Somewhat new to Car Audio, quick easy question

[ckunke002 10+ year member]

Whatsup everyone, I'm new to the forum and got a quick question. I have a 4 channel amp at I believe 60 watts per channel (my 4 speakers) and a mono subwoofer amp at around 400 or so watts. I'm in a 2009 WRX if anybody knows how that car's alternator or battery is.

On top of the stock electronics that come in the car, I am now using an additional 650 watts or so. I have been reading about how alternators and batteries are rated with the power they can give off and I still have absolutely no idea what my setup can handle.

My question to you all is, what is a good general number of watts at which point you need to start thinking about upgrading battery or getting a high output alternator? If I'm running about 650 watts with my 2 amps alone, would I benefit from upgrading my wiring to the big 3? I've heard many great things about the upgrade, and am considering it if it's worth it.

Also I know this is a dumb question, but does playing music at a lower volume use less power? My amps gains are half way up at all times and my Head Unit can go to 35 but I usually listen on around 15 or 16. If I listen at 7 or 8 for example does that use up less of my alternators power?

Thank you all for any feedback given in advance! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

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[disturbed471985 5,000+ posts]

What size alt? But a quick answer is anything over 1k maybe a tad more.

 

[ckunke002 10+ year member]

Anything over 1k watts? And I could take a picture if that would help you guys. It seems just like a normal size alternator. It sits front and center when I lift the hood.

 

[disturbed471985 5,000+ posts]

Pics of your alt will not help anyone determine what amps it produces. Post the year, make and model and then we can tell you what size you have.

 

[OmegaBunny 10+ year member]

Yes listening to music at louder volumes draws more power

 

[OmegaBunny 10+ year member]

90a stock alt according to vehix

2009 Subaru Impreza WRX Specifications-Vehix

 

[dumple 5,000+ posts]

my car has a pretty stout electrical from the factory im running about 1500 watts with no problem but i do have a yellow top

 

[-01limited- 10+ year member]

Op thats a very low amount of power to be running you'll be fine. I would do the big 3 though to help the current exchange.

700 watts at 13 volts is drawing a little under 60 amps.

 

[kramer_212 10+ year member]

big 3 and maybe upgrade you battery, or add another one in the trunk like kinetik hc600 or hc800

 

[-01limited- 10+ year member]

You'll have about 40 amps for the other electronics in your car. You'll be fine. Hit up the big 3 and enjoy

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

i would do the big 3 ,see how it does for a week or so and it you are still dropping voltage ,upgrade to a better batt.alts for that car are not cheap

 

[ckunke002 10+ year member]

i would do the big 3 ,see how it does for a week or so and it you are still dropping voltage ,upgrade to a better batt.alts for that car are not cheap

So there are benefits of doing the Big 3 even without upgrading battery or alt? And also how do I measure how many volts my alternator is putting out and how many volts should I be aiming for?

Thanks!

 

[MisterDeadeye 10+ year member]

So there are benefits of doing the Big 3 even without upgrading battery or alt? And also how do I measure how many volts my alternator is putting out and how many volts should I be aiming for?
Thanks!

Using larger gauge wire is all about being able to control the electrical current, measured in amperes(amps; A). Your stock electrical wire is likely small gauge wire(6 or 8, possibly). They're physically too small to carry as much current as 4 gauge or larger wire. 4 gauge can be rated at 15' anywhere from 70A to 150A, while 6 or 8, especially stock wire, will handle much less. Possibly too little to be able to give your audio enough "juice" to do what it's supposed to.

But anyway, your alternator might be regulated to 13.8 or 14.4. Anywhere around 14 is what to really aim for, if possible. If you own a multimeter, you can measure the volts yourself/with a buddy, or you can go to AutoZone or the like and use theirs.

(Hoping no one has already beat me to this and that what I just said makes sense)

 

[ckunke002 10+ year member]

So my battery/alt are powerful enough to power my 700watt system but just don't have the cables hooked up to do it correctly? So what happens if I don't do the Big 3 and just keep playing my system?

 

[disturbed471985 5,000+ posts]

If it was me I would hook everything up and see what ur voltage looks like. If its not up to par I would do the big 3 and see if that helped at all. If still not up to par then I would replace the batt with a better one or add a second one. Start off doing the cheap stuff then wrk ur way up.