i finally got my system hooked up..costed $40 for installation which included all the wires i hadn't already connected plus a line out converter..sweet deal...and now, you can hear me almost a block away..i'm gonna upgrade my woofers soon, they're the best buy brand(300 watts, 150 each, but in my box...they pound!), and add some highs somewhere up front, probably just some tweeters..just so you can hear me crisp and clean when i ride by wit a bad bitch on the passenger side..lol but it's official, i'm quaking! loud and proud

 

on second thought, i'm not gonna replace my woofers until they blow. those best buy brand woofers (Insignia)are killin people. my friend has some MTX 12" woofers and an MTX competition amp, i'm killin his sound. i think its my box, but my woofers are still doin the damn thang. it's some kind on Type 2 box that best buy carries...costs about $180, but i certainly recommend gettin it, i think it makes a big difference. spend more on the box, less on the other stuff, same sound..

 

i worked at best buy...if u got the service plan ur set cuz when they blow...and the will...u bring emm in 4 two years and get new ones...but i best ya my system will blow everyone away here.....two 12 inch pheonix gold xmax competion subs..1500 watts peak and 750 rms per sub...1 apline v12 amp psuhin 1400 watts.....a 1 fared pheonix gold cap...a 1/2 fared rocksford cap.....a 760 pioneer amp controller my pioneer two ways all round and a pioneer 4800 head unit...subs alone were about 1600$,amp is $730, amp 2 is $170, cap 1 is $150, cap 2 is $100, speakers all round were about $400, head unit was $150. man i love music......thatz a grand total of 3300 bucks and more cds than i can ever play...

 

instead of spending $250 on 2 caps that don't do a whole lot, why not spend that money on upgrading the alt and adding a 2nd battery in the trunk? the 2nd battery will do more for your system than that 1 1/2 farad of capacitors will ever think about doing. and why spend that much on everything else and only spend $150 on a cheap headunit?

 

thats a good idea

get an optima battery and you can mount it anywhere and any which way you like use that as your second battery, and if you get a deep cycle one it wont hurt it if it ever gets drained completely

 

I second that motion!!

 

I agree with the alternator, but putting an extra battery in the trunk is not going to help the system sound or perform better. It WILL allow you to play sound system longer while your car is not running but other than that its not goin to help much when the car is running. But after you have a high current alternator, a CAP would be the next thing to do. And the rule of thumb for a CAP is you should have .1 farad capacitance for every 100 watts of max power, so for your 1400 watt amp you should have at a minimum a 1.4 farad CAP. Also look into upgrading your major electrical system wires...search "The Big Three" this will help out too. The optimal order is; big three, alternator, CAP, extra battery (if u hang out in parking lots or do car shows)

 

but isn't putting a cap in the same thing as putting a battery in??

 

if i had a dollar for everytime i've heard this argument i wouldn't have to work another day the rest of my life.


both capacitors and extra batteries have thier pros & cons. a capacitor and battery do the same thing; store power and release it when needed. a cap will only benefit the stereo where as the battery will at least have the option of helping the rest of the electrical system. a cap is more beneficial on smaller systems than larger systems and also depending on what type of music you listen to. a battery isn't biased to one system size or another or what type of music you listen too.

a cap is good if you dont try to use it beyond what it's intended for. if you have slight dimming and voltage drop then a cap will make a good band aide to fix it. if you've got major dimming and voltage issues a 2nd battery would be more beneficial than a cap, BUT with that problem a high output altenator is really you're only option.