What amp should i get without causing headlight dimming?

[KTMrida4life]

Ok thanks for the recommendations everyone. I'll be doing the big 3 this weekend hopefully and maybe get a new battery and I think I'll go with a nicer amp and see where that leaves me. I'll post back if I need any help or any other questions. Thanks

You dont ALWAYS need a bigger alternator. Im running 3k on a stock 90A alt. You need batteries.

I PM'ed you so you dont get screwed over buying them new..

 

[MANTI5]

Sound deadening is a good idea, if done correctly it's not very expensive. And in 3 or 4 years I'm sure he'll have money for more in a new car. Also, the big 3 is an inexpensive procedure and will help.

 

[KTMrida4life]

Does your car start on a cold day? You don't need a battery...Do the wires under your hood get warm when you run your amp? No, you don't need 'the big 3'.

The big 3 and buying an expensive battery is almost always a waste of money. You're better off buying a smaller & higher quality amp instead of spending the $$$ on stuff you don't need and that will not make a lick of difference. Buy the right equipment for your application and not whatever has the most zeros on the end of it. If you need fire hose power cabling and a $200 battery in order to run an amp in your car; you bought the wrong amp.

You do not need 1000+ watts to have a nice sounding and loud system. If done right (install & product selection), you can get loud & sound great with 1/2 that power.

And if anyone recommends you to buy sound deadening for your 15 year old car; don't pay attention to them. If you buy a good amp, you'll probably keep it and put it in your next car or 3. You're not going to be able to do the same with sound deadening and you're probably not going to keep that car very long.

Wow. Honestly surprising to read all that from a member thats been on here since 2004.

The big 3 is NOT a waste of money and it doesnt even cost that much. The wire coming out from my alternator on my Nissan was the size of a spaghetti noodle.

Smaller and higher quality amp.. I agree with that to an extent. If its between a 5000W BOSS amp or a 1000W Sundown, of COURSE go with the Sundown.. but just because an amp puts out more power it doesnt mean it is crap. Thats like saying that because my amp has "a bunch of zeros on the end of it" , and even though its a Sundown SAZ 3000 which is a very nice amp, its not a high quality amp? That doesnt make any sense. You hook this SAZ 3k up in your car with your stock battery and stock wiring.. maybe you should even run it off your headunit power, and let me know how that goes and what it does to your car.

Again.. if your running more than 500W, you WILL need bigger cabling unless you want to burn something up and it doesnt mean that you have the wrong amp at all.. big amps need big power, simple as that. Whens the last time you heard of an amp 2k+ that was efficient? Im not even sure that is possible.

Sure you dont need 1000W to have a nice sounding system. You barely need a sub to fill in the lows.. an 8" will do just fine. But if you want LOUD lows that rumble your insides, your going to need more than 500W.. sorry, been there done that. You can only do so much with that power.

Sound deadening on a 15 year old car.. if he plans on keeping the car, who cares? My 95 Nissan only had 13k miles in it when I put sound deadening in and only has 20k miles on it now, so does that mean I should tear it all out just because its not a brand new car? Your doing your car a favor by adding sound deadening honestly.. some cars come with some form of deadening already in them.

Also.. how are you going to say he wont keep that car very long? I believe thats his decision as to how long he wants to keep his own car.

Really not trying to come off as an azz, but certain parts of your post had me dumbfounded.

 

[TheUnderFighter]

RnGRacing will do that to ya, I'd just take his posts with a grain of salt. There's something useful to be taken from any of them.

To OP, I'm running ~1500w on my 70a alt with no problem. I noticed lights stop dimming, and voltage remain constant after doing my Big 3 upgrade, I'd say you could safely run 1000-1200w with a big 3 upgrade. If you buy a 1kW amp, and the lights dim, all you have to do is turn down the gain a little. I certainly wouldn't waste any money on a Kenwood amp though, that's just junk. And most the Kickers aren't any good. They're ok, but for what most people pay for them, there is MUCH better to be had.

