Which batteries? And Brazilian amp question

[Jakerrr 10+ year member]

I have the Taramp's HD 4000 2 ohm collecting dust and would like to hook it up to replace my zx1000.1. The zx has too much distortion for my liking and it had considerable delay in my old system (different car with all different HU, speakers, etc), as well as my current system. DTA on my HU helps with the delay but I want to get it perfect, as I'm doing a sort of "loud SQ" build in the near future. I'm not happy enough with the zx1000.1 mainly due to the distortion. Please don't ask me if the gain was set correctly, it was. I even tried lowering it almost all the way down and the distortion was still there, just Kicker I guess lol idk)

1) I have stock electrical besides big 3, and the alternator is 130 amp. Given the relative fragility of Brazilians, would it be safe to hook the amp up with my current electrical or no? The gain would be at just about bare minimum and I won't listen to the sub any louder than I have been with my 1000 watt amp.

2) I will eventually be upgrading the electrical in stages as I can afford each step. Probably this unless advised otherwise: first replace stock batt, next replace alt, last add 2nd batt. I will be keeping the power under 1500w clamped for my SA-15 until I get a zv3. What would be a good battery to get for a 4000w rms rated amp and >500 watt front stage? What's a good value brand/model and where should I order it? And what would be good for preventing voltage drops while I still haven't upgraded the alt yet (I'll be very conservative with the volume at that point)?

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[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

If your wanting to get away from distorion ...you should go good Ole American made class AB amp you can hear the difference between those and class D amps and can get just as loud on half the power

 

[adulbrich 5,000+ posts]

Depends on how risky you want to be.

Really not a great idea to run a 4k on stock electrical, even if it is a Brazilian.

I think of it like running a Korean 2k on stock electrical. You probably could but it's really not the "right" way to go about things.

To think of it a different way, can you afford to wreck the amp?

 

[wew lad 5,000+ posts]

make sure that amp is mounted where it doesnt get any serious vibration, they're apparently weak in that front because my hd3000 is on its way to be repaired after only a few weeks, wasnt even mounted to my box.

you're going to need at least 3 good quality AGM batteries, big three in 0 gauge OFC, and a HO alternator. I've got 2 AGM's and a 200amp HO alt and i drop to 12v with a soft clip at idle. otherwise i stay above 13v so its bearable, i have two other amps for my mids/highs but their current pull is negligible

 

[Jakerrr 10+ year member]

Depends on how risky you want to be.
Really not a great idea to run a 4k on stock electrical, even if it is a Brazilian.

I think of it like running a Korean 2k on stock electrical. You probably could but it's really not the "right" way to go about things.

To think of it a different way, can you afford to wreck the amp?

4k? More like 1000. Obviously the gain will be all the way down. I'm just wondering if voltage drop will destroy the thing because I get drops with 1000w right now.

 

[Jakerrr 10+ year member]

make sure that amp is mounted where it doesnt get any serious vibration, they're apparently weak in that front because my hd3000 is on its way to be repaired after only a few weeks, wasnt even mounted to my box.
you're going to need at least 3 good quality AGM batteries, big three in 0 gauge OFC, and a HO alternator. I've got 2 AGM's and a 200amp HO alt and i drop to 12v with a soft clip at idle. otherwise i stay above 13v so its bearable, i have two other amps for my mids/highs but their current pull is negligible

I won't be able to get all that at once though so what should I get first? And what is a good quality battery? I won't be using anywhere 3kw any time soon. All I have is an SA-15

 

[Jakerrr 10+ year member]

If your wanting to get away from distorion ...you should go good Ole American made class AB amp you can hear the difference between those and class D amps and can get just as loud on half the power

They make AB mono amps? It has nothing to do with class D. It's this particular model. S/N is downright pitiful at like 60 dB, I'm not kidding it's that low... I've used other class D's and they work fine. I even have a class d full range that sounds pretty much perfect. What are some good value batteries though?

 

[wew lad 5,000+ posts]

I won't be able to get all that at once though so what should I get first? And what is a good quality battery? I won't be using anywhere 3kw any time soon. All I have is an SA-15

you'll get good efficiency if you keep the gain low, but when you start reaching its max output it really starts ******* current so you wont have any problems if you keep it easy.

id start with the alternator, but if your battery ***** you need to get that replaced. the AGM's from sams club are pretty good but it really depends on what fits in your car and where they're going. basically, high quality batteries can be had for a much cheaper price than most of the "car audio" batteries being sold

 

[Jakerrr 10+ year member]

you'll get good efficiency if you keep the gain low, but when you start reaching its max output it really starts ******* current so you wont have any problems if you keep it easy.
id start with the alternator, but if your battery ***** you need to get that replaced. the AGM's from sams club are pretty good but it really depends on what fits in your car and where they're going. basically, high quality batteries can be had for a much cheaper price than most of the "car audio" batteries being sold

I'll be replacing the battery first since that's financially possible right now. So Duracell and optima would be good choices I assume? And I've heard optima red has better 5 second burst and yellow is better for sustained power so I would assume a yellow would be the best to get? Assuming optima would even be a good brand to begin with.

 

[adulbrich 5,000+ posts]

make sure that amp is mounted where it doesnt get any serious vibration, they're apparently weak in that front because my hd3000 is on its way to be repaired after only a few weeks, wasnt even mounted to my box.
you're going to need at least 3 good quality AGM batteries, big three in 0 gauge OFC, and a HO alternator. I've got 2 AGM's and a 200amp HO alt and i drop to 12v with a soft clip at idle. otherwise i stay above 13v so its bearable, i have two other amps for my mids/highs but their current pull is negligible

My 20k is currently mounted to the largest face of my box, lol

*knocks on wood*

4k? More like 1000. Obviously the gain will be all the way down. I'm just wondering if voltage drop will destroy the thing because I get drops with 1000w right now.

If you've got bad voltage drop now, why would you even think about running a bigger amp?

 

[Jakerrr 10+ year member]

My 20k is currently mounted to the largest face of my box, lol
*knocks on wood*

If you've got bad voltage drop now, why would you even think about running a bigger amp?

Did you even read the post? I made it clear the problems I currently have with my zx1000.1 have nothing to do with loudness. Gain will be super low and I mainly listen to rock and electronic right now so super loud isn't a huge priority. I was just wondering if Brazilians are so fragile, that even the voltage drop I get from using my electric windows will damage the amp. I say voltage drop but the only way I have to measure that is headlight dimming so I'm not really sure how much voltage drop.

 

[adulbrich 5,000+ posts]

Did you even read the post? I made it clear the problems I currently have with my zx1000.1 have nothing to do with loudness. Gain will be super low and I mainly listen to rock and electronic right now so super loud isn't a huge priority. I was just wondering if Brazilians are so fragile, that even the voltage drop I get from using my electric windows will damage the amp. I say voltage drop but the only way I have to measure that is headlight dimming so I'm not really sure how much voltage drop.

Yes, I did read the post.

You said: "I'm just wondering if voltage drop will destroy the thing because I get drops with 1000w right now."

If you have voltage drop with a 1k, why would you think the situation would be better with a 4k amp?

 

[dbjunior 10+ year member]

Install a voltage monitoring relay with adjustable set points shortest delay possibly .5 seconds or less.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

you'll get good efficiency if you keep the gain low,

That is NOT how class D works. Class D is most efficient at high impedance and pushed to max unclipped output.

OP, I'd suggest run that amp at 4 ohms or even 8 ohms if you can. That should keep it pretty safe. IMO apart from the noisy fans there's nothing that a Chinese/Korean class D will do to sound "better"

AFAIK the Brazilian amps are sensitive to high input voltage or trying to drive low impedance. Considering they are widely used in DB Drag and "engine off 1 battery" competition orgs I'd think they can handle some voltage drop.

 

[wew lad 5,000+ posts]

That is NOT how class D works. Class D is most efficient at high impedance and pushed to max unclipped output.

OP, I'd suggest run that amp at 4 ohms or even 8 ohms if you can. That should keep it pretty safe. IMO apart from the noisy fans there's nothing that a Chinese/Korean class D will do to sound "better"

AFAIK the Brazilian amps are sensitive to high input voltage or trying to drive low impedance. Considering they are widely used in DB Drag and "engine off 1 battery" competition orgs I'd think they can handle some voltage drop.

sauce?

as far as i can tell it gets better efficiency at lower volumes (besides the "no **** you're asking for less output." this is when im maxing it out before clipping) , pretty weird that electrical components would work better under maximum hot operating conditions vs standard or low cool conditions?

not saying you're wrong. but substantiate it please. maybe i should of been more clear in saying once these reach max and then soft clip they pull a ton of current, but isn't this true of any amp forced past its limit?