Capacitor Bottleneck?
 

I'm running 3 Alpine Type-R 12's on a Hifonics Brutus 1500d amp.

I just put all this back in my car, having it out for winter.

This time around, I installed a 1.7 farad Brand X capacitor.

It's a really cheap capacitor.

My system has been shutting off, and seeming to sound a lot worse than it used to, or at least how I remember it.

The subs sound very "tinny" and like they're being pushed too hard, when I have gains down and they're really not getting much wattage.

This is even when the capacitor reads 14.4 volts.

So, is it that cheap capacitors could have this effect somehow?

Disconnect the "CAP" and see what happens, you may have wired something else improperly when you put everything back in. Doesn't sound like it is the cap, since you are indeed getting power, but you never know.

Have you tried to take the cap out to see how it sounds. Seems to me to be an obvious first step.

That would be the obvious first step, yes, haha. But, the time of day dictated that I wasn't able to do that, so I figured before I started messing with all my wiring that I'd see if it was a reasonable thing to even consider.

Relay!!!!

Well if everything else is the same and that is the only difference then I see no point trouble shooting anything else until you have eliminated the cap. Testing it without the cap the wiring doesn't need to be pretty, safe yes but not pretty until you know the cap is the problem.

Agreed, maybe a battery fuse or distribution block fuse needs a replacement and upgrade. The glass ones do not go over 80A and they melt most times instead of blowing, and become very resistant, which WILL give you tiny sound.

I doubt it has anything to do with the cap.

I'd check over all wiring, RCAs, ect... but also keep in mind it's been several months since you've used the system, it may sound 'different' because your ears have you fooled...

There is also a change that a crossover setting or something along those lines has changed also..