hey guys so im planning on installing my sound system either tomorrow or this weekend if all goes well. I chose not to do it professionally simply because i want to know how to do it in the future and id rather save the cash.
so my main question is do you think my battery will be able to power it all without getting a capacitor.
i have 2 1000 watt audiopipe subs, 4 new door speakers, and a 1600 watt amp, but by no means do i figure ill get the full potential out of all of it. I came across this stuff really cheap on craigslist so i figured i use it and not power the entire thing up. anyone get good power without a capacitor? what is a safe amount to power it at?
also any other tips would be really helpful such as where you wired it through, im thinking the door sill. any reccomendations on wiring? i plan to go to ultimate audio in kinnelon nj tomorrow to pick some up.
Anything you guys got to say about installing it, ill listen to. you guys know better then i do.
thanks

 

Honestly dude, running that much power through the amp, you're gonna need a cap. Right now I'm running 2 caps, one for each amp and they are each drawing power at half volume. They're both sony, 1-800W and 1 -240W. Enough to knock the voltmeters down to 10 or lower on the caps.

Secondly, how dedicated are you to cleanliness? There's a couple of DIY's about holes in the firewall that you can use but you may still want to remove the back seat to run the wires cleanly. If you are willing to do that, then you can wire a direct route to the hatch area rather then trying to feed the wire through the molding and such.

 

It's a good idea to invest into a voltmeter. Just wire it to your battery and leave it in the center console somewhere so you can see how much it's affecting your battery.

Not sure you need that much power and bass though, especially for your first system.

Installing a system is a good place to start when learning how to work on your car. Just make sure that NO wires are exposed and that you use an inline fuse.

 

i am a huge fan of running the wires cleanly...maybe i should wait a little while then, save up for a cap and then remove the back seats before doing it. its tempting to just do it tomorrow but it wont be good in the long run

yeah im definitely looking into getting a voltemeter as well. the tib has been starting up fine for the past week since i cleaned off as much erosion as i could off of the terminals.
by the way how many farads should i be looking for to safely run this stuff?

 

I'd probably go with a 1.5 - 2 farad right now. At least IMO that should be good enough. I cheaped out and got an ebay one for like 50 bucks shipped to Canada so they shouldn't be that bad.

 

You're going to need alot more then a cap... Your alternator only puts out 1400W.

 

Most of your music listening is done at well under 10 watts guys. A capacitor is a band-aid that often is all you need if your charging system can't cope with bass that rattles windows in the car next door. If you aren't giving yourself CPR with your subwoofers, you may not need a capacitor at all. I vote for installing the system and seeing if you need a cap. If you do, install it. If not, you're not out the money.

 

The quality of your amps is going to be the deciding factor here. Sounds like you may have gotten some cheaper components. I had a 1500 watt Boss (cheap) amp that even with a cap made my lights dim at half volume. Upgraded to a NINe.1 (1500 watts) from Elemental Designs and with the thing cranked never noticed the lights dimming at all. I do think a cap is worth the money, but, you may be better off saving your money, selling the amp you have, and getting something thats a bit higher quality in the amp department. Might save you from having to purchase and wire a cap all together.

 

Install what you have and see if there's a problem. The amp mounting is the easiest part of an install in my opinion.

A higher-end amp will have a power supply with more capacity (more capacitors) so tibbytib does have a point.

 

Install the system. If you get a large drain because of the amp/subs, put a cap on there. It's easy enough to add it afterwards.