Can you hear capacitors?
11-12-2003, 06:16 AM
#12
1000 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 1,649
It's too bad the CARSOUND ARCHIVES are dead so that RC post could be available. Anyways, I dug up this little beauty:
Capacitor Experiment
Capacitors = money down the toilet sound wise.
Capacitor Experiment
Capacitors = money down the toilet sound wise.
11-12-2003, 10:58 AM
#13
500 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 756
^^ Great info.
That was done with a 15 farad capacitor too, I'm starting to doubt the usefulness of a capacitor. I may skip out on the cap and just get a yellow top for extended off engine listening time. (Seems more useful to me)
That was done with a 15 farad capacitor too, I'm starting to doubt the usefulness of a capacitor. I may skip out on the cap and just get a yellow top for extended off engine listening time. (Seems more useful to me)
11-12-2003, 02:28 PM
#14
Yankee
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 3,599
That link shows exactly what a cap does, it is simply a reservoir of potential energy (electrons/holes) that will oppose any change in potential. A properly designed power supply should have enough energy storage to eliminate the need for a stiffening cap.
Few should need it and they are SPL types, and it is a better option in my opinion than a second battery. Am I going to rip mine out, no... is it a waste of money... no it is a valuable source of entertainment every time I disconnect from the battery and forget to discharge the cap.
Q: Using that graph when will the car sound the best? Answer: when the engine is turned off and the car is quiet!
Few should need it and they are SPL types, and it is a better option in my opinion than a second battery. Am I going to rip mine out, no... is it a waste of money... no it is a valuable source of entertainment every time I disconnect from the battery and forget to discharge the cap.
Q: Using that graph when will the car sound the best? Answer: when the engine is turned off and the car is quiet!
11-18-2003, 08:01 PM
#17
Yankee
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 3,599
Ah yes the rolling eyes happy face.
As you know sometimes changing things that appear insignificant can have an unexpected result (this can go both directions good and bad). I knew I had to fix my system wiring (ground loop) and prepare to go to a much larger amp combo (from a 4x75 watt to a US Amps TU-600 a class A 2x150 watt and a US Amps 1000x). So while waiting for the amps to come in I rewired the system. The only thing that changed was the power wiring and the connecters and yes there was a difference in the sound. The alternator whine was still there but the overall sound was different ( I shortly thereafter found the offending noise source in the active crossover). Personally this bothers me because the system was over-sized to begin with (the system was electrically designed for two amps). I can only assume there was an electrical artifact in the system prior to rewiring, perhaps an additional noise source... but it didn't show up during my troubleshooting. I am not a voodoo kind of guy, I am an engineer and when something goes differently from expectations, it isn't magic, it is a mystery, the real job is to identify the root and prove it.
I don't believe in a lot of the tweaks out there but some things make a difference (IC cables for instance) and the differences are due to engineers putting in long hours to engineer a quality product. I have taken more expensive amps out of my system because they did not make the sonic muster.
Was the sonic change caused by the 0 gauge significant, no since I can not say the system sounded better or worse... just different a little less ambience a little less HF edge. The only logical reason I can come up with was there was a shortcoming that the 0 gauge fixed. It was probably part of my ground loop issue. So the rewire changed the sound either directly or indirectly.
As you know sometimes changing things that appear insignificant can have an unexpected result (this can go both directions good and bad). I knew I had to fix my system wiring (ground loop) and prepare to go to a much larger amp combo (from a 4x75 watt to a US Amps TU-600 a class A 2x150 watt and a US Amps 1000x). So while waiting for the amps to come in I rewired the system. The only thing that changed was the power wiring and the connecters and yes there was a difference in the sound. The alternator whine was still there but the overall sound was different ( I shortly thereafter found the offending noise source in the active crossover). Personally this bothers me because the system was over-sized to begin with (the system was electrically designed for two amps). I can only assume there was an electrical artifact in the system prior to rewiring, perhaps an additional noise source... but it didn't show up during my troubleshooting. I am not a voodoo kind of guy, I am an engineer and when something goes differently from expectations, it isn't magic, it is a mystery, the real job is to identify the root and prove it.
I don't believe in a lot of the tweaks out there but some things make a difference (IC cables for instance) and the differences are due to engineers putting in long hours to engineer a quality product. I have taken more expensive amps out of my system because they did not make the sonic muster.
Was the sonic change caused by the 0 gauge significant, no since I can not say the system sounded better or worse... just different a little less ambience a little less HF edge. The only logical reason I can come up with was there was a shortcoming that the 0 gauge fixed. It was probably part of my ground loop issue. So the rewire changed the sound either directly or indirectly.
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