Capacitor or a new alternator?

[mnaines 10+ year member]

Right now, all I have in my car is the Sony CDX-GT200 HU, two Sony XS-V1642A 6.5" 4-way speakers and two Sony XS-V6942A 6" x 9" 4-way speakers. What I am wondering is if I add a 4-channel MTX Thunder TA3404 amp (and possibly an MTX Thunder TA3401 Mono Amp running two Sony XS-L123P5B 12" subwoofers) and a 1.5 Farad Tsunami digital capacitor, would I need get a new alternator? The OEM alternator in my car is a 14.4V 80A alternator. If I do need to upgrade, what is the minimum amperage I should get?

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[Chevyaudio 5,000+ posts]

Capacitors are pretty much useless for power stiffening purposes. Go with a new alternator.

Edit...I actually read you post this time. Doesnt seem that you will need a new alternator. Search the forum for The "big 3" do that, and that should take care of you.

actually reading a post>Typing in an automatic response to the question Cap vs. HO Alt.

 

[mnaines 10+ year member]

The MTX Thunder TA3404 runs at most 60WRMS and the MTX Thunder TA3401 runs 200WRMS. The guys at circuit city, where I get my stuff, said I won't need a new alternator until I get over 500WRMS

 

[bubbagumper6 5,000+ posts]

[No message]

 

[Chevyaudio 5,000+ posts]

In all actuality you would probably be fine running around 800 watts RMS on your stock alt. With the upgraded factory wiring...ie. Big 3, you will be fine. Most of the guys here with HO alts are running 1K-2K watts. I upgraded when I got up to 1600 watts.

 

[sue bee 10+ year member]

ehh...you can push that number to 750rms on almost any alternator that's not dead or dying. at any rate, you won't even approach that number with this setup. you need niether cap nor alt. don't even need the big 3.

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

do the big three and if you still feel the need get something like a kinetik hc 600. it is more powerful than 100 farads is low esr and actual stores quite a bit more than 4 milliseconds of juice. it can run a 500-1500 watts system by itself for a few minutes.

 

[mnaines 10+ year member]

A 1.5 Farad Tsunami capacitor with 4-guage fused power cables would be more than enough to keep the lights from dimming?

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

if you like sitting voltage or need the paper weight go for it

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

comparing a capacitor to an alternator in terms of helping your electrical system is like comparing "horsepower" stickers to a turbo charger in terms of making your car go faster.

One might look cool if you're into that sort of thing, but in reality won't do a thing. The other will make an immediate and significant improvement.

But I agree that with the power you're planning to run, just get it installed correctly and you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

 

[6spdcoupe 5,000+ posts]

caps = one of the best Marketing products ever. One of the worst performing ones at that.

Personally I prefer the ones that come inside my amps.