hmm i dont really know what it is but i thikn i need one lol... i have 2 500/1 JL AUDIO amps and 2 10W6V2 (JL's) any recomendation?? also if i get all my stuff installed can this be added in later with ease? or will it be a lot more..

thanks
-benjamin

 

Capacitors help stablize your amps voltage therefor it gives you a cleaner signal=better sound quality. Capacitors are recommended 1farad for 1000watts rms.If your electrical system is not sufficient for your system then a capacitor will help. It's always good to have 1.Get a digital one.It reads out th voltage going to your amp.

 

A nice big capacitor on the power line to your system may help, can't hurt.

They store power and can release it very quickly, faster than your battery can keep up, so when your subs are 'punching' the bass, your headlights won't dim to the beat!

For a large system you would need a 'one farad' cap.
(A 'farad' is a huge amount of zap - if you look it up, it is "....the amount of current it took to kill Mr. Farad!" :D :D )
Anything smaller won't have much effect, anything larger is probably overkill! (My friends at Alumapro would probably disagree, they make 'The C.A.P.' in 5, 15, and now 50 Farad sizes!)

Between beats the cap will store energy from the alternator/battery, then release it for the amps. The fancy ones have an LED volts readout on top, not much real use, but can warn you when you are really overdoing it. A realistic street price is $100 for a one farad, plus installation. If you have to ask if you need one, you should probably get it installed.

S

 

^^^ What he said.

Back in the late '80s, NAD and Proton were doing this with home audio components. If I remember right, they had a 40-watt amp with something like 6dB (!) of dynamic headroom for transient signals like bass kicks. Big capacitors in the power supply, and you got effectively 160-watt peak performance without running all that excess power all the time. In the car audio world, adding capacitance lets you do the same thing without having to upgrade your whole electrical system.

 

I've got a .5 farad cap with a (soon to come) Alpine 5-channel amp pushing 1 8" sub and all my speakers. It can't hurt and they are not expensive--I got mine for about $40.

 

hmm so which one should i get lol

 

1 farad per 1000watts rms & 0.5farad for 500watts rms system. If you want to over do it, get the Alumapro 5farad cap. They make among the the best capacitors. I got a 15farad PHoenix Gold titanium capacitor that's made by Alumapro.The only difference is it's aesthetics.

 

I have a 40 Farad cap from Rockford Fosgate. Way overdone, but room for expansion. :D

 

You would be fine with 1 capacitor but would hurt to have 2 - 1 Farad Capacitors

I will probably end up with a bank of 4.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...767705374&rd=1

how are these? are they any good?

 

That's a good deal for that price.

 

Hybrid right?