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well i got a sub in my trunk but im not worried that would drain too much batery, but now i have a dvd player in my car and i dunno if i shud get a capcitor//high output alternator. with these 2 things shud i even bother worrying about my battery life?? if not, what mods would force me to make that change?

 
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cap if your sub and amp is powerful. alt. if you have immense power. example: i have 2 12"s powered by a 2000 watt rms amp, with a 6 farad capacitor. stock alt. i see little dimmage of the headlights if turned up all the way. in your current setup you are probably good, unless your throwing down about 1000 watts rms with your amp.

 
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I wouldnt worry about it with ur set up. ... A sub and a DVD player is no reason 4 a cap or alt. Unless that sub/amp combo that u have is really really serious...

 
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For every 1000 watts its good to have 1 farad cap. If you get too big of a cap you will need a bigger battery cause it will drain it. And then with a bigger battery your alternator will be short lived or atleast shorter.
Do your lights dimm when your subs hit, any lights interior or exterior?
If so its probably a bad idea to roll yuor windows up while bumping your subs, and you should probably get a cap.

 
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The only reason to buy a cap is if headlight dimming bothers you, and even then the cap doesnt always help. A H/O alt you wouldent need to even begin considering unless you were over 2000 watts or so by a good margin.

 
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I have 4100 watts and still dont need a HO ALT. Rockford 801s = 2400w and Rockford P4004 = 1700. I dunno if ur going on max power or RMS cuz that would lower it to like 1200w rms total. I gotta yellow top but that's just 4 starting in those cold as hell Wisconsin winters when its like 20 below. And I got 3 caps which is over kill and I could get by with 1 and 2 would b just fine but I got them at Best Buy when I used to work there for like $45 instead of $150 so It was a buy 3 for the price of 1 and I was like *** it, why not?

 
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yeah rms, never max power. Dimming of the head lights is not the only reason, a cap allows the subs to hit harder, and does not strain your battery an alt as much, if its not too big.

 
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alt will cost too much....u relly dont need it.....i would get bigger bettery and cap get it done under 200 doller....if u runnin more then 1000w rms.....i got 34xcd
runnin 1600 rms amp....and two 12" 750w rms each solo-baric L7

got all the parts not installd yet.....shop told me that wont be any problem....

 
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you can buy a one farad lightning audio aka rockford fosgate cap from pep-boys for $99.99 i am not sure if this is a great deal but i know i sold them for 150-200 in an audio shop.

 
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i got audioban....1 frd for 69.00...good deal???

 
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yeah not too bad at all

 
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Not true.

 
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agreed, a cap helps only to reduce the draw from the amp and limit the voltage, so theres no way it makes it louder. only caps that are going to help are over 50farad, the smaller farad cap's will only help for maybe a 1sec, if u need more power start by replacing the battery and possibliy add a second. also the big3 as some call it helps no matter wut.

 
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this is over my head talk

 
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yeah a cap will make the subs hit harder, its only for the really loud/deep bumps, but it does.

 
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No, caps do not make the sub hit harder. That's a well circulated internet myth. Capacitors can possibly effect dimming, that's their only use, period. Can you guarantee they will do anything? Nope, absoloutely not. If someone tells you that they'll make your bass better, kick them square in teh jimmy and tell them to shut up. If they tell you they can gurantee an effect, kick them in the nuts again, because they can't tell you how they'll effect your charging system. Caps store power, and supply it to the amp at voltage spikes (when the amp/draw is asking for more than teh battery/alternator can supply). This causes dimming. The caps provide the surge of power, even if for a breif second to supply your electrical with that surge, or at least attempts to. Still, there is never a consistent effect. Some people have great results with them, some have no results with them. My advice, big 3 wires, then battery, then alternator. If that doesn't fix it, I'd try adding a second battery, colser to the amp, and isolated from the one supplying teh motor. Then, after all this, I'd possibly try a cap. I'd never advocate using one, as they never increase voltage, again that's a circulated myth, and they don't increase bass response. Anyone that tells you they do is doing one of several things: 1. Trying to sell you something you don't need. 2. Believing marketing ploys of manufacturers. 3. Circulating and buying into the lies and hype circulated on internet forums. I could go on...

