stock alt, no more dimming

[netzero 10+ year member]

hey just wanted to say really quick, I have a 90 amp alt in my escape and i had a 500 watt kenwood amp and a 100 2 chan, and got major dimming. To the point where at a light my rpms would jolt... well got rid of that amp and got an AQ1200D, and im now running a total of 900 watts on my car, and right before clipping i have no dimming what so ever. The amp made a world of a difference. So if you've got dimming issues, id say look for a more efficient amp as i did, you wont be disappointed.

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[CaptNKILL 10+ year member]

Would that have anything to do with the new one being Class-D and the old one being A\B? I don't know exactly what having a Class D amp does, but I know they are much more efficient.

 

[netzero 10+ year member]

nope, the old kenwood was a D class, im assuming it was inefficient though. Going from A/B to D would also be a wise choice for dimming issues. little more potential for distortion, but much more efficient .

 

[CaptNKILL 10+ year member]

You know, my brother has a Kenwood amp in his S-10 pickup and he gets terrible dimming. He's running a single Infinity Kappa Perfect 12", and his amp is probably the same one you're using.

Maybe there is just something terribly wrong with that design.

 

[jrwalte 10+ year member]

Each amp can have a different DC to AC conversion efficiency. One could be 70% whereas another is 85%. Probably one of the advantages over a more expensive higher quality amp vs entry level ones. I don't think manufactures usually list this in ther specs.

The first thing to always try (because it's the cheapest and offers the greatest results per money spent) is doing the big three upgrade.

 

[CaptNKILL 10+ year member]

I wonder how the efficiency of Kicker's ZX750.1 compares to others. Mine will be here next week to power a Fi SSD 12".

I'm doing the big3 right now, so that should help, but it'd be nice if the amp was really efficient already.

 

[netzero 10+ year member]

Ya the kenwood I had was the KAC-8103D i believe, it didnt have an efficiency rating. I did the big three, and it brought up voltage up to 14.3 stable, but as soon as i turned it up, dimming like no tomorrow. The efficiency rating of my AQ is 84% at 4 ohm so a little less at 2. Best upgrade I've made so far.

Oh and the kicker I'm pretty sure will be much more efficient, as it will also be underrated.