cap needed?

[nine8civicSi]

would i tbe a smart idea to run a cap with a 775 RMS sub amp?

[ZMan2k2]

Everybody is probably gonna have a different opinion, but from what I've heard, yes. You're gonna want to run a cap, esp. with a stock civic alternator. I've heard that .5 farads per 500watts is a rule, so I would go with a 1 farad cap at least.

[Big_C_racing]

k....from all the arguments that I have read about posts on other discussion boards, this is what I have concluded. I cap does absolutely nothing to prevent you battery from getting drained. All a cap does is store aditional power so that when you excede the power output capacity of your battery, the cap provides that extra charge that it has stored for 1millisecond. The cap then has to recharge which increases the drain on your battery. So if you are looking to get larger peaks in your bass, a cap would improve things slightly but would do nothing to decrease drain on your battery. Chances are, if it does anything, it will increase drain on your battery.

[That.Guy.S30]

a cap will stop your headlights from dimming when the bass hits since it will gather a charge from the battery before the bass hits so the amp will not drain it from the battery itself. for compeition use if you are in spl(sound pressure level) they beleive it is complete bullshit and therefore they do not use it. for sq(sound quality) they believe it helps so they use it. the cap is only good if it has a really low esp level.

[2000impreza]

caps don't help a weak electrical system. more of a temporary band-aid solution. a cap actually hurts spl performance creating more of a strain on the electrical system. if you are running a serious sound system look into upgrading the alternator.

[soupey]

basically wut ive figured out is that u only need a cap if u don't like ur components dimming when the bass hits hard and ur battery's resistance isn't fast enough to fulfill the power requirements, since a cap can giv out more power in lil time, it keeps enough power available when ur bass peaks

[Hash_man]

A good cap is a very good thing to have, many caps on the market do not help from what I have heard, but I notice that my cap helps ever since I got it put in.

The way a cap works, is it will take in a charge, and release the charge much quicker than the alternator can recharge the battery, or something along those lines... this makes it so there is less of a strain on your charging system, therefore, reducing the need to upgrade your alternator.

My amp is rated at 420 Watts RMS, and I have a 1 farad Monster cap.

[soupey]

yea, basically wut he said...all it is for is if ur noticing that ur system is taking too much of a toll on the rest of ur components...only buy a cap if u don't like ur car dimming at heavy bass...or if ur amp is cutting out or distorting at high bass (only if you know that ur system should be handling the bass but isnt...)

hope all of the above helps u.

:thumbsup: