Do I need a capacitor?

Miniouse
Miniouse Posts: 4
edited May 2009 in Subwoofer Hookup & Bass Management
Hey guys, I was wondering if I need a capacitor for my 12'' sony sub, 300 watt rms, 1000 watt peak.

http://www.xplodsony.com/xplod/subwoofers/XS-L120P5A

Is it even worth getting a capacitor? I don't have any knowledge or experience with one so I need some help here, cause sometimes my amp wont give enough power. It's a mosfet car amp 300 watt rms, and 600watt max.

I don't turn the sub up alot cause my amp is too small, and at a certain point it starts to distort.
Post edited by Miniouse on
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  • Rocco1
    Rocco1 Posts: 190
    edited May 2009
    MINI

    i would post down the way in the car audio section. but a capacitor is a great thing and helps the amp with stable power. so when there are those deep base hits that make your car lights blink the capacitor supplies the extra power.
    Man Cave: 7.1
    -PS Audio Power Plant Premier
    -PS Audio Power backup
    -Onkyo Pre/Pro> 2 Adcom555se bridged and bi-wired> RTi A9s
    > Adcom GFA 7605> CSi A6 center, RTi A3s side rears, FXi A6s rears
    >Sub = MK Audio 10'
    -PS3
    -Onkyo 5 disc cd player
    -Directv
    -Samsung 59' plasma flanked by 2 Samsung 43' plasma's
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  • ahardy17
    ahardy17 Posts: 84
    edited May 2009
    Miniouse wrote: »
    Hey guys, I was wondering if I need a capacitor for my 12'' sony sub, 300 watt rms, 1000 watt peak.

    http://www.xplodsony.com/xplod/subwoofers/XS-L120P5A

    Is it even worth getting a capacitor? I don't have any knowledge or experience with one so I need some help here, cause sometimes my amp wont give enough power. It's a mosfet car amp 300 watt rms, and 600watt max.

    I don't turn the sub up alot cause my amp is too small, and at a certain point it starts to distort.

    your amp is adequate for that sub...the "1000watts peak" is an inflated figure. the sub can handle more than the amp can put out which just means you could have trouble with clipping if you push the amp too hard. sadly a capacitor won't help you much here, it just provides extra power during highs in music, not constantly. what you need is a more powerful amp if you want that extra power.
    In-Car:
    Head Unit: Sony MEX-1GP
    Door speakers: Infinity Kappa 680.9cs
    Rear speakers: Polk db690
    Subwoofers: Memphis Audio 15-M3124
    Amps: Pioneer GM5300T, Kenwood KAC 6020, Memphis Audio MCD1.1100

    In-Home:
    Harmon/Kardon AVR 230
    Harmon/Kardon DVD 101
    Yamaha RX-V995
    Bose 161
    Bose 901
    Polk FXi30
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  • zarrdoss
    zarrdoss Posts: 2,562
    edited May 2009
    Do your lights get dim when you turn it up at night? if not then no a cap will not help. I would consider upgrading your battery first to something like an Optima deep cycle dry cell.
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  • ahardy17
    ahardy17 Posts: 84
    edited May 2009
    zarrdoss wrote: »
    Do your lights get dim when you turn it up at night? if not then no a cap will not help. I would consider upgrading your battery first to something like an Optima deep cycle dry cell.

    yeah! a yellowtop i think is the weapon of choice...at least that's the one i'd get...am i right?
    In-Car:
    Head Unit: Sony MEX-1GP
    Door speakers: Infinity Kappa 680.9cs
    Rear speakers: Polk db690
    Subwoofers: Memphis Audio 15-M3124
    Amps: Pioneer GM5300T, Kenwood KAC 6020, Memphis Audio MCD1.1100

    In-Home:
    Harmon/Kardon AVR 230
    Harmon/Kardon DVD 101
    Yamaha RX-V995
    Bose 161
    Bose 901
    Polk FXi30
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  • zarrdoss
    zarrdoss Posts: 2,562
    edited May 2009
    yellow it is!
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  • ahardy17
    ahardy17 Posts: 84
    edited May 2009
    zarrdoss do you have any idea how much those go for? in case i get a car in the forseeable future...
    In-Car:
    Head Unit: Sony MEX-1GP
    Door speakers: Infinity Kappa 680.9cs
    Rear speakers: Polk db690
    Subwoofers: Memphis Audio 15-M3124
    Amps: Pioneer GM5300T, Kenwood KAC 6020, Memphis Audio MCD1.1100

    In-Home:
    Harmon/Kardon AVR 230
    Harmon/Kardon DVD 101
    Yamaha RX-V995
    Bose 161
    Bose 901
    Polk FXi30
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  • zarrdoss
    zarrdoss Posts: 2,562
    edited May 2009
    150 to 170 if you have an interstate batteries in your town go there and they might have a blem for much cheaper
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  • Miniouse
    Miniouse Posts: 4
    edited May 2009
    In my case I don't have it in a car, it's in my basement, I was gonna get another one of the same amps and just bridge it, one would have the positive output, and the other amp would have the negative.

    does anybody know how much it would be for about 10-12 feet of 8 or 4 guage speaker wires? Because last night I came accross this... http://www.the12volt.com/wiring/recwirsz.asp

    And I need about 9 feet from the power source to the amp, and 2 feet from the amp to my sub. I currently have crappy 14 gauge wires, I'm slowly buying everything I need.

    Thanks for your help guys, so I highly doubt I'm gonna get a capacitor mainly because my sub is crap and wont really need it.
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  • bassfann
    bassfann Posts: 151
    edited May 2009
    people get confused when it comes to auto power,the battery's use is for starting the car,all accessories are driven off the alt.power.adding a second battery is not the fix,,infact it will probably destroy your alternator because of all the extra work it has to perform....so upgrade alt. and make sure your ground at the amp is much thicker wire than your power wire
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