My new subs aren't hitting as hard as they used to a week ago...

[Bennieficial 10+ year member]

I've had a Rockford Fosgate Punch P1000-1bd amplifier for about 3 months and a set of Alpine SWR-1223D Type-R 12" subwoofer (for about 2 years) and a 2 Farad capacitor. My had subs eventually blew, so I was left without subs for about a month. Couple weeks ago, I bought a new set of type-r's and got a 2nd amp and component speakers hooked up at best buy. Everything was sounding very nice, and my car lights barely even flickered even at high volumes. I've had this set up for about 2 weeks, but now I noticed that my subs aren't hitting as hard as they were when I first put them in. I don't think Im just hearing things because I play a lot of the same songs so I know how they're supposed to sound. And I also notice that my lights are flickering a lot now. Could this because the subs aren't getting enough voltage? And the reason why they were hitting so hard at first was because my system was disconnected for a month, allowing the capacitor the build up enough charge? Any help is appreciated

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[thericanballer 10+ year member]

oh boy...

get the capacitor out of there period.

do a big three. you should be ok.

also, you might just be getting used to the bass fyi

 

[Bennieficial 10+ year member]

yeah at first I was thinking I was getting used to the bass, but I really don't think that's what it is. But why get rid of the cap? I thought those would only help and not hurt?

 

[thericanballer 10+ year member]

yeah at first I was thinking I was getting used to the bass, but I really don't think that's what it is. But why get rid of the cap? I thought those would only help and not hurt?

well, its the other way around, they actually hurt instead of help. heres a link to do your big 3 http://www.caraudio.com/forum/wiring-electrical-installation-help/152355-official-caraudio-com-big-3-thread.html

you big 3 will help your voltage go up. therefore you lights not dimming and perhaps helping your system get louder

 

[Bennieficial 10+ year member]

ok thanks man. Is the big 3 somewhat easy to do for somebody that is not extremely car audio knowledgeable? And is it all under the hood or will I have to go to other parts of the car too?

 

[geonfreaq 10+ year member]

Look in the thread. Its all under the hood.

 

[its_bacon12 10+ year member]

Lol.. capacitors don't hurt. They can help stiffen voltage rails.

Anyway, big 3 would probably help some but first let me ask you did you change anything at all in the past week? Any of your friends mess with equipment?

 

[SPLaudio 5,000+ posts]

it warmer out now are you running ur air cond? anything else with a added draw will drop ur voltage and lower the output of ur amp. double check ur ground is tight for the amp along with clean battery terminals. also check that the screws holding ur subs in havent loosened you can loose output there and is common.

the big 3 is ground neg battery to motor and then another piece motor to frame. then run power wire from alt pos to battery pos, MAKE SURE TO FUSE CLOSE TO BATTERY!

also remember the motor rocks so give some slack. tiewrap the power wire so it dosent melt, looming it helps alot and looks factory clean too..

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Lol.. capacitors don't hurt. They can help stiffen voltage rails.
Anyway, big 3 would probably help some but first let me ask you did you change anything at all in the past week? Any of your friends mess with equipment?

Because you want your voltage rails good and stiff! I think you meant stiffen the voltage to the rails. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

A cap can be both a benefit and a detriment.

With a solid charging system, a cap can simply be an extra power storage device mounted very near the amplifier(s), minimizing voltage drop due to resistance loses from both the cap's design and its location. This *can* be helpful, but to what extent is arguable. One thing I always like to remind people is, their amplifiers already have an array of stiffening caps in their input stage to help filter voltage. So in a sense, people who add a cap are saying their amplifier is underbuilt, they know better than the amplifier's designer, and sticking this large cap in parallel (which is much less efficient than that bank of small caps in their amps) will solve this apparently universally missed design flaw virtually every amplifier manufacturer on the planet doesn't understand.

The obvious downside to a cap is, its an added resistance in the charging circuit, thereby adding its own resistance to the over all system. Once the cap is discharged, its no longer providing any benefit to the amplifier, and in fact its resistance is actually decreasing voltage to the amp even more (albeit not much usually).

Its not so much caps are awful, but that they are for the most part a waste of money. Even the person who invented the idea of using external caps on a 12v audio system (Richard Clark) says he did not ever intend them for voltage 'stiffening'. He used them as a voltage filter for an extreme SQ system for competition where every little nuance might be the difference between winning and losing. He used an array of smaller caps, says these 1 farad and larger caps provide too much resistance to offer any real benefit, and denies a cap has any place ina discussion about propping up an insufficient charging system.

 

[Tone415 10+ year member]

Because you want your voltage rails good and stiff! I think you meant stiffen the voltage to the rails. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif
A cap can be both a benefit and a detriment.

With a solid charging system, a cap can simply be an extra power storage device mounted very near the amplifier(s), minimizing voltage drop due to resistance loses from both the cap's design and its location. This *can* be helpful, but to what extent is arguable. One thing I always like to remind people is, their amplifiers already have an array of stiffening caps in their input stage to help filter voltage. So in a sense, people who add a cap are saying their amplifier is underbuilt, they know better than the amplifier's designer, and sticking this large cap in parallel (which is much less efficient than that bank of small caps in their amps) will solve this apparently universally missed design flaw virtually every amplifier manufacturer on the planet doesn't understand.

The obvious downside to a cap is, its an added resistance in the charging circuit, thereby adding its own resistance to the over all system. Once the cap is discharged, its no longer providing any benefit to the amplifier, and in fact its resistance is actually decreasing voltage to the amp even more (albeit not much usually).

Its not so much caps are awful, but that they are for the most part a waste of money. Even the person who invented the idea of using external caps on a 12v audio system (Richard Clark) says he did not ever intend them for voltage 'stiffening'. He used them as a voltage filter for an extreme SQ system for competition where every little nuance might be the difference between winning and losing. He used an array of smaller caps, says these 1 farad and larger caps provide too much resistance to offer any real benefit, and denies a cap has any place ina discussion about propping up an insufficient charging system.

good info. learned a few things

 

[its_bacon12 10+ year member]

Heh yes. They act as a filter to a noisy power supply to smooth voltage. I agree though, I'd never recommend a cap in a poor electrical system as a band-aid even since it won't do that.

In the broad scheme of things, they don't have much of a place in most people's mobile audio systems because they simply wont notice its benefits nor are the understood fully by most.

 

[azimuth 5,000+ posts]

i got .4 volts less, at the amp, with a cap in my system. i wanted it for the neato votage meter (allbeit far from accurate). when i still used my class ab ppi amp, i could drop voltage to under 10 with or without the cap. i didnt even get the psychological spl rise with mine.

 

[its_bacon12 10+ year member]

Thats nice.

 

[thericanballer 10+ year member]

Thats nice.

your ava is just perfect //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

 

[Bennieficial 10+ year member]

SPLaudio, yes, I just noticed that everytime I'm using my AC that's when the bass isn't hitting as hard! I'm usually driving with my windows down which is when it sounds normal, but for the rare times I use AC is starts sounding like crap! So i'm guessing that this big 3 upgrade will solve all of that. Thanks for all the info guys. One more quick question about the big 3. I have some spare cheap 0 gauge wire that I ordered from ebay. Do you suggest that I do the big 3 with some true name brand 0 gauge wire, or it doesn't matter? And also would it be best to take out my cap or should I just leave it in?