what size cap. do I need for my amp 1600 watt phoenix gold mono amp class d, I have ( 2 ) 2000 watt subs?

Question 1
what size cap. do I need for my amp 1600 watt phoenix gold mono amp class d, I have ( 2 ) 2000 watt subs?...  subs are 1000 watt rms each. my head lights dim when ever my bass hits

Answers
1)   Well you should get a battery with that amount of watts dude. If you get a cap, your lights will still probably dim. But you would need to get a 3 farad cap to help your alternator a little bit. But i would invest in a kinetik battery from sonicelectronix.com. The 600 amp battery is 100 bucks and you will be set man. - Luke

2)   Normally the rule is one farad for every one-thousand watts. You would need a one or a two farad cap. If you are trying to stop your lights from dimming you don't want a cap you need a aftermarket car battery and a better alternator. - ed

3)   First off have you done the big three yet? That should help a lot if not also how many amps is your alt? you should be fine with one 1600watt amp with big 3 done in 1/0 and you could also upgrade your stock battery if you want if youre on a budget you could check out C&D tech batts and deka batts you can find very cheap used just as expesive as a cap but 20 times better than a cap - Brett K

4)   I agree with ED. You could get a 2farad cap. BUT you do not need that. On ANY car, 2000watts RMS is hard on the alternator and battery. Like ED says, I would recommend that you get a battery with a high amp rating, and get a new alternator that has at least 150 amps. Get the most amps that they have for your car. A cap is mainly if the problem is small, like the interior light in your car is dimming. But if it is something drastic like the headlights, it is a big sign you need a new battery and alternator, each with the highest amps they have available. - Luis A

5)   A cap should be the final piece of the puzzle, and they're by no means a necessity.



What amp? PG hasn't built a BIG sub amp in a few years. The biggest thing they have currently is the RSD1200.1 and it's only 1200w rms. The Ryval V8001 is 1600w MAX, but only 800w rms.

Also the yr/make/model of your car would be helpful to figure out what size alt you're dealing with. Trim would be good too (gt, se, lx etc)



In a lot of cases some minor dimming is to be expected, but if yours is bad enough to bother you while driving, or bother other drivers the first thing to do is stop by an auto electric shop and see if they will test your alt and batt. Most chain stores will do it for free, but I would trust an independent shop a lot more if you can find one that will do it for you.



If those test ok the next thing to do would be go back through your amp's power and ground wiring -- make sure all the wire is of adequate size (1600w would need at least 2 gauge to avoid a significant voltage drop). Make sure the ground wire is connected to a substantial piece of the car's chassis. A thin piece of sheet metal is not going to provide a good ground. Make sure the ground connection is made to bare metal -- no paint, dirt, grease, etc.

Make sure the power connection to the battery is free of corrosion.

Make sure the fuse holder is at the battery is well connected.



If you're certain all those points are covered the next step would be the charging system wires.

In many cars the wires from the alternator to the battery, battery to chassis ground, and engine block to chassis ground are not large enough to provide a 100A+ aftermarket sound system to draw current w/o significant voltage drops. This upgrade is commonly referred to as the "big 3". You can just add 4 gauge wires to what is already there and any voltage losses should be reduced by more than half.



If you still have more dimming than you would like at that point the next step would probably be a high output alternator. In some cases that can get expensive and labor intensive, but with 1600w rms it may be a necessity.



If there's still more dimming at that point a cap MIGHT help fill the gaps, but at that point the only thing that could cause dimming would be the lag between the amp demanding current and the alternator responding to that demand. - N2Audio


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Question 2
do I need a capacitor for my sub woofer?...  I have a Alpine SWR-1242D 12" Type-R Series Subwoofer 4 Ohm powered with Alpine MRP-M500 - Amplifier - 1-channel, which does 300watts at 4ohm. I was wandering if I need a capacitor for this. Thank you in advance!

Answers
1)   Shouldn't need a capacitor for 300watts unless you have alot of other accesories running off your battery - Adam

2)   Big capacitors can facilitate producing very high power transient pulses. They store electricity and dump it back when called for. They cannot create more power than is available. If you aren't having power issues, such as lights dimming, battery going low, or not being able to run all the electrical devices along with the stereo, you can make a slight improvement to the low frequency performance of the subs with a stffening capacitor. It is not worth all the money they cost. Maybe you're driving a big Dodge Magnum with a 200 amp alternator, or a little Hyundai with a dinky power supply. The answer to your question will be different according to where your stereo resides. If your system sounds good, no distortion or clipping, don't waste money on a capacitor. - don r

3)   No cap at all just do the big three in 1/0 and youll be set just go on youtube and type in big three if you dont know what it is it is upgrading the alt wire to positive battery post and the two ground wires on the battery the ground to the chassis and the ground to the engine block do it in 1/0 wire and youll be fine - Brett K


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Question 3
Audio systems for cars?...  What is a reasonable amount of money to spend on amps, subs, and speakers for a car?

Answers
1)   your question is too vague



for a start, do you want sound quality or spl(loudness)?



Youre gonna need to buy amps, subs, speakers, maybe some tweeters, wires, rcas, fuses, a headunit, maybe a cap or additional battery,

depends on what you want - The Mech

2)   might find some ideas here



http://www.electronixwarehouse.com/education/amplifiers/power-ratings.htm - tronary

3)   Not so much you have none left for food, shelter, fuel and creditors- oh, and things you wife wants.



People spend crazy money on that kind of stuff, and even more money trying to make it work. Visit a few car stereo shops to see the equipment on demonstration and get an idea how far a dollar goes toward satisfying you. - don r


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Question 4
Alpine Type R repair?...  I have a sub woofer, that when you push on the cone it makes a scrapping noise, its producing distorted sound, is this worth repairing, considering its a 300 dollar sub?

does anyone know how to repair this?

Answers
1)   There may be a quality reconing service, but nothing beats the original quality. This cannot be repaired without specialized equipment and fine-tuned skill, not to mention technical knowledge.



Replace it with a new one, and you know where you had the stereo turned up just before it bombed- don't go that high again. I know it felt good and all that, but, $300 is alot to pay for one song. - don r

2)   Nope man. Even if someone can/will fix it, it will probably cost about 120 bucks. You can a brand new one on sonicelectronix.com for 130 bucks new with free shipping. Its and excellent online store and i have been very happy with all of my purchases there. - Luke

3)   It sounds like you melted the voice coil this cant be repaired sorry man you need a new sub if you don't want distorted noise. - ed


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Question 5
What kind of amp is better?...  which brand has better amps hifonics, audiopipe or planet audio?

Answers
1)   Hifonics has very nice amps. They are 1 ohm stable which is a big plus and have good quality sound too. Go with the hifonics if you are gonna get one of those three. - Luke

2)   Audiopipe is there 1ohm stable and you just cant beat the price for power ratio I mean 3000rms for $300 new is an amazing deal and there products are very tuff and reliable and will hardly ever blow an amp - Brett K

3)   I agree with Luke on this one. HIFONICS makes AMAZING products! I have purchased many things from them and they are great quality! - Luis A


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