Biggest amp w/out elec upgrade

[DWancha 10+ year member]

I drive a 1996 Cadillac STS and i was wondering what the largest amp i could buy would be that would work to full potential without upgrading my electical system. I have a 140 amp alternator and an optima battery. I was also wondering if the doing the big 3 would make a significant difference in how big i could go. I currently have a rockford p6002 that supposedly does 700 something at 4 ohms. Im running a 12W7 right now and i just traded for a soundstream dbx 15 and it needs more than 700 watts. Im thinking i shouldnt go for anything over 1200-1300 watts, but i wouldnt mind something that could potentially do more at lower ohm loads if i upgrade my elec system later. I've been looking around and i found a PG ZPA 0.5 in my area for $300. Does anyone think i could go with anything bigger than this safely? Give me some suggestions guys.

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[yacob.naif 10+ year member]

140A - 30A or so for your factory electronics

= 110, and given factory alts usually regulate a bit low ~14.2 or so with 70% efficiency (optimistic) you could run around 1050 watts TOTAL system power.

 

[DWancha 10+ year member]

Just out of curiosity, if say a 1500 watt amp cant reach its full potential in a car, but yet its trying to, is it the same as a clipped signal?

 

[phyphoestilic 5,000+ posts]

if the voltage drops low enough yes, but I dont think with 110 amps it'll drop that low, u'll probably have dimming in ur lights, but nothing major.

 

[yacob.naif 10+ year member]

that depends.

that PG actually might have a regulated power supply, which means it will be able to make just as much power regardless of whether your voltage drops, and you begin to supply it with battery voltage.

An unregulated amp will cut out or clip, but it'd be hard for me to tell you if you would have a problem, since different amps react differently to voltage drops. Some can tolerate drops down to 11v and below, and some get fussy even in the low 12v range.

The best idea of all, usually, is not to buy an amp you can't support, or make sure you turn the gain down to where you're not having too much voltage fluctutaion.

Voltage drops can actually harm the amp.

 

[DWancha 10+ year member]

Thanks for the info guys! In less than a half hour too... The PG does have a regulated power supply, thats something i remember about it waaay back in the day when it came out. Its something that made me want it back then. does that mean I'll be getting full potential out of that amp no matter what because of the power supply? any other suggestions for amps of the same quality in the same price range?

 

[yacob.naif 10+ year member]

it means you will get full potential out of it, yes.

but it's gonna be drawing 72% more current running at 12v than 14v, and it's all gonna be coming out of your battery.

Basically, it's ok for short instances when you out-do your power supply, but if you push it regularly, you're gonna be roasting some batteries.

Also, i wouldn't even think about turning it on without your car running.

 

[yacob.naif 10+ year member]

sorry, my math skillz took a dump^

20% more electricity.

i zigged when i should have zagged.

 

[DWancha 10+ year member]

Thank you again, very informative.

 

[DWancha 10+ year member]

Also what size power line fuse should i use 80A or 100A? Im using 60A right now.

 

[phyphoestilic 5,000+ posts]

Also what size power line fuse should i use 80A or 100A? Im using 60A right now.

what is the amp currently using, or recommends? Usually its in the manual