I have a MTX Thunder 8000 12' sub and a Profile 400sx (300 watts) amp in the mail. I was wondering how many watts would i would have to be pulling to realy need a Capasitor.
thanks

 

I'd say get one anyway. a Half farad cap can be found if you hunt, for $50. Caps are one of those things that it just doesn't hurt to have.

 

which brand of capacitator to get. I've seen Lightning Audio which I know is the best, but I've also seen Hi-Wave made by http://www.electroguide.com. I compared the 1.5 farad capacitator to the Lightning Audio and they seen very similar, only one or two different numbers. What does everyone think.

And I agree that you should get even a .5 farad cap just in case.

 

the 8000 runs over 500 watts RMS and 1000 watts peak, your amp is only running 300 watts you would be better off with a 6000 or a bigger amp. You will not get what the sub is supposed to produce

 

just get one good cap.. i recomend the aluma pro cap its' 15 farads. or the phoenix gold powercore cap. the truth about the phoenix is that it's internals are made by aluma pro.. so either or.. the pg will cost a bit more.. it does drain all the power once u unplug it tho.. that's the only advantage pg has over aluma

 

If the specs are honest the brand shouldn't matter. I think 1/2 a farad should be plenty for a 300 watt system. The Alumapro would be serious overkill. I have one but will soon be pushing kilowatts. The Alumapro cap by itself can kill the stock alternator. Nearly a 500 amp surge every time the stereo is turned on.

 

With only a 300W MAX Profile amplifier he won't need a capacitor to stiffen his power supply for bass hits. That amp would be lucky to get up to 300W. And even if it did he can easily run a single amplifier up to 500Wrms without needing a cap.

A cap is only necessary if you are running higher wattage systems or your amplifiers are Class A and very inefficient.

As for brands of caps for the most part they don't really matter as long as it's a name brand unit. Phoenix Gold, TIFF and Brax/Helix are known to make the best capacitors for autosound use. Lightning Audio, Stinger, Streetwires etc all make decent caps as well. The determining spec when it comes to caps is the ESR look for the lowest spec you can see and that will have the better discharge rate/speed.

For a good tech article on Caps go to http://www.eatel.net/~amptech/elecdisc/capacitr.htm