What would be better for capacitor

[IonRL205 10+ year member]

It depends on if you are playing that 6000 - 7000 watt system for a 30 second burp, or if you are playing it for 30 minutes. If you are playing for 30 minutes, Yes you will need a HO alt. If you are playing for 30 seconds, No, you can get by with a bank of batteries. People who design and build hydraulic systems for lowriders use a bank of batteries for the high current spikes of the pumps firing up, but generally don't have a HO alt because they are only drawing current for a few seconds at a time using 500+ amps. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

A lot of people nowadays build massive systems for daily, and suffering massive voltage drop can do more than just drain your voltage, it can also hurt your equipment. The part where you said you only needed HO alternator for playing test tones for a while is where I was getting at, because you will definitely want a HO alternator playing music daily for a 6k to 7k watt system.

If the amps are draining the batteries faster than your alternator charges them, you will have problems.

 

[VWBobby 10+ year member]

I will agree that if you allow your system voltage to drop below 12V, you run the risk of damage. As long as you maintain over 12V, regardless of how you do it, it does not matter. Two ways to accomplish this: Capacity of batteries for short amounts of play time at full capacity, requiring a large amount of time for recharging. This type of system is not practical for most people, unless they do a lot of long commutes or idle for a long time. (show vehicles or campers) Other way would be a HO alternator.

Music is dynamic. It uses between 20 - 60% of system capacity, to put it into perspective. A test tone Might take 80-100% of system capacity.

I guarantee you will not be listening to 6000+ watts RMS for longer than 2-3 minutes at a time if you are driving down the road (windows closed). If you do, you either have balls of steel or have some serious hearing damage worse than my own. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif In order to maintain that 6000+ watts, you would either have to play heavy bass music like chopped n' screwed or test tones. There's no way that average music is going to maintain anything close to 6000+ watts, even for a few seconds at a time. That's the difference between a "burp" on test tones for 30 seconds and music. One might reach 100% capacity, while the other won't even reach 80% and that's only for a second or 2. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif