01exdippin

I have had my 01 civic for almost 2 yrs now. I installed an aftermarket radio in it a few months ago. I have one 12' sony xplod with a 1400 watt song amp, and a jvc radio face. I noticed at night on some songs when the bass really hits, my headlights have a tendancy to blink and the harder the bass the more ridiculous the blinking becomes. What do I have to change to stop the blinking? Is it the battery? Let me know.

greenbay0405

A capacitor should solve your problem.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Car-Audio-...-Them&id=74789

RallyeRedRider

You are using way more power then your alternator can produce, or your battery can generate for a substantial period of time. You need a high output alternator and at least 1 deep cell battery (like a yellow top). You may need 2 batteries.

Your sub wants to use almost 120 amps of power:
1400 watts / 12 volts = 116.67 amps
Your stock alternator generates 70 amps MAX, less at idol (and you need a decent percentage of that for operating the engine/computer/etc). A capacitor might help, but I don't think it will be nearly enough help with as large of a power shortage as your running.

01exdippin

Even with the capacitor, would I be better off dropping the large amp and going with a smaller powered system?

greenbay0405

What's your sub rated to handle (rms)?

01exdippin

1300 watt sub

DeX

First, your 1400 watt Sony amp probably only puts out about 400 watts on average if you're lucky. I'm guessing that's peak and the Sony amps are usually rated for RMS way less than half of peak meaning they'll hit at 1400 for a microsecond of the most intense part of the song but during normal vocals, it's crazy low. Their amps are bullshit and that's why they're so cheap. So I'm not trying to make you feel bad but you made the wrong choice there, your system would likely sound better with a proper 300 watt D-class amplifier. The other thing is you're probably running your crappy Sony Xplod subwoofer at 4 ohms (or higher) and getting even less power out of it because those subwoofers are low quality and not made to handle proper 1/2 ohm power.

But anyway, too late to help you with that now, you already bought it. The problem here is that for those really intense parts of the song where you're ripping our your cochlea with bass notes (separated my ear drum from loud teenager bass, it sucks) then your amp is getting close to that 1400 watts for that microsecond, drawing substantial amounts of power from the battery and all the other electronics are starving for power because it takes a second for the alternator to recharge it. So normally, the power in / power out of your battery is more than your electrical components to work fine. But now that bass hit is draining everything in the battery, lights to dim, alternator finally catches up and recharges the battery to where there's power available for your lights again. This usually results in fireballs and happy insurance companies, so let us know if your car burns down.

The solution? The proper solution? $$$$$$$$.
If you want to fix it, you'll have to do what someone already said and buy a high output alternator that puts out more power and charges the battery at a faster rate. These can be found online for about $300. The factory alternator from Honda puts out about 65 amps (that right?) and a high output is about 120....if I remember correctly. And in order to take all that power properly from the amplifier and not cook itself, you're going to have to change your battery to a deep cycle like an Optima Yellow Top because every time you drain your stock battery, it takes away some of its life expectancy. It's not like your cell phone where you can kill it and just charge it up again. With a car battery, there may be a time where it drains and will not charge again. You should also upgrade all the wiring in your engine bay to 4 gauge as well as make sure you have the proper wiring in your system.

The cheap way to do it?
Just buy a capacitor. This is what your friends at school will tell you to do because they probably don't know better. This will hold a reserve of power and when that bass hit drains your battery, your capacitor will provide power to your headlights keeping them lit while your alternator recharges your battery and the problem will seem solved. However you're still killing your battery and putting a strain on your car that will end in a fireball and happy insurance company.

The way I would do it?
Sell that trash from Sony and don't ever touch it again. Go out and buy a proper 2 ohm dual voice coil subwoofer like a Rockford Fosgate and a proper D-class monoblock amplifier from a reputable company. Phoenix Gold maybe? I've been out of the amplifier scene for a while so I can't say....I have a Rockford. I'd still upgrade my wiring and if you can't afford the alternator, it's fine, just don't crank it so your ears bleed. I pound my 7 year old Rockford HE2 and my P300.1 (wish I still had my 200m) amplifier with no car problems......just a busted eardrum.

So there you go. Start reading, throw out the cheap Sony and ask me any questions you have.

greenbay0405

I've heard the same thing about Sony. Is that sub really able to handle 1300 watts? I used to have a pair of pioneer 10's that bumped nicely... I think im goin JL now tho.

DeX

Likely something like 1300 peak at 4ohms and 200 RMS. I wouldn't even classify Sony stuff as musical equipment. They don't do anything but **** up electronics when converting their ideas to mainstream.

