Stev02

I just put in my Kenwood 800 watt amp. I'm running an 8 gauge wire (will get 4 gauge soon).

So I have the filtering on Off (no LPF) and the gain will be a little over 1 (a little over halfway) and when I turn up the volume the car dims. WTF! I thought Nissans were powerful.

So anyway, I'm still using the amp just with the power turned down. My original amp was an Alpine V12 (150 watts) and about 10 years old!! That put out a harder hit then the settings I have now on my Kenwood 800.

So my question is, with the 4 gauge wire (which prolly wont affect much anyway), will a capacitor do ANYTHING? If so, which one should I get? And if the cap will not do anything, what are my options?

Thank you all so very much for helping me out. I'm a little mad at this situation. When I cranked everything on HIGH it sounded AMAZING (but i popped a fuse in the power cable, haha). I would really like to get that power flowing nicely, no dimming or fuses blowing.

THANKS!!!!

Stevo-

gto400no1

iTrader: (5)

I too have that problem, and i have the same 800 watt kenwood amp hooked up to my 12 inch infinities with a 4 guage wire. I thought our 6 cyl engines were not suposed to have these problems cuz my lights dim really bad even when on medium volume. Could it be a bad battery or is it just a need of a cap?

Gold91Max

I have a 1000 watt system in my 91 after finding the solution you guys are looking for... I spent well over a grand on my system and i couldnt run it at full power until i found my capacitor. I use the Lightning Audio LSD10-03 witch can power up to 1000 watts rms. It cost me about 180 bucks but its well worth it, my lights dont flicker anymore and they dont dim when i run my amps. However i have found that if you leave your car in the cold for more then a day, when you go to start your car and if you have your deck on, everything will dim or your car wont start because it seems the cap loses power and has to restore it, but an easy fix for that is to hook up a switch to your amp and charge the capacitor while you warm up your car without having your deck on. just dont forget to turn your amp off when you get outta the car or you will be needing a new battery. the only other option i can think of is installing another alternator and another battery but that takes all day and i dont think there is enough room under the hood for that.

Stev02

Thank you for your input.

I read somewhere that a capacitor is a waste of money. It's better to just get a new alternator. Is this true? What does the 2001 Max come with? How many amps in the alternator? My amp uses 2x30 amp fuses as it is. I was hoping to get this amp and not have so much problems and I know if that amp is cranked all the way that baby knocks hard. So it sounds like I'm going to have to throw out some MORE money.....$*(@&$*@)&$#(@

I'm so mad.

I just read that the alternator for the Max is 100 amps. So what's the problem?? Geesh.

Please someone help! I'm so crazy!!

raymond3414

Im in the same boat with you all. I spent over $3,000 on all my stuff and my lights dim really bad, and it's very embarrising esp. at night time when all the lights are on, everything blinks to the beat. I have a Alumapro 15 farad cap. but it dose not do anything for me. Next thing im going to try is a optima yellow top.

Stev02

Let me know if the new battery does anything.

As for an update. I drove to work today with the gain a little over halfway and it was louder than my older amp (and do dimming). So there is some hope. I just need to work around more power+more dimming problem.

friendhasmax

alternator needs upgrading, battery wont really help much...no one ever wants to realize the bad news

Stev02

Where do I get an upgraded alternator that can fit in my 2001 max?

MIXXMAX

iTrader: (1)

I'm not sure if anyone has tried this, but a 4th gener. alternator would definitely be a plus in upgrading. A 4th gener. has an output of 120 amps as compared to a 5th gener. of 100 amps. When I had my '95, my stock alternator lasted 9 1/2 years, and was still kicking before I got rid of it. My lights never dimmed with the bass kicking, and my stereo is powerful, too. Now, that I swapped the stereo in my 2K, I notice the lights dim slightly, but not much, when the bass hits. I'm running 8 gauge to the battery in powering 2 amps and an EQ.

Stev02

UPDATE!!!

OK I just got back from playing with the system. Here is what happend.

1. I turned the bass level on the head unit all the way down (stock bose)
2. I adjusted the amp to these settings:

LPF is on (with it set at 0)
GAIN is @ .3 (which is a little over 3/4)
MONO
BASS BOOST (+12) is on

3. Then I turned the bass level on the headunit up to 3/4 and playing "Usher - Yea". The bass was disgustingly awesome. It hit so hard and there was NO DIMMING. I had the headlights and fogs on and the interior lights were on. NO DIMMING. When I turned the bass level to the highest and turned up the volume VERY loud, it dimmed a little bit.

4. I'm going to get a 4 gauge wire just because.
---

Weird how there is no more dimming. Suggestion? Comments?

OpTi

does that amp put out 800 watts rms? 8 gauge is small for a 800 watt amp.

Stev02

460 watts RMS.

probmxstyle

iTrader: (4)

Sometimes if your ground connection sucks, it will cause "dimmage".

Stev02

Cool! Good to know. Thanks.