Informative post:
I was thinking about the issues of high wattage amps and set-ups.
Food for thought:
Let's think how power is calculated: Watts=Volts x Amps(one of the formulas, the relevant one here)...
Let's take a 1000w RMS amplifier.
1000w=13.8V x 72.46Amps
Who here has a 72amp alternator? Or if you do, what happens when you turn the blower on(if it works
) and the headlights, and the wipers, and the rear window heater....?
Even without an amplifier most xsara alternators can barely cope with all that power consumption. If this happens the battery supplies the remaining current(when the voltage drops below ~12.5V), thus, even with the engine running, your battery is discharging. Add an amplifier to all this and you get the point.
Of course this is a rare scenario, but it happens... and when it does, your 1000w amp will put out less power than rated, and a lot more distortion in the form of clipping.
When an amplifier clips the signal it means that the AC waveform(for ex a clean sine wave) that it should output slowly turns into a square waveform.
If this happens, during the time the signal is clipped, the speaker voice coil gets a lot of power but it doesn't move. A voice coil cools itself when moving. Result > burnt voice coil > bye bye speaker...
The idea is that it's not healthy to run a big amp with an inappropiately sized charging system. Or wires that are too small for the job. Think AWG2 or around 30mm2 sized wiring if you want that power. There is no such thing as a cable that is too thick. Also, a very important thing to consider is the fuse. if you have a cable that can take 100Amps for example, you should put a fuse SMALLER that that.(In case of short circuit it's the fuse that melts, not the cable...most basic electrical rule...FUSE everything, especially in an environment as hostile as a car, and especially a xsara
)
Enough.