01exdippin

Dex...you basically summed up every single question that I could have possibly thought of. Thank you. If I do have any questions, I will def contact you.

DeX

I've been around the scene for a while! Let me know.

greenbay0405

Dex, have you had any experience with JL?

DeX

I had a friend who ran a ghetto Kenwood amplifier into 2 12 inch JL subwoofers. But it doesn't really matter what the brand name is, quit the Louis Vuitton way of thinking. You don't pay for a brand name, you pay for quality and you don't need to know who makes it to know if it's good or not. Even Sony (I think) makes some good quality gear if you can pay the amount for it, just most of it is not.

Basically to give you a comparison, are you a computer guy? If you are, you know one of the most important parts of building any system is the power supply. Not just a good 500 watt but a good quality one, it's the same for your system. That power supply is your amplifier, quality in = quality out so you need to power your gear with a good quality signal. Amplifiers are categorized into A, B, C (maybe?) and D class. Most Sony amplifiers are A/B class which is why they aren't worth their packaging. If you want quality, get a 300 watt D-class amplifier that will operate at 2 ohms per voice coil or even 1 if you can afford it. The name doesn't matter, then plug it into a dual voice coil subwoofer with a good rubber (can't remember what it's called) out-er-ing and is capable of doing 2 or 1 ohms. I guarantee you this 300 watt setup will beat the **** out of your 1300 watt setup and all your friends at school who think bigger is better will soon be asking you if you can make their system sound like yours. I hit 137.5 decibels in competition with a 250 watt Rockford Fosgate 250m monoblock amplifier (that I caught on fire) and the 12 inch Rockford Fosgate HE2 that I still have.

Then just put it into an MDF box, you can make one at home for $25 with a sheet of MDF from Home Depot, a saw and a nail gun.

Most importantly you need to load www.google.com, sit down with a case of beer and research how the different classes of amplifiers work and what ohms are. You probably even went over Ohms' law in grade 10 mathematics or physics. Then you'll be able to put together your own system and install it instead of paying a shop $200 to do it for you.

This topic should end up getting stickied.

greenbay0405

I do need to do some research on amps... btw i don't have the 1300 watt sony system, I just have a 12" boston G1 right now with a horribly crappy boston gt-20 amp. Thanks for the advice. I'm gonna have to do some research on ohms and all that as well. All i've ever payed attention to is rms watts on subs... which prolly causes you to cringe Thanks for the advice tho Dex. I'm basically lookin for somethin thats not just loud, but also quality sound. And i want it too hit pretty good. I don't know anything about decibles, but, in layman's terms, how hard did that rockford hit? Right now, i'm thinkin about 2 W1's with a 500 watt amp. Would this be a mistake???

naughton

I don't know anything about decibles, but, in layman's terms, how hard did that rockford hit? Right now, i'm thinkin about 2 W1's with a 500 watt amp. Would this be a mistake.
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peter
Car Auctions

DeX

W........T..........F?

No worries, if you run into something that you just don't get, ask me. RMS is a good place to start, make sure it's at least half of the peak rating. Another thing is sound deadening, you'd be very very surprised at how much better a system will sound with some sound deadening in your car. And I can't comment on your equipment, sorry, no idea about those.
But as for my Rockford:
120 decibels = hearing loss starting to happen
130 decibels = something I don't remember
140 decibels = standing 3 meters from a jet engine

I hit 137.5 in my mom's 4 door Cavalier in a competition with a JVC Kameleon KD-LX30 deck, 250 watt (proper) amplifier and a single 12 inch subwoofer. I had people surrounding the car trying to keep the doors from vibrating and keeping the sound in. And the quality of the sound was great.

As for your question about the new setup, I think you'd be fine as long as it's 500 watts RMS and you can run it in 2 channel at most 2 ohms. Read the specifications on the sheet that comes with the amplifier, the RMS rating is different depending on how many ohms you're running to each voice coil. Mine will run at like 200 watts at 4 ohms and 2 channel, or 300 watts at 2 ohms and 2 channel or 375 watts at 2 ohms and 1 channel......I think. I read it a long time ago and don't remember so not only do you need the right numbers, you need to hook it up properly to get those numbers. It's like a television that can do 1080p high definition but if you plug in a yellow RCA cable for video, it's only going to display at crappy 480i resolution. Remember, garbage in = garbage out. If I confused you or haven't answered your question, ask again.

naughton

This is what your friends at school will tell you to do because they probably don't know better.
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naughton
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