rms for each of those speakers.

you can use mono or 2 channel, just look at the output of the amp.

 
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a simple amp for that setup is getting teh dual 2 ohm models, wiring them in series/paralell, and a jbl 600.1 will do teh trick.

 
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Sweet! Thanks for the help! I get it now a lot better.

One last question before the end of this thread. Whats the advantage to a dual voice coil sub? I have read that it can just hit faster with more power. Is this true, or completely wrong?

Oh and i know that not all dual voice coils are better than single ones.

 
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Dual voice coils do nothing for sound. Dual isn't better then SVC. They simple offer more wiring options. It is purely coincidence that most higher end models come in DVC.