Ryeno

iTrader: (3)

Alright i am planing to run a sound system with 2 amps. On my old car i ran a distribution block and then had my cap between the block and my sub amp.

Now i was wondering if i can just remove the distribution block and ran power from my battery straight to the cap. Then from the cap run wires to both my 2 channel speaker amp and mono channel sub amp?

Robert_J

Don't use a cap at all since it is just a band-aid on a larger problem if your are using it because your lights dim on bass notes. Upgrade your Big 3 wiring. Then upgrade your battery. Then upgrade your alternator. If you want confirmation, check out the Electrical section at sounddomain or the general section at DIY Mobile Audio and there will be dozens of postings that agree with this.

-Robert

Trav@DICE

Caps are a very importat part of a sound system. A cap is desighned to charge and discharge rapidly, this helps when listening to your music loud with alot of the faster beat music.

A Capacitor is great also as a "power filter" this helps maintain your stronger power to your amps. There are always electrical pulls in your cars electrical system, the fan kicks on, you turn the ac on, you turn a blinker on, or even honking the horn. Yes I know some of these does not have a lot of current draw on the cars electrical system but it does cause a small drop. I personaly run a full cap for every 1000 watts of power that I have from my amps.

I would not recommend useing the cap as a dis block though.

How many amps are you useing in your system?

Robert_J

From Sound Domain - link
From ICIX Sound - link 1 , link 2
CA.com recommending the Big 3 - link

-Robert

Ryeno

iTrader: (3)

Robert J put a cap in your system and you will instantly see an increase in your amps performance. There is no debating that its a good thing, let your ears not the internet be the judge. Getting rid of dimming lights is just a side-effect imo.

Also the system i plan on running is this.

alpine cda-9886
Focal 165-V1
Rockford fosgate P1000-1bd
Orion cs200.4 (already have)
2 mtx 5500 (already have)

Later i will upgrade the orion amp to a
Rockford Fosgate Punch P325.2

And upgrade subs to
2 JL Audio 12W6V2

mkorsu

I personally don't use capacitors either. They will help performance.......when there are defencies(sp?) in the electrical system to start with. If the electrical system is all up to par with the system installed the cap will add nothing.

Also, check with all SPL competitors. NONE use capacitors. (aside from the multiple batteries in the vehicle since they are the largest "capacitor" in the car)

Trav@DICE

Yes you aer right none of the SPL people use caps. But there again they run their system for less then 30 sec. and then they are done. It is a really quick "burb" and thats it.

They are not having any other ellectrical interferances with the power in the car. They are not useing the break pedal turn signals, charging a cell phone or things like that.

I am a pro cap person. Yes it is not the ONLY thing to do to a system you do need to upgrad the altinator in the car as well. I think of a cap as more of a "power filter" It helps to round out the electrical spikes and drops in the cars power system.

patrick323

iTrader: (1)

This is the most recent post I can find on this topic so I'll dig it back up.

I'm purchasing a substantial setup.

I am not yet sure of total wattage but I will have battery caps and two 40 farad capacitors. With these, is there a need for an alternator upgrade?

This system will be used for daily use not just short blurps in competition usage.

What I do know is that I will have 2 soundstream mono amps powering each 12in sub. and a soundstream tarantula 4 way amp. I do not yet know the exact models. i'm merely trying to find out if i should expect any power issues. Perhaps knowing details of wattage might be needed to even know!?

Big Mack

iTrader: (1)

The thing to remember is that both batteries and capacitors store energy, not create it. If there is no energy to store, there is no energy to store - your amps and the rest of the car will starve.

The only reason to use a capacitor is for large dips caused by surges in the electrical system. Other than that, it's another load for the alternator to support - period.

It sounds (no pun intended) like your system may exceed the capabilities of your alternator if you run it hard but that's not certain. If that's the case, then yes, you should upgrade the alternator. Keeping in mind that the alternator allows for approximately 40% of it's power to be used at any given time for auxiliary, in most Lexus you'll only have about 40-60 amps to work with. That's plenty for most people - your fuse ratings are not a good gauge for this.

An amp running continuously at moderate volume won't go much above 40% of its fuse ratings, so an amp with a 25A fuse is running about 10A. When running full tilt, it may hit 20A. Sub amps with two or three 25A fuses are only going to hit near that when the bass is pumping hard repeatedly. If you get to 50A on sub and 20A on the mids/highs, that's a serious amount of power (about 900 watts at 100% efficiency), but still nothing the alternator should not be able to supply for short bursts. If your lights dim, a capacitor should help alleviate the problem. If your car starts to do strange things because it has no juice, then it's time to get the upgrade.

Big Mack

patrick323

iTrader: (1)

So I should install audio/video. See how it goes. Then upgrade if needed?

I'd love it if it could support the system without spending more money on other products (alternator) but if it needs it, it needs it.

That answer really helped...thank you.

AM1

iTrader: (6)

the best way is to calculate or have whoever is installing your audio to calculate how much power you are generating and how much power your cars electrical system can handle including battery and alternator. i dont know the formulas involved but it can be figured out along with testing during installation. for reference im running two Rockford fosgate P3's with a RF 1001.1 BD mono amp with one monster power diigtal 1 farad capacitor, all backed up by a Kinetik power HC1800 high capacity battery. so far no dimming or much electrical problems, even when im htting over 122 Db.