HO Alternator or Capacitor

If you buy that cap, you will have essentially taken a step back from getting what you really need, an Alternator. People are telling you not to get a cap on here for good reasons, and money sure isn't one where that shops main goal is money from your wallet. Don't be a sucker! There might be slight difference in how your electrical system reacts if the amp is less stressed, but I am not entirely sure. Quite simply you have a big amp and it pulls from your electrical system no matter what. You wanna a cap so bad? I'll give you one. I have them laying around in my room. My alt. upgrade is what made the real difference.

dwarren i never said i was gonna buy that cap.  they said they were gonna order it, im gonna call em and tell em i dont want it.   we're dealing with a 2003 explorer

Neither did I...

well you just made it sound like i was dying to buy a cap, and i really dont want one.  my bad

It's all good, I just don't want to hear about someone wasting money!

well i appreciate that you're lookin out for me like that.  so i guess an alternator is the way to go.  the new question is, how many amps will i need and where is the cheapest place to get one?  i've got an amp putting out 1332 watts at 14.5 volts, and i think i remember it saying that it needs 120 amps at max draw, but i'll have to check on that when i get home.

Get the biggest one that will fit your car. You can never have enough, especially if you decide to upgrade. I don't really have any suggestions on cheap alternators, but try looking locally first. On line vendors are more difficult to deal with as there is no shop to get help from and waiting for things in the mail isn't fun. Price a few out and list them here so we can help you from there.

ok well i dont even know where to get these things from locally.  i guess i could go up to our autozone, maybe they would know something?  i really doubt i will ever upgrade again, and money is very tight, so i really want to get the one that will do the job and not spend some extra money for something bigger.  i know there is someway to calculate how big of an alternator i will need, i just dont know what it is.  i'd like to find one for about 300 at the most if that is at all possible

for the alternator try a local auto eletric shop see if they can build you an alternater with twice the output as your stock alternator and for the gains your using your stock H/U in an 2003 explorer i did an install in an 02 it had a factory amp i chopped the RCA's and used the signal from the H/U going to the factory amp for the sub amp and the output was weak like 1.5 volts so the gains are set high but not all the way up so i would suggest you set your gains to match a 1.5 volt preamp output .and you may have to call a few auto eletric shops before you find one that will build the alternator you need call the shops that handle just alternators and staters most of those places rebuild in house 1974 ford pinto 4 15" punch Z power punch bd 1001 pioneer DEH-6700