I have a 1100 watt subwoofer that are hooked up to an 800 watt amp. There's a chart for what farad you need which applies to your wattage but I don't know exactly how many watts my system is producing since I'm using an 800 watt amp with 1100 watt subs. Would I need 1-1.9 or 2.2-9 farad?

Capacitor Farad Rating

Total System Wattage

Under 1 Farad
0-499 Watts

1-1.9 Farad
500-999 Watts

2-2.9 Farad
1000-1499 Watts

3-4.9 Farad
1500-2499 Watts

5+ Farad
2500-Up Watts

This is off the site http://www.sonicelectronix.com/cat_i6_capacitors.html?SearchClickout[query_id]=6573312&SearchClickout[Ignore]=1

 

The price difference isn't THAT much. Go for overkill.

What kind of amp are you running (brand)?

 

A Dual amp to go along with my Dual subs.

 

1 farad is more than enough.

If it were a JL/Memphis/Hifonics/Rockford/ etc. amp, you may have needed more.

 

A very knowledgeable stereo person once told me using a cap on a stereo system is kinda like throwing a cup of water into a river. If you're having a problem with voltage stability a better or additional battery is the only real answer.

 

Caps are only used to smooth out power to the amp if a big system is set up or ur speakers spend most of there time at max watts. That being said Ive installed a 6000 watt sub setup( that's not including actual speakers, only the 2 15" subs) without a cap on a 94 neon and had no problem. The customer then bought a 5 farad cap and had me install it, there was no noticable difference.

 

relocate a bigger battery to the rear and your good to go. you may actually not need to upgrade running a dual amp.

 

It depends on how stout your amp really is ... so many say "1000" watts, but really dont deliver that really. I agree with the previous poster, it smooths the power out, reason is the it only gives a temporary headroom for a surge of needed power. A xtra battery combined with a cap, makes a difference more that just one or the other. Also make sure you get a isolator and proper fusing and wire (ground and positive) size are important too. My last system was not complete until I had my alternator rewound/rebuilt, since it was not putting out enough amperage for my setup. I would carefully research, and remember google is your friend ! :-)