TwentyTen

First I would like to thank everyone on CL for being so helpful and patient with my newbie questions. Like I mentioned before, I haven't installed a car stereo since I was in high school and a lot has changed since then. I have been reading Day, Night, and any free minute I have to get back up to speed.

Now my question is regarding Capacitors. My belief is that name brands become name brands become they have earned a reputation for delivering consistent quality. So I usually look at name brands first, but I know therer are brands that are just as good (Acoustic Research for instance) that don't have the same rep as companies such as Monster, Street Wire, or Stinger. So I am looking at a Lightning Audio Cap but see so many others out there for half the price. Does it really matter? Or is it more like a surge protector - most surge protectors do pretty much the same thing whether its from APC or ABC.

Also, some girl at the stereo shop yesterday told me that I'll need power blocks to reduce noise, even if I have a Cap...Any truth to that statement or is she just trying to make a sell?

Any and all response is GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Percy

Darius,

Sounds like she's making a sell. Ask for REAL proof and documentation. Chances are, she won't be able to provide any more than the fancy promotional "slick".

Caps. If your power supply is good (a really good amp) and fairly well regulated, you shouldn't need one. I have yet to hear of any sound quality difference with a cap vs no cap installed. That includes the big 15 farad alumacap. It's not really a surge protector, but more of a reserve power supply for the loosely regulated amp.

Percy

TwentyTen

Good morning and Thank you Percy,

Valuable feedback as always. Actually, I was using the surge protector analogy to say that they all pretty much do the same thing, regardless of brand. Are Capacitors the same way?

Now I know I don't need a Cap AND a power block. But now I have 1 more question: My reason for adding a Cap (1 farad) is just to serve as a back up power supply so the amp isn't always pulling from my battery. My wife and I don't always go into stores together or the kids will be in the car listening to music; I don't want the amp to clip from long periods of heavy bass or a dead battery (happened a few times before in the Mitsubishi).

Thanks again.

Darius

Percy

Darius,

The amp will always pull from the battery. The cap just acts as a quick storage device for the transients. Remember that the battery is part of the circuit. Example...charge up the cap to it's full potential and then have the system run off the cap alone (no battery). You'll find that it won't last very long at all.

Percy

dizzle

Even if you have a good powder supply, I think if you're pulling over 40 Amps of current from your amplifier, it's a really good idea to get a capacitor. Your battery and alternator weren't designed to put out that much juice and the cap will help the lifespan of your battery and alternator.

TwentyTen

Thanks Guys - Just bought a Lighning Audio Cap. This systems coming along nicely...slowly, but nice. Anybody else build their system piece by piece?

Darius

DoubleWhoosh

The system will run off the battery when the car is not running, it will run off the alternator when it is running. For the most part, once the car is running the battery is just another load for the alternator.

The battery is also somewhat of a surge padder for the alternator's output (not its primary function, but it does do this), but it also isn't as fast as a capacitor would be. Distance from the current drawing device and wire size also affect a cap's effectiveness (or purpose for that matter), which is why the cap should be mounted close to the amp (if you are trying to reduce the voltage surges for the amplifier).

If you are worried about your headlights dimming, it will also fix this, but theoretically you could put the cap at the main power wire for the lights...but then again this would just be plain silly

Todd Matsubara
TM Engineering LLC
www.tmengineering.net

NoRyceGS4

im building my system piece by piece. it's slow but alot more satsifying than if you bought everything at once and slapped it all in. what do you have so far?

TwentyTen

Hey CL,

Thanks again for all of the help. I would have made so many expensive mistakes had I not found this place. Even research is tainted when it comes from companies with their best interest in mind.

NoRyceGS4: I just bought Polk db6500 components for the front and db650 2 way coaxials for the rear and I'm really excited about it (they shoudl be here in a week)! It was pretty important to me to have uniform sound all around. Everyone raves about MB Quart and Focal but I know the sound of Polk and want the same sound in the car as in the house. The amp is a Kicker KX600.4 4/3/2 channel Class AB amp that will power the front components and the Sub. Sub is a Kicker C12 12" Comp Free Air. The Nakamichi amp will power the rear doors. I know the Nak amp isn't as powerfull as the Kicker but I think a sound level meter will help even the sound front and rear. I bought an Amp wiring kit off of eBay but I don't know how to get the wires from the battery to the trunk, and I don't know where to find the remote turn on.

Dizzle & DoubleWhoosh: Thanks for the info. Please keep it coming.

