Volvospeed Forums: Replying To Is My Alternator Big Enough? - Volvospeed Forums

Che, on 07 July 2009 - 04:09 PM, said:

This is where bass was invented. I would hope we had some better shops than most. I remember in the late 80's when you heard bass in a car and everyone turned in that direction. Now people are like turn that crap down. My first set of woofers were called Bumpers.



For the conversion, Amps = Watts/Volts.

kirbo, on 08 July 2009 - 04:03 AM, said:

Ok then he can scope it himself. I have offered a few times to do reviews on oscilloscope tuning.

Yes, just take it to a proffesional.

Oh wait...
Being that the OP wanted online advice I naturally assumed he had no intention of visting a store and was going for the DIY approach for any number of reasons. Car audio is a vast subject. If it wasnt, there would be one thread explaining all you need to know. Sorry getting off topic and hate to start a pissing contest.

Kirbo. <3

Che, on 08 July 2009 - 12:39 AM, said:

Best buy is not an audio shop. Around here I cannot think of a shop without a scope.

Che, on 07 July 2009 - 07:39 AM, said:

IF you can find a shop that even knows what an oscilliscope IS, let alone how to use one...
90% of the shops I've ever seen are woefully clueless about actual electronics theory.
Unfortunately, "Install, Bill, Repeat" seems to be the norm.

Sad but true, many shops are just in it for the money. The Best Buys and such are usually jokes.
Check around with the indys in your area. If you look around, hopefully you can find a good one!
Look for things like MECP certificates and IASCA qualifications on the wall.

kirbo, on 07 July 2009 - 08:53 AM, said:

Its really not. Take your car to a shop and have them hook it up to a scope. You will know in a few seconds if your set up is working correctly or not and if it has enough headroom.

Hi VS crew,
just throwing some experience in here, hopefully helping those who are curious. A case study?

My 850R stock alternator is feeding 2 x 75Ah dry cell battery’s which at full volume powers well over 2KWRMS worth of amplification. Being that the STOCK alternator cannot replace the energy as quick as it is being used at full volume, I monitor voltage to ensure: A. The amps are getting enough juice to power the speakers cleanly B. Prevent equipment failure and C. Ensure there's enough juice left to crank the next day. Yes just like the next person I like to crank it to club levels from time to time... But on average the systems @ half volume or less, in this case I don't bother looking at voltage as the alternator charges adequately which is expected.

To this day, after 2 years of constant calculated abuse, I have never had a flat battery or equipment failure including fuses.

If that made no sense or you don't give 2 hoots about my story because it doesnt contain dragons, I'll throw in my advice...
1. Ensure you have 4Ga power cable running to the amp(s) if their total RMS value is >1KW RMS
2. Ensure your fuses can also handle the current draw (I choose ANL fuses). Be sure to keep the number of connections down & the terminal quality up.
3. Ensure your battery is holding over 14 volts @ idle & has over 12.2V shelf life. Anything lower than these values can be caused by either a bad battery, bad connections to earth/alternator or a bad alternator.
4. Loud bass can drain out distortion, so make sure you know your systems max volume before cranking the sub. Don't pass that threshold & be sure to trial assorted music.
5. This is an everlasting subject.

Cheers,
Kirbo.

Che, on 04 July 2009 - 10:49 AM, said:

The only thing is its my buddy's sub so I was going to buy it off him

BEJinFBK, on 04 July 2009 - 02:27 AM, said:

My point was if you look at wave form 2 you can hear that kind of slipping for sure, but waveform 3 sounds totally clean. Real music is not a single wave form, but many over lapped wave forms. All it takes is one to clip. Not saying you need to scope the system to verify it, just saying he may, probably, will have better results pushing a single 12" hard at 700 watts than taking it easy on 2 at 1000 watts.

Thanks Everyone!