sick, dident though it was so much diff from 13.75 to 14+, guess ill stay at 13 than, dident have any elec probs before and i still dont, can feel the subs getting a bit more power, havent felt anything bad so far but mb it will happen in the future

im allrdy looking for a new alt, as soon as i get the right offer ill upgrade it

This post was edited by lulzz on Mar 26 2012 12:06pm

Amplifiers do rated @ 14.4v unless otherwise specified so if you're not hitting 14.4v you're not getting rated power (non-clipped anyways) it magnifies even worse if you have a lot of impedance rise that brings you to a higher ohm load which then robs even MORE power from your rated, and if you have a cheap amplifier to boot that doesn't do rated in the first place then bam you're looking at a TON of clipping and voltage drop and eventually the death of your audio...

Caps are like the dumbest thing ever, I don't even get why they're made the only system that would actually benefit from a cap wouldn't need one. A new alternator is a proper fix, a good battery is a proper bandaid, a cap is what you buy when you obviously don't know what you're doing.

Big III is basically more important than a cap and a good battery has built in capacitors like my Odyssey PC1500. Basically caps are money making scheme and don't actual provide reliability and longevity it's a IMPROPER bandaid.

I used to runs caps back in the day then I started using High Outputs batteries aka Deep Cycles and have never used one again I found out how little they actually do.

This post was edited by Hellish Orc on Mar 26 2012 12:19pm

Answer these questions if you will for me:

What size alternator and for what type of vehicle do you currently have?
What size battery/brand do you currently have (What's the CCA and CA of it?)
What does your battery sit at when you don't start it and what does it sit at when started/idle and what does it go to full tilt on idle.
What size/brand wiring do you use and is your ground nice a shaved down to the metal?
What Amplifier do you have (model/brand) and what subwoofers?

13.75v is FINE you won't blow anything but honestly remove the cap do a big III and throw a random battery in the back, I guarantee you get way better results. Also make sure you switch to all 0/1 gauge Tsunami, Knuconceptz or Kicker wiring.
I wish I knew your impedance rise as that also plays a pretty big factor, also do you tune by ear or Osciliscope or DMM?

i heard alot of shit about caps, i just got one from a friend for free so i decided to try myself, and im still a noob at car audio and i like smoking a big joint and then chilling with stuff like this so at least i got the experience

my amp wasnt cheap thats for sure, but doonu how good it is, i bought most of my stuff 3.5 years ago, a big noob with a big wallet at that time

earthquake monoblock 1000 rms @ 1 ohm, considering how i made the install n shit at that time its pretty amazing it stills bangs, had no problems at all in these 3 years and most of time amps wasnt even mounted anywhere just laying loose behind the bass, i think 2 times some cable went loose and after 5 sec it was playing again, and it still is, when i hear how ppl blow up stuff after only weeks/months all the time i think i made a good deal and its worth the money, good car audio is so expensive here in denmark,, all ur brands from usa cost 2x here so its hard to get good deal, only sometimes i get 30-40 % discount on some diff rf products

my battery is bigger than stock ones in golf 3s, it can handle a bit more than 1000 W atm so im fine there for awhile, and im looking for alt upgrade as soon as possible

Hell yeah smoking a fatty and cruisin/giving demo's is what makes this hobby great aside from the awesome music but yeah Earthquakes aren't really top tier but I hear they do rated or just about if it has lasted 3 years that just means you took care of it and didn't go to low on the voltage I've had Sony XPLOD's last me 4 years haha.

I agree prices in USA are way cheaper but curtain sites provide good prices I'll have to see if I can find one for your area. As far as your battery handling 1000w not many single battery's can handle 1000w the CCA/CA and aH as well as Reserve is important also if it's a Deep Cycle that makes a HUGE difference as it can recharge on the go and recover much quicker.

If you're hitting 13.75v full tilt you probably don't need much of an upgrade. Just do a BIG III and remove the cap and you'll be fine. Warm subs are fine but HOT subs are not.

Do you have a custom ported enclosure? or a prefab? If you are dropping into the low 13's or mid 12's I'd consider an upgrade I try to keep my voltage between 13.5-14.4v at all times at idle, if you drive you should be fine or if you keep RPM's @ around 1800. High idle voltage requires a good alternator 90% of the time. But like I said if you're around 13.75 all the time then you're fine I think the cap will hinder your alt after awhile though and you'll end up replacing it.

This post was edited by Hellish Orc on Mar 26 2012 12:52pm

rly nothing better than installing new speakers while smoking a nice blunt, i loved stuff like this since i was a little kid, even tho im a noob i gladly helped a few friends doing some small systems, every time i get the chance to work with it and learn something new ill do it, if i find out the cap wasnt an good idea ill just remove it, at least i got to learn how to install a cap properly and feel/hear the diff myself

i havent heard much about earthquake but i only heard good things, it lasted 3.5 years now, the funny thing is i dident rly take good care of it the first 2.5 years cause i simply was a noob and dident know better, its sick that i dident put something with wrong ohm load together or stuff like that, i had alot of money and just though, i take this and this and that and mix that up that would be sick, no idea wtf i was doing xD

i know im driving my battery and alt on the egde but it seems to work smooth, im the kind of guy who listens to my music around max volume 8 of 10 minutes im in my car and sometimes im driving hours a day, never had any issues with sub/amp/alt/bat/ speakers, u name it. and i had 2 diff golf 3s

we got alot of amazing audio brands here that makes insane speakers, few even top of the world speakers, they just cost more than my car for an 6.5 component set, and then theres the crappy cheap import shit, the good import is so damn expensiv cause they know how expensiv the shipping is for us normal ppl, they prolly get shipping for like 20 bucks but it ups the price by 100-300, of anyone knows a place with cheap shipping to denmark plz let me know, asked be4 here but no luck

i know the ah is 75, caa and ca i dont know, the ca could might be 90? not sure

after i hooked up the cap i tested 4-5 songs with diff bass with max volume and it never went below 13.75, not even with car shut off allso

i been using car for outside partys be4 where it have been playing at max nonstop for 4-5 hours and only my 4chan got hot, no smell/high heat from monoblock or subs, was pretty amazed by this.. got 2x 10 p2s in rockford ported box, the port on the right side is starting to become loose, i think this box has taken enough beating soon, will think about swapping it out soon, u think i can make a better one myself ? i asume these expensive subs came in the perfect box allrdy

edit, when i idle with music off its way beyond 14.xx, even when my 4chan is playing at its max without the subs on high freqs it stays at 14.xx, only when the subs is pulling close to its maximum its going around 13.75

still havent done big3, got 2 feet of 0 gauge high quality, need 2 more feet but they dident have any left >&

This post was edited by lulzz on Mar 26 2012 01:23pm

Like I said if your voltage is that good do big III and ditch the cap... sure you alt and bat might be fine now but eventually your engine light will come on and it will start to fluctuate and not charge and eventually die ive had 3 stock 90a alts do this to me on a DC 1.2K until I finally got a battery and did a big III now everything is pleasant

I agree on doing some upgrades to the big three. Caps are an accident waiting to happen, if anything get a glass matte battery (agm)