To determine if your amplifier needs a power capacitor, you will need to spot the common signs of any voltage drop. This is when the voltage of the cars electrical system operates and becomes lower below the standard 13.7 volts. You don't necessary have to measure the voltage, if your headlights and interior lights are dimming with the bass from the subwoofer at night, you will need to stiffen up the cars electrical system. Now the cheapest route is to install a power cap inline with your car amp. What a power cap does is it holds the charge for a short while and when the car amp requires it on demand it bursts it out. A power cap does help you with getting louder bass from your car subwoofer because it reduces voltage drop, which helps the transistors play at their best rms power they can deliver.
What Size Power Cap Do I Need?
Now there are all sorts of power caps big and small. Its not the size that counts its what farad rating it can push out. Power caps come 1, 2, 3 farad ratings, some are rated even higher than normal for really loud car subwoofer systems. Now to work out what size power cap you need, you need to follow the general rule which is 1 farad for every 1000 watts system. For example, if your system is 3000 watts then it would be recommended for you to get a 3 farad power cap. Also another point to note out, don't go for cheap brands that make power caps such as BOSS. They realistically don't help the system at all due to using cheap parts and because the cheap one don't work, people tend to think they all don't work. Well, its not the case we bench tested a Rockford Fosgate power cap and it helped keep the volt drop to a minimal level and the car lights were not longer dimming.
Car Audio Capacitor VS a Battery?
Now its obvious a good quality deep cycle battery from XS power or a Yellow Top Optima is going to be miles better than any old power cap. But you got to look at the price difference and the alternations you have to make to your vehicle to add a second battery for the amp. Power caps do work and for the price you can't go wrong, but having a bank of deep cycle batteries will win anyday of the week but for around $500. The choice is in your hands: Low Budget = Power cap
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