cap or battery?

So help me out here I was always told you need a cap til recently I mentioned to someone they would need a big one for the gear he was gonna run at least a 10 farad I said and reading the post most of you guys left up your saying the same thing i was told they don't recover fast enough to fully charge cuz their too big I was told to get no bigger than a 2 farad but according to some of you guys 1 farad is not that great either so my question is if I used a Drycell deepcycle battery and maybe a bigger gauge wire from the alternator to the starter would that be better even though i always had 2 optimas in my car?

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Gotta be all business Foolishness is for the weak

Neither is better, battery's and capacitors store power, alternators MAKE power, if your adding accessories such as amps you need a larger alternator to supply that power. Once you have a good alternator set up you can then get a capacitor to slightly and I mean slighty smooth out the current. And additional battery's are only useful if you are running your stereo with your car off for extended periods.

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2003 Chevy Avalanche,Eclipse CD7000,Morel Elate 5,Adire Extremis,Alpine PDX-4.150, 15" TC-3000, 2 Alpine PDX-1.1000, 470Amp HO Alt.

upgrade your big three with atleast 4 gauge wiring first

That makes sense but I do usually run the stereo when the car is off mostly watching movies or playstation, lasts bout 1 1/2 to 2 hours before I need to start the car so your help is much appreciated. So a 150 - 200 amp alternator should be just fine with a 2 farad cap?

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Gotta be all business Foolishness is for the weak

I am running 0 gauge from the Batteries and the grounds to 4 gauge to the amps and cap what else should be bigger?

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Gotta be all business Foolishness is for the weak

have you upgraded your big three???

A cap isn't needed if you have a sufficient alternator

not all of them still gotta do the alternator to battery and block to chassis

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Gotta be all business Foolishness is for the weak

cavabenzo wrote:

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That makes sense but I do usually run the stereo when the car is off mostly watching movies or playstation, lasts bout 1 1/2 to 2 hours before I need to start the car so your help is much appreciated. So a 150 - 200 amp alternator should be just fine with a 2 farad cap?

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What car? What amps are you using, and what are their fuse ratings?

I would for sure start with an alternator upgrade, and also wire a low voltage shut off switch so when your battery gets low, your stereo will shut off. You can wire that into the ignition wire for your cd player only. Thats for when your letting it play when the vehicle is off.

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2003 Chevy Avalanche,Eclipse CD7000,Morel Elate 5,Adire Extremis,Alpine PDX-4.150, 15" TC-3000, 2 Alpine PDX-1.1000, 470Amp HO Alt.

4000 WATT Lanzar 2 ch amp 2 35 amp fuses, 1000 WATT  Lanzar 4 ch amp 2 20 amp fuses and its the Cavalier in the picture and where can i get the switch?

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Gotta be all business Foolishness is for the weak

"4000 WATT Lanzar 2 ch amp 2 35 amp fuses",
Something tells me with 70 Amps worth of fusing that amp is no where near 4000W. Lanzar!

I kno but I don't care either it will run the 2 2000 watt 12's i got  with out using much power i got alot of lights and playstation , t.v's doodie too so the less power i use is less strain on the alternator til i get a half desent one lol. Just look good in the car for now some dummy will offer me crazy money for it lol.

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Gotta be all business Foolishness is for the weak

50 amps over stock on the alternator should do you fine in that set up, but go as big as you can afford since im willing to bet some day you will get bigger amps. I forget where I found those switches, if I have time tomorrow i'll look around.

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2003 Chevy Avalanche,Eclipse CD7000,Morel Elate 5,Adire Extremis,Alpine PDX-4.150, 15" TC-3000, 2 Alpine PDX-1.1000, 470Amp HO Alt.

IMO, caps are unnecessary and a dry cell battery is what I would recommend. As previously mentioned, the alternator is important as well, though I don't see you needing to do much of an electrical upgrade. A 100A alt and a good dry cycle battery under the hood is what I would recommend. But if I remember correclty you have a larger alternator. If so, you are in good shape. If you want to check if you really need any upgrades, grab a DMM and measure voltage at the amp, not the battery and see what it's dropping to. If you're floating in mid 13's and above, I'd say you're fine. 

aznboi3644 wrote:

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upgrade your big three with atleast 4 gauge wiring first

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I'd recommend 1/0 wire.

To the original poster, not sure if I understood correctly, so forgive me if I did. However, if you are running one size power wire and a different size ground wire, MAKE SURE they are the same. So if you have 1/0 ground, use 1/0 power as well. With your amp, you probably don't need anything bigger than 4 awg.

audiocableguy wrote:

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"4000 WATT Lanzar 2 ch amp 2 35 amp fuses",
Something tells me with 70 Amps worth of fusing that amp is no where near 4000W. Lanzar!

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70A of fusing roughly 900w out of the amp at 14.4V with 90% efficiency.  That amp is most definitely 4000w max and I don't even know how they come up with max ratings, but to be honest, I hate how manufacturers blatantly try to trick the consumer, though it does work to someone new to audio. Big numbers and small price tag is always a catch.

Also, to the original poster, pay no attention to the max ratings on the subs and amps. Pay closer attention to the RMS. Even then, depending on the quality of the product and company those number maybe skewed.

donpisto wrote:

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IMO, caps are unnecessary and a dry cell battery is what I would recommend. As previously mentioned, the alternator is important as well, though I don't see you needing to do much of an electrical upgrade. A 100A alt and a good dry cycle battery under the hood is what I would recommend. But if I remember correclty you have a larger alternator. If so, you are in good shape. If you want to check if you really need any upgrades, grab a DMM and measure voltage at the amp, not the battery and see what it's dropping to. If you're floating in mid 13's and above, I'd say you're fine.

aznboi3644 wrote:

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upgrade your big three with atleast 4 gauge wiring first

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I'd recommend 1/0 wire.

To the original poster, not sure if I understood correctly, so forgive me if I did. However, if you are running one size power wire and a different size ground wire, MAKE SURE they are the same. So if you have 1/0 ground, use 1/0 power as well. With your amp, you probably don't need anything bigger than 4 awg.

audiocableguy wrote:

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"4000 WATT Lanzar 2 ch amp 2 35 amp fuses",
Something tells me with 70 Amps worth of fusing that amp is no where near 4000W. Lanzar!

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70A of fusing roughly 900w out of the amp at 14.4V with 90% efficiency. That amp is most definitely 4000w max and I don't even know how they come up with max ratings, but to be honest, I hate how manufacturers blatantly try to trick the consumer, though it does work to someone new to audio. Big numbers and small price tag is always a catch.

Also, to the original poster, pay no attention to the max ratings on the subs and amps. Pay closer attention to the RMS. Even then, depending on the quality of the product and company those number maybe skewed.

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I think you mean DEEP cycle.

also with those amps 4 gauge will be fine...they aren't powerful amps anyway

As new as you think i am to audio I've been around the doodie for years  and I didn't get sucked in by high numbers I read RMS before Max Ratings  cuz that got me into trouble when bought my first set of sub when I was 16 , I'm 26 now  so in 10 years I think I would learn my lesson and I do have a deep cycle battery in my trunk so I way ahead of ya there I just wasn't too keen on Caps  but ya'll helpin me with that now, I have alot of friends who run DB drags  with outragous setups but thats not me as long as I sound good  and do it right the first time then theres no room for error thats why I'm on here to get more info so I can sound better and look good doing it lol but I do apprecate all the opinions and help I 'm getting so keep it coming if possible oh yeah I plan on using 1/0  gauge might as well go big.

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Gotta be all business Foolishness is for the weak