Almost there

Jon · Post by **Jon** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 9:32 am

OK so maybe caps don't hurt, but do they help? Since most amps have regulated power supplies, how would a cap help? Since caps only regulate voltage, but cannot provide current, how would that help in a stable electrical environment?

I am asking these questions because you guys are some of the most knowledgeable car audio people I have talked to online. I respect your ability to cut through marketing crap and deliver real world info.

Ryan from Ohio · Post by **Ryan from Ohio** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 9:54 am

Well if you want the long read look at glass's FaQ in the FAQ section. Enough info to make you go insane.

But the short version.

Providing you have sufficient power from the alternator it wont hurt. If anything it will help. Since the ESR is less in the cap than the battery, it will provide the power quicker.

Music being transient and fast, the small time delay of electrons moving can hurt a bit. But given the caps ability to discharge faster than a battery or alternator, it helps smooth out your voltage rail.

Its all very minute and probably not noticeable but it has shown up on tests. I believe Richard Clark did them (for what its worth).

cool mr grinch · Post by **cool mr grinch** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 10:40 am

Justin from Detroit wrote:Wow, how you have changed! lol
You could give these subs a try... they will get very loud with 1000w RMS flowing through them....
http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?fus ... ct_ID=3709

i would like to stick with 10". and the 10s in that series are only 600 rms.

Jon · Post by **Jon** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 1:09 pm

Ryan from Ohio wrote:Well if you want the long read look at glass's FaQ in the FAQ section. Enough info to make you go insane.

But the short version.

Providing you have sufficient power from the alternator it wont hurt. If anything it will help. Since the ESR is less in the cap than the battery, it will provide the power quicker.

Music being transient and fast, the small time delay of electrons moving can hurt a bit. But given the caps ability to discharge faster than a battery or alternator, it helps smooth out your voltage rail.

Its all very minute and probably not noticeable but it has shown up on tests. I believe Richard Clark did them (for what its worth).

Yeah I have read the Richard Clark tests all the way through. What I find odd is that most people assume that caps will provide power, but they don't really. At least not enough to measure or make a difference. From what Clark points out, it seems that by the time the cap discharges from full voltage to the voltage of a battery, it is fractions of a second, and once there, no further power can be supplied. You know that I work for a battery company so I am going to push batteries in general. I just always am looking for others opinions on caps just to make sure that I know what I think I know.

Ryan from Ohio · Post by **Ryan from Ohio** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 3:35 pm

Well then Im sure you know the time constant factor when talking capacitors.

1 to discharge and 5 to fully recharge.

So if it takes only .1 second to discharge then it will take .5 to recharge.

Music being as transient as it it, I think I would stick with having a cap. Its not going to hurt and the help might be marginal, but eh.

Ya I might need a battery too...

Tim · Post by **Tim** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 5:57 pm

Ahh crap, now I have another decision to make. I gotta cap and had prety well decided against using it as most opinions I got were they were "band aids". I had so many people tell me not to use one. I personally always thought they helped, even if it was marginal. So now I guess I have to decide all over again.

Tim

cool mr grinch · Post by **cool mr grinch** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 6:04 pm

ive been looking at the kicker cvr10-4 they are 600 watt rms, 1200 peak, how well do you think they will handle 1000 watts rms, or am i looking at this wrong?

NorthQuad · Post by **NorthQuad** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 6:14 pm

cool mr grinch, nice install job. Looks very clean.

As for the cvr. My 12" cvr's are rated at 400 rms. And I just looked at the Kicker site and it reads that the 10" is 400 rms as well.

http://www.kicker.com/compvr

Justin from Detroit1 · Mon Feb 16, 2009 6:34 pm

i think he means the Kicker CVX sub, which is 600w. I think as long as you keep the gain down and listen for bottoming out, 1000w should be fine, since it is only putting out that much in the most drastic of situations anyways.

cool mr grinch · Post by **cool mr grinch** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 6:46 pm

help me understand bottoming out?