Note: I have no idea how to interpret the wires connected to the Nak amp but I think Percy's book will help me

What have you guys done with your systems? NoRyceGS4 - what pieces do you have?

NoRyceGS4

Polks are good So far all i have is the Sub box.
I'm going to be ordering either an Audiobahn12'' SoundQ or FlameQ sub sometime this week along with a matching amp. I know this is WAY overkill, but I like to be noticed . Also, an increasing number of Hondas and such are getting more powerful around my area (400-600 watt sub systems) and I need to stay ahead for the fact that i am driving a Lexus. I am not so meticulous about uniform sound so much as sound quality. After that I will be ordering a power capacitor just for kicks. At this point I will have considered my car done and ready my savings for the bike I am getting this summer. Anything new added after this, i.e. midranges, tweeters, etc. , will be freebies from my friend. (he goes through car audio like i go through women so theres often components he'll sell to me dirt cheap) Other than that no more money on my part.

I can help you with the wires, its pretty easy. Youre going to have to cut a hole into a rubber boot thing that leads into the car. From there you run the wires along the door sill underneath the plastic. I forgot how i got it from there into my trunk, but its easy to do so ill tear it up and get you some pictures if you want them.

NoRyceGS4

I just noticed youre from cali too. Perhaps you might have noticed the louder hondas? Whats your area?

GaryDell

Darious,

you'll find that most agree that 'evening' out the front and rear speakers isn't ideal. Just as most sound comes from in front of you at a concert, so should be the case in the vehicle. My personal preferences using your equipment would be to bridge the 4 channel amp to your front drivers, run the rear speakers off of your head unit, and use the Nakamichi amp with the Kicker sub. Although you'll find many sending gobs of power to their subwoofers, it is rarely necessary, especially in your case in which an infinite baffle driver is being used (quite efficient)...

Have you heard the Polk speakers yet? I don't think their mobile speakers can compare to their older home drivers in terms of quality, though I guess it's not really a fair comparison...

TwentyTen

Gary - I was just @ VIP Motors and the guy was all cokcy because I wasn't there to spend 10 grand on my trunk. He told me that a free air sub is basically a waste of my time and money. I've never heard that before - I think it makes perfect sense to use the trunk as a box. So you suggest running the Kicker amp as a 2 channel and powering the front components? The head units power doesn't come close to that of the Kicker. Please explian, or point me somewhere that explains why the rear fill is not as important. The reason I question is when I was building my Home system <also piece by piece> I had Polk RT600's in the front and the center and Advent <Costco> monopole speakers for the rear. The sound was manageable. When I swapped the Advents for Polk f/x 300i Bipole/Dipole surrounds...OH MY GOD - It was breath taking. I assume it would be the same in the car.

As far as the Polk home speakers...I know what you mean. I spent so much time researching and comparing sound(in my price range). Infinity was a little bright, I didn't like the sound of Energy and couldn't afford Def Tech. Polk had the best overall sound for my taste so I went with Polk all around. I heard Polk/Mom speakers at Circuit City a couple weeks ago comparing them to Alpine and Infinity. Honestly, I thought the Alpine components sounded better but I think the guy was changing the settings to sell the brand that he would get a bonus for. I don't know how the Polk db series compares to the Polk/Mom but I have been happy with their sound so far.

I live in the San Francisco/Daly City area - there are TONS of Hondas and Acuras here. Most have exhausts but I hardly ever hear loud systems. A few Escalades and Navigators with complete A/V systems but not many Honda's -at least none that I can see. Where are you from? Hopefully from this area so you can show me how to run those wires I would love those photos! Do you know how to connect the remote turn on wire? Adding the capacitor wil lbe the easy part

Are you keeping the stock head unit?

fireballs gs400

i purchased a 15 fared alumapro cap, and well all i can say is junk. just because its expensive doesn't mean its good. the lighting audio or rockford caps do the trick. if you have a class d amp, you won't draw much current good luck with the system..

GaryDell

I can't really convince you I guess, just saying that you'll never see an SQ competitor sending as much power to the rearfills as the front speakers as it will draw the soundstage towards the rear of the vehicle (and competitors spend much time doing their best to bring the soundstage up).

This VIP guy has no idea what he's talking about. Infinite baffle setups are great for getting flat frequency response and, as mentioned, are very efficient.

If you liked the Alpines, you may want to check out Seas Excel/Lotus drivers. Alpines' reference component set uses very cheap SEAS procducts, so if you liked the Alpines I'd imagine you'd love some of the company's higher end stuff.