MR2NR

iTrader: (66)

Which therein lay the problem. With a limited amount of juice available, it is the best idea to make the best use of it. The second you go to the two big amp idea, which there is nothing wrong with if you want to do it, opens up a can of worms as fas as use of available power vs. the single amp format. Add on the expense of splitting the power and ground PROPERLY, more space taken up in the trunk, how to properly adjust both amplifiers to be identical as far as output goes (as they are far from equal right out of the box) and you can see where this is going. If the amps are strappable, that is a whole different ball of wax. To me as a individual knowing what I know today, I would be going to single large amp route to keep any issues down to a minimum.

cmacdear

Quick question. Would the current draw of one large amp and two smaller amps not be the same if the overall power output was the same? Regardless of how many amps you use, would it not make sense that (x) amount of power would require roughly (y) amount of amperage draw? (obviously taking into account not every amp is exactly the same efficiency) And please by all means correct me if I'm wrong.

Cluster

Don't use the fuse value of an amp to know how much it will draw. It can draw that much, but it won't do close to that normally with music. I'd call it 25-35 average.

Personally, i would go with the single amp setup, but since you already have an amp, it shouldn't hurt too much to add a second amp to the mix. Depends on how deep your pockets are. It's not as ideal, but it will do the trick.

Try sticking a small cap in with your setup if you really don't want your lights to dim out. A 200 amp alternator is gonna handle what you have for the most part, a cap will smooth out the heavy bass hits, to a point. Past that, you almost have to expect a voltage drop. Not many setups toss around 2000+ watts with no voltage drop.

Good luck.

Hof

iTrader: (2)

A cap is just a bandaid solution. As far as the idea of only 25-30 watts on a real 1000 watts rms, thats way off. That would mean with 2000 watts you would only pull 60 amps. Pulling 2000+ watts will defintely require a beefed up electrical system. I personally would keep the type x's, sell the alpine, and get a a bigger amp (something that makes 2000 watts @ 1 ohm, 4 ohm wired in parallel).

Cluster

A cap isn't 'just' a bandaid, it does serve a purpose, but a lot of people do use it as such. It works well with music, depending on how extreme your pushing it. To my understanding, alternator regulators don't generally respond fast enough for the draw required by a low frequency tone that lasts a fraction of a second. The cap helps smooth out the spike created by the amp for that short heavy beat.

As for being way off on my amperage numbers. Consider this, if he were pulling way more than 60 amps, he'd be blowing fuses left and right. I have a 1000watt RMS amp that has an 80 amp fuse setup, the only time my fuses pop is playing sine waves into extreme clipping. So unless your going to extremes, I'll stick to my ~30 amp average draw. Yes it will spike higher, but again, I'm talking average, not .1 second bass spikes.

This is of course assuming the scenario is a daily driver setup and not an SPL car spitting out a 45Hz sine wave for 3 seconds.

Hardwrkr

iTrader: (5)

Both the W7 and Type X are great sounding drivers with plenty of potential and they are also both big heavy power-hungry pigs. Whichever sub sounds best to you is the one you should go with.

If it were me I'd get neither as I feel drivers such as the OZ ME, IDMAX and W6v2 are better sounding drivers but you didn't ask that question so out of your two I would say the W7 would be my choice (but I have different ears than you so my original statement stands.

I prefer the single sub amp route also.

Hof

iTrader: (2)

I still stand by my theory that caps are more of a bandaid solution. I think for the price, you would be better off investing in a h/o alt. What amp do you have cluster? Your definetely not getting 1000 watts if you have everything set up properly. Power runs on the simple concept of current draw x voltage. Running 1000 watts at 14.4 volts(if it stays that high on bass notes) means you would pull roughly 70 amps. Add in voltage drop and more demanding music, your looking at pulling more than 30 amps. This guy wants to run 2000 watts just to his subs, and than add another amp for the fronts, he's gonna be pulling an easy 100 amps at full tilt. A cap of any size isn't gonna help that kind of demand on a small alternator.

Cluster

I will agree caps are way overpriced for any intentional purpose. Maybe a price around $20 for a 1F cap would be more reasonable.

I'm not 100% sure, but doesn't that formula become a little more complicated since your using two different sides of the amplifier. One side is DC, the other is AC, and they have much different voltages. I'd have to look that up again to be sure.

As for my setup, heh, ya, i need a new alternator, this i know. My voltage drops with sine waves are bad. I can push it with music, but sine waves make it stand out bad. I can crank it for a burp, but anymore than 10s and I'm popping fuses (80 amp). But, that's dropping me to a little over 10v. I only get to this point with non-driving settings. If i set my gains normal, and not at .1v, i don't usually have issues with music.

I guess one way to solve it would be to have a high-current amperage gauge. Most normal car gauges are +/- 60amp, and don't really do 1ga wire that well. Any ideas where you can find 300-400 amp gauges?