Im Running a cap and I only have two 12's ...... but yea I wouldnt run a sub install with out one. God knows how many batteries i'v stuffed over the years and they get rid of that annoying voltmeter drop

I have to say I agree, somewhat.
Yes it's true you dont need a cap IF you have like you have said, good batt, alt and correct power and earth cables.
Upgrading your earths would be a good place to begin. Then maybe even the "big 3"
A cap is only a band aid for a deeper hidden problem, if you fix this then a cap will never be needed.
If you get a cap to fix a problem poor you if you getting one for looks and wank factor then hell good for you and your waste of money.

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=152355 have a look there if your not sure on what the big 3 involve

yep, and infact I have a mate who is running 4x15" AND 2x12" subs off 2 x 3000wrms Amps, with no caps.

Sigh....

Your output peaks are higher and sharper when you have a cap... .that's really the only significant benefit.... it's not obligatory that you have one..

Because of the caps design, it can supply power faster than a battery so your peak outputs are sharper all because of their incredibly low internal resistance.

The rest about patching your bad power system is really not the correct reason to have a cap.

With a little grinder work, inserting a thread insert & changing the pulley (some will say that is optional, YMMV) a EF or EL alternator can be bolted into your EA.

I have ground the casing of an EF alternator down, modified the alternator bracket a little with a grinder, the combination of grinding the bracket & alternator casing will allow it to just fit into the standard position. Then if you insert a thread insert (m10 iirc) into the bolt hole on the casing you can use a factory adjuster to bolt it in.

I was planning on changing the pulley to the correct one for the EA-ED, but i didn't have enough time & just used the EF item. Surprisingly the belt is holding up well, done more than 10,000 kms and no belt issues. Alternator belt tension is adjusted as per the factory adjustment procedure.

I was having issues with voltage drop at higher power usage, eg, Stereo cranked up, cruise on, headlights on & then the EF thermo's kicking in, voltage dropped down to 11 volts & headlights would dim out really bad. Not an earthing issue after a lot of testing with a multimeter. New alternator fixed that issue.

Cheers

ToranaGuy

To those saying 'you don't NEED a capacitor', you are quite correct. You don't NEED a capacitor.

But...... a battery is not able to supply the amps that a large amplifier driving a large, or pair of, subs during extreme volume where there is lots of bass.

A lead acid battery just can't do it, then you add in the resistance of 4g or larger wire, and all up are going to wind up with a less than ample supply of power to your amps when they really need it. This can be damaging to your amplifier, depending on the conditions can result clipping and just generally means your stereo suffers in sound quality as it's not running as well as it could.

If you have a large system and if you run a suitably sized cap, the amplifiers will operate more at thier optimum and the system will sound better.

Imagine them like a water tank with a hose to fill it and a tap to draw from it. The hose can supply 2 litres a minute, and the tank is supplying a brick saw that needs 3 litres a minute but is only being used for one minute on, one minute off. Without the tank, the brick saw would run short of water as the hose cannot supply enough litres p/m. With the tank, it's all good baby.....

It might sound simple, but that's because it is!!

ok so today i unistalled the sub/amps but i left the cd hooked up so i had something to listen to on the way to work, and its still doing it. but i dont think its the alternater bcos my battery isnt going flat and it starts first time everytime??? i dont no, im confused any other help on the matter would be great. thanks