Okay, I have a soundstream Lil' wonder 4 amp that is powering some diamond audio components and a bazooka tube. However, I have a 10" Eclipse aluminum sub lying around that I would like to use. IT's a 6ohm SVC version. The guy at the stereo shop said it really needs like 600 watts of power to really shine, and I hooked it up to a 360W PPI 2360 amp and the soundstream amp (at different times of course) and I have to agree that it does need more power. I'm thinking I need at least 450watts.

So the guy at the shop said he likes the PG 600 watt amp (I forget the model..XZsomething600) but then said my car's alternator isn't powerful enough.

So what is the most powerful amp I can add (in addition to the soundstream or I can get rid of the soundstream and use the PPI 2360) without needing a new alternator? How about adding a capacitor? Would that allow me to use a bigger amp or is it used for some other reason?

Thanks in advance.

 

OK question is how many amps are you going to be drawing(fused max up front) If its 70 or better you need A. New Battery B. 1-2 Farad of caps. C. Alternator only if that doesnt do it for you. If your fusing 100 or better you need a new alternator.....most likely.

 

okay, to calculate the current, it's:

current = (# watts from the amp / volts from the battery)

right? So if I had an amp capable of 600 watts RMS, then the RMS current would be something like 50 amps? I could get an alumapro 6 farad (I think that's the newest middle sized one, I don't think the 15 farad one would be necessary) capacitor for when the amp needs to really hit hard. That would leave me 20 amps for an amp to power the diamond components. I think the PPI would be alright for that.

Am I doing this right?

 

I try not to get scientific with this. Though I believe its 1 farad for every 1,000 watts peak power. Though you can never have to many farads! For your case....a 1 or 1.5 Farad cap should be fine! No alternator upgrade needed. I look at it like this. If your pushing a sub amp with a 30-40 amp fuse then 1 farad is fine. If your pushing it to 40-50 then 1.5-2 is good. If your pushing 50-70ish then 2 farads is definitly needed!

I wa running 2 amps a Autotek 80mxi and a 90mxi. One rated for 30 amps and one for 45. This all in a 1988 Honda Accord. I droped in a Optima battery 2 4 aug wires to the rear 2.5 farads of caps, upgraded 4 aug ground to chassi off the battery. I would have upgraded to 4 aug wire off the alternator but it was way way to hard to get to.

I blew through one alternator in the like 2 years I had the system in my car. If your serious about upgrading your system try that stuff first this will get more power back to your amps and ease the strain on your alternator. If it blows up after all that then well.....buy a bigger one!

Usually only Caps are used to back up subs.