RF T15kw...

[SyKo13 5,000+ posts]

lol look at this big o friggin thing

http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/products/product_details.asp?cat_id=2&series_id=7&family_id=24&item_id=105829&locale=en_US

Click to read more...

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Already been covered.

I really don't like it.

It's not a 15kw RMS amplifiers, it's a 3000w to 4000w RMS amplifier with 15kw of "burst" power.

The maximum it could support an output of 15kw for is 16 seconds....not exactly "continuous" if you ask me //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

I truly hope this technology never makes it's way into true consumer level products. That will be a sad day indeed.

 

[SyKo13 5,000+ posts]

i see...i still find it interesting to find a big hunk of metal for $20,000 msrp

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

i see...i still find it interesting to find a big hunk of metal for $20,000 msrp

Indeed.

 

[SyKo13 5,000+ posts]

kind of reminds me of that zapco and hifonics

 

[RFCV 10+ year member]

Here is the official thread about it:

http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=22294

 

[matrxx dude 5,000+ posts]

i heard even if they did get out in production,some competitors couldnt run them,because of the issue of the amp being basically a big capacitor,and how could most alts handle 500 amp continous pull.lol

 

[SUB_URBAN 10+ year member]

i heard even if they did get out in production,some competitors couldnt run them,because of the issue of the amp being basically a big capacitor,and how could most alts handle 500 amp continous pull.lol

Multiple alt setups can handle it.

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

Wow. I've never seen this before //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

nG

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

i heard even if they did get out in production,some competitors couldnt run them,because of the issue of the amp being basically a big capacitor,and how could most alts handle 500 amp continous pull.lol

It's 350

 

[193dBman 10+ year member]

HL drag queen reinvented?

 

[SyKo13 5,000+ posts]

I don't remember making this thread..........lol

 

[Megalomaniac 5,000+ posts]

is this a logical statement, it seems fascinating

Direct quote from Anthony D'Amore (RF Design Engineer):

"The Hybrid Technology in the T15kW works like this:

When the bass line hits, that energy comes from the AMPLIFIER. At a more convenient time, like after the bass line, the energy can go from the vehicle, back to the amplifier. By doing this, we have a amplifier that can deliver MORE power than the vehicle can supply for periods of time. Since music is very dynamic in nature, having relatively loud and quiet periods, the T15kW can play music continuously in this manner. Putting capacitors inline with a traditional amplifier will not produce the same results."

 

[Megalomaniac 5,000+ posts]

Tony Damore

Posted - 12/06/2006 : 9:36:39 PM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey guys thanks for the props!! Yes it is true the idea came from a defibrillator. It seemed silly to me that all these guys in the db drag lanes need to have 1/2 of their vehicle full of batteries and alternators to maintain a decent B+ voltage for a few seconds. That and the fact that the amount of total energy all those batteries contain is huge and they are only using a fraction of it during their burp. It is like taking a NASCAR car to a drag race. A vehicle that is designed to go 200mph for hours on end probably isn't the best design for a 1/4 mile burst.

So when you look at the way a defibrillator is used its like burping an amp. Defibrillators don't have massive power cords that need mega amps at 220V, in fact some of them are portable and run off a very small battery. Why, because they don't need to shock someone for hours at a time, just a quick burst. They just draw a small amount of power continuously during 'charge up' and once all the energy they need is accumulated they release it all at once.

With the operation of the defibrillator in mind, I tried to apply it to car audio. I set off to build a prototype which was based on (2) T1500.2 output sections, I had to liquid cool the MOSFETs because even the FETs in the T1500.2's were not big enough to handle the kind of power I wanted. By keeping them very cold they could be pushed beyond their limits. (This may be the radiator ect... part of the story that someone posted). Then I needed a way to store a bunch of energy, electrolytic caps and some of the carbon based caps that are commonly used in car audio were not even close to being capable of storing the amount of energy I needed, so I used 12 small motorcycle batteries in series to get 140+ Volts. Then I built a power supply that would convert 12VDC to 140VDC to 'charge' these batteries.

I got this contraption all put together the night before the Annual Rockford Fosgate Employee Sound-Off. I didn't really how much power it would make exactly, but to try to shorten this long story it ended up putting out 15,030 Watts RMS! This is how 15k Watts became the goal for a 'real' amp.

The first step towards making it a 'real' amplifier was I had to eliminate the array of batteries. I began searching high and low for something that would do it. I found a company that makes capacitors for hybrid cars and large wind turbines. These worked perfectly. The caps I ended up using are 400 Farads, and there are 180 of these in the T15kW. Then I needed an intelligent power supply that could monitor these caps and add energy to them as needed, and it had to be fast, really fast if this amp was going to play music and not just a burst. So during music these caps are charging, discharging, charging, discharging. The power supply in the T15kW can charge the caps 35,000 times per second.

Of course many other things had to happen like finding MOSFETs that could handle it, a way to keep it cool without antifreeze and car radiators ect. The final product met all the goals and then some.

The main idea is that with this technology the amplifier can put out more power during transients or bursts than the car it's connected to could supply.

Again thanks for the props, look for hybrid technology to hit our smaller amplifiers in the near future.

PS if you guys would like to see pictures of the original liquid cooled proto I'll post them. This proto was eventually dubbed the D'Fibrillator. haha

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tony D'Amore

Design Engineer

Rockford Corporation

i got this from SMD i just saw that sticky there //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif

 

[RFCV 10+ year member]

is this a logical statement, it seems fascinating
Direct quote from Anthony D'Amore (RF Design Engineer):

"The Hybrid Technology in the T15kW works like this:

When the bass line hits, that energy comes from the AMPLIFIER. At a more convenient time, like after the bass line, the energy can go from the vehicle, back to the amplifier. By doing this, we have a amplifier that can deliver MORE power than the vehicle can supply for periods of time. Since music is very dynamic in nature, having relatively loud and quiet periods, the T15kW can play music continuously in this manner. Putting capacitors inline with a traditional amplifier will not produce the same results."

The quickest answer I can give right now is go to 'Amps' in the RF Forum. Other than the sticky (at the top) about the T15kW, there are a couple other threads about the T15kW (vs. JBL and PowerCube Test) in which Tony D' (Engineer) posts about the amp.

Here is the link for 'Amps' over @ RF Forum:

http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/forum/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=10

* BTW, what I mentioned above is more 'from-the-horses-mouth' info and not meant to discuss it further here.