 

[Chris_A]

Ok thanks for all the posts. With the different responses, its hard to choose the best process. But from what i can understand, the big three and a battery. Do you guys recommend a deep-cycle battery or just a higher capacity battery? Also, once these two things are done, what subwoofer/amp do you you recommend? I appreciate your help and thanks again

 

[seedubs1]

If youre only cunning circa 1kw, you may not have to do anything to your electrical. I'd set it up, monitor, and upgrade electrical as you see fit. If you're getting any big voltage drop, do the big 3. If you're still getting voltage drop, get a decent battery under your hood. That should be all you would have to do in a worst case scenario for 1kw.

Lots of people would have you think you have to do multiple batts, an alty, etc etc etc.....which isn't normally the case. I was running 1.5kw amps in my maxima with just the big 3 for years, and never had electrical problems. It was a stock 110 amp alty, though.

 

[Chris_A]

Ok thanks seedubs1. Ill get an amp and sub and upgrade the electrical system if i need to

 

[T.I.K.]

This thread is filled with lots of bad information.

Do the big thee, in 1/0 gauge

Run your power and ground wires in 1/0ga

You most likely will not need a battery.

If you're this concerned about your electrical system, don't cheap out when you buy an amp. Cheaper amps are cheap for a reason. I've seen and heard stories about people having bad voltage drop and dimming and the switched to a better amp, and they had almost no drop or dimming. This is because nicer amps tend to be more efficient. If I were you OP, I'd look at a couple DCON subwoofers on an AudioQue 750

 

[Tesseract]

Hmm well first off, dude who said that big 3 and extr battery are useless is a dumby. Improving the wiring under your hood could never possibly be a waste of money and could ony serve to help you. An extra battery may or may not be needed depending on your watts and without a decent altenator, it would only add strain to yo system.

That being said, i use to own 2 of those same kickers. Had them hooked up to a T1000bdcp. Very nice. If i were you, id shell out the cash and do a quick big 3 upgrade, and get a GOOD CLEAN 1000w amp. If anything, you can wire it down but i know those subs cam handle 500 watts easily.

And as far as your alternator goes, you may want to consider upgrading. You can run 1000w on 80amps, but that doesnt leave any room for much else, and at idle, you will more than likely be able to watch yo headlights dim. There is nothing like having more amps then your system needs. Your amp will be able to pull all the power its lil heart desires and yo subs can eat without worry. Plus your car will not bog out and your alt/battery wont get eaten.

Ps. New to forum and my first post haha.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[BnGRacing]

Hmm well first off, dude who said that big 3 and extr battery are useless is a dumby.

Hysterical.

 

[Looney_Tune]

Instead Of cvrs i say go with used fosgate hx2 if wnt loud sealed..should find a good price on craigslist. or a solid 12 in a nice ported box off 1000w will impress u. An optima batt or any deep cycle will help but do the Big 3 first. And yea dnt buy a cheap amp because will not get close wat u paid new. Get one that will somewhat holds its value if u want a diff one later

 

[Looney_Tune]

Im a fan Of used audio because when u wnt something diff which most everybody does later u will not lose much if any on wat u paid. Been thru bout 5 diff amps and 10 diff sub setups.

 

[T.I.K.]

Hysterical.

Almost as hysterical as the notion that the Big 3 is useless.

 

[Chris_A]

Im looking at 2 rockford fosgate 12" p2 subs on craigslist. They are 150 with the enclosure and look pretty good and i have read a lot of good reviews about them. What amp would you recommend for these?

 

[BnGRacing]

Almost as hysterical as the notion that the Big 3 is useless.

The Big 3 isn't useless if selling copper is what you do. 4ga can carry a lot of current, especially since there are short runs under the hood. But if you think upgrading your 3' worth of factory wiring to 1/0 will solve any of your issues...I have some beans I can sell you.