diregarding the cost, 12w7...

[jesse6666 10+ year member]

Wonderbread, I know that you don't need to take it out and put it in, but I mean if I'm using 1 farad for 1000 watts, should it ever lose all of its juice and start eating into the battery power or does the cap have enough power to continuously supply an amp. Also, I know that all I need to use i the sub bass control but I'm asking if I should only use that or also the bass boost (is there a difference)?

Z28sspeedracer: You might want to use a second battery, but that is not a substitue for a capacitator. As you can tell when you leave your lights on, it takes a while for the battery to drain. On the other hand, the capacitor can give as much energy as nec. in a split second. Hence it will give wht the amp wants. You can also upgrade the alternator as others have sugg. but it runs something like 6-7 bills whereas a 1 farad cap runs around 150.

 

[Wonderbread 5,000+ posts]

look at it this way.

let's trace the power beginning at the alternator and ending up at the amplifier.

ok, first things, alternator is spun, creating electrical energy from mechanical energy. it then sends its electrical energy to the battery. the battery is exactly what you think of it as being. A big storage facility capable of sending electrons out (negative) and taking them in (positive). now, you have a wire going to the amplifier (assume no cap for just right now). as the amplifier requires current to do it's job (changing 12v power into AC), it gets it from teh battery. pretty simple. as the battery drains, the alternator fills it, it's always occuring, as long as the car is running.

now, let's throw a cap in there, in between the battery and the amp. the cap acts like a small, fast discharging battery. When the amp requires power, it gets it from teh cap, which is also beig constantly refilled by the battery and originally the alternator. if the cap discharges completely, and the alternator is working to just recharge it, it becomes another load on an already struggling electrical system. Basically, in the wrong application (when there isn't enough power to start with) it becomes just another load, causing more problems. Now, in the right application (where the capability of the electricity IS there, it just can't be supplied quite fast enough - batteries are slow, nothign you can do about it) then, they can serve a useful purpose.

I wouldn't use the bassboost on the amp (and if you do, use it SPARINGLY). You are asking for distortion.

 

[somekook 10+ year member]

i think you should learn some more about capacitors

 

[somekook 10+ year member]

oops, meant to write that to someone else

 

[somekook 10+ year member]

that is actually an excellent description of what capacitors do and how they should be used

 

[Wonderbread 5,000+ posts]

see, i'm not that dumb //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[gettnbig 10+ year member]

How does it sound? You haven't mentioned that. Are you happy?

 

[Wonderbread 5,000+ posts]

he hasn't answered...

he must be out driving it, and enjoying it, lol

 

[jesse6666 10+ year member]

lol, you're actually right - I've been trying to find excuses to drive somewhere just so I can listen to it more. Now that I've heard what you guys have to say about the bass boost, I have it turned down all the time - although, for the amp I have, its rated THD is .05, so wouldn't there be extremely little distortion even with the boost (isn't that the benefit of getting a better amp?)

 

[Wonderbread 5,000+ posts]

nope

the bass boost is jus ta single band equalizer.

it just boosts certain frequencies (usually around 40hz). boosting it, messes all the rest of your EQ settings and can lead to a square wave if you boost too high...

you CAN use it, I choose not to

 

[jesse6666 10+ year member]

nopethe bass boost is jus ta single band equalizer.

it just boosts certain frequencies (usually around 40hz). boosting it, messes all the rest of your EQ settings and can lead to a square wave if you boost too high...

you CAN use it, I choose not to

In saying that I "CAN" use it, will that cause damage to the system, or only if I use too much

 

[Wonderbread 5,000+ posts]

only if you boost too far.

 

[awalbert88 10+ year member]

see, i'm not that dumb //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

Don't let it go to your head, boy

 

[Wonderbread 5,000+ posts]

too late, I'm stuck in my room... can't get my head thru the door...

and I'm hungry... ****

 

[jesse6666 10+ year member]

Now that I've listened to my system for a while, I have a question - the guy who installed my amp+sub told me he lowered the level of bass a little because there was so much that he could barely hear the music. At that point I figured it was fine but we were using the bass boost a little. Now that I'n not really using the bass boost as much, should I have it adjusted to give out more bass? I suppose that if it gives up to an 18 db boost, its the equivalence of about 6 times as loud. Is it better to have him readjust the amp or to just use like 3 extra dB's