 
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If the cap supplies power when the battery cannot, then with out the cap, the subs are not gettin as much power, even if its only brief, it still will get more power to your subs, thus making them louder. Caps definitely take a little strain off the electrical system. An upgraded battery will prob do more than a cap, but they are both useful.

 
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I'll be willing to bet you $100, on a mic that if you add a cap you will not see an increase in SPL. You're not very educated about capacitors are you? Search for capacitors, there's a therad here I posted a long time ago that'll teach you a thing or 12 about them. By the way, the bet above would be easy money, so I'm not going to rip you off like that. Caps are never guranteed to be useful, and that's teh problem. They have adverse effects as many times as they have positive effects. Fact of the matter is caps only help dimming. Nothing more, nothing less. They don't increase voltage and they don't keep voltage steady at 14.4 v and they don't increase SPL numbers. That's a myth.

 
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Caps are an added strain, its one more thing that has to be charged. The time it takes a cap to discharge is counted in fractions of a second, so it is literally impossible for it to have an affect on the voltage/volume of the system. All they do is have a slight potential to reduce dimming.

 
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I still dont get how it can help with dimming and not power to the sub, it just dont make sense????

 
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theres so much ppl talking crazyness here.

a cap wont save your alt or battery or anything.
it doesnt serve any purpose at all except it reduces NOTICABLE dimming.

the first think you guys should do is the big 3 wiring upgrade.
second could be upgrade to a deep cycle battery.
third is a H/O alt.

cap is just a complete waste of money IMO.

 
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listen to popcornplaya and mystic3030.

they know what they are talking about in regards to car audio.

 
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u know what, unless you have a HARD CORE class D amp, for your SUB or subs, you don't need a new alternator or a cap. if you have a decent sub amplifier, than i'd suggest a cap, a cap does put out better bass,

like me, i have a JL 12w7 with the 1000/1. mines on the lowest setting, and it's still draining power like a bitch. even with a cap. a cap is just temporary power. a new optima battery will provide a longer steady power. but a alternator will just make it so you just need the alternator. unless you don't put 1000+ dollars in to ur sub//amp i'd highly doubt you need an alternator. a cap, i'd suggest.

 
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Caps don't put out better bass, period.

 
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Okay i have done some research and this is one of the most highly debated topics whne it comes to car audio if not the most.
"The only reason a capacitor prevents lights from dimming is by smoothing out the voltage rails. those rails will still be sagging though if the alternator can't keep up. this just emans you'll have non dimming lights getting about 10 to 11 volts instead of the 12 to 15 they should."

READ THESE:

http://pub14.ezboard.com/fcaraudiota...picID=10.topic

http://pub14.ezboard.com/fcaraudiota...picID=23.topic

There are still come discrepencies, but bottomline caps are useful for more than dimming lights.

 
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get a cap IT DOES HELP even if u got some haters that act like they know everything( popcorn) there just saying what they believe from stuff they read prolly doesnt even have a car but will be quick to give u advice on yours. I have a 500 watt class d alpine amp and im running a 1 fared and a 1.4 fared cap with it and it DOES HIT HARDER my cap wont ever read under 13.3 so my amp doresnt get under 13.3 volts and it pushes more power then if it was struggling without the caps gettin low power when it really hits like 11 volts. just dont get a cheap cap dont get a cap that says 3 or 4 fared and is 40 online buy 1 or 2 real 1 fared capacitor and it will stop the lights from dimming and get u a higher constant power to ur amp which when the amps calling for it it will get and it hits a lil harder and a lil cleaner if someone tells me im lyin ill post a video on youtube with and without my caps so we can settle that

 
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what do u have in your car for amps and subs

 
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dude... they were in here 6 years ago...

 
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hey he is a newb tho