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<blockquote data-quote="kopimon" data-source="post: 5766552" data-attributes="member: 598990">Alternators can provide much more power than you think. If you have a 4x75W RMS amplifier and a 1x400W RMS amplifier, that&#039;s 700W RMS. Let&#039;s assume the amps are only 80% efficient, so 560W RMS.Average output voltage of an alternator is 13.8V, so 560/13.8=40.5A. Considering that music signals use 1/3rd the average power of a test tone, that brings you down to 40.5/3 = 13.52 amps.My numbers were off the top of my head, but it&#039;s enough to make my point. While your car is running it uses about 40% of the alternator&#039;s available output current (more when you have the AC on), so any modern car should be able to handle a basic system with no problem.Adding a larger wire doesn&#039;t make the alternator put out its max current all the time. It just provides a less-resistive path for the electricity to flow, meaning more and cleaner power gets to the amps (and the rest of the car).</blockquote>

[QUOTE="kopimon, post: 5766552, member: 598990"] Alternators can provide much more power than you think. If you have a 4x75W RMS amplifier and a 1x400W RMS amplifier, that's 700W RMS. Let's assume the amps are only 80% efficient, so 560W RMS. Average output voltage of an alternator is 13.8V, so 560/13.8=40.5A. Considering that music signals use 1/3rd the average power of a test tone, that brings you down to 40.5/3 = 13.52 amps. My numbers were off the top of my head, but it's enough to make my point. While your car is running it uses about 40% of the alternator's available output current (more when you have the AC on), so any modern car should be able to handle a basic system with no problem. Adding a larger wire doesn't make the alternator put out its max current all the time. It just provides a less-resistive path for the electricity to flow, meaning more and cleaner power gets to the amps (and the rest of the car). [/QUOTE]

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