I don't get any noticeable voltage drop in the Z as of now, in spite of an available total power output of over 3,800 watts. I don't kid myself that I ever really come close to hitting that maximum output, either. I like to overpower my speakers just like I like to overbuild my electrical.
I dont think you over build at all, you just like things right. Looks freakin good to me from the pics Ive seen. Good wiring cannot ever be over looked, its prolly more necessary than anything else carrying all of that juice back and forth.The cap only provides a storage for very quick and short (like milliseconds) discharge of power, relatively small amounts in terms of dynamic power wattage, really. According to some folks, they're not really useful at all and only are are band-aid to help with the apparent "symptom" of dashlight flicker. I don't believe it's ever been conclusively shown to improve either sound quality or SPL in real-world applications. In spite of this, I do have a 5 Farad cap in my Tahoe. I still get pretty heavy dimming of the dash and interior lights when at full-tilt. It's really just a matter of being thorough to me and doing everything I can to improve the electrical system. It's even been theorized that this adds extra strain on your electrical system by adding in another component to charge. Oh well... I don't worry about it overmuch, honestly. In my system in the Tahoe, which is almost 8,000 watts, I don't think much outside of a massive bank of very fast-discharging batteries would realize an improvement in real-world output.
Luckily, I've overbuilt my system enough (from an electrical standpoint) that it doesn't really matter. lol
I ran several thousand watts on the stock alternator (90A) in my 240sx for many years without an alternator failure... I just decided in my new systems, since I can afford to do it "right" that I would overbuild the electrical system just to make myself feel better.
Someday...
Sounds like youre on the right track budd.GT-R FTMFW.
The battery is really only useful when powering the system with the motor off. If it's running, the alt should keep the voltage high enough... if you get voltage drop below 12V, then it'll pull momentarily from the battery... mine will do this if I've got it really cranked - yet another reason I think all 3 of my alts are not working properly. With as much current as I should be supplying, voltage drop shouldn't be much of a possibility, even with the power I am drawing. Unfortunately, although I have an in-dash voltmeter (besides the stock one), we did not wire in the capability to monitor each alternator individually. So that's the next step. Totally separating the stereo electrical system on 2 alternators from the truck's stock electrical system on one alternator. I have an MLA module that is supposed to "control" the alternators, but there is no way to even know if it is functioning, nor to monitor it... so I am thinking about pulling that. We'll see... it's a challenge, for sure, but it's a hobby, so...
I think for 99.9% of regular street systems out there, I'd just recommend a high-amp alternator and solid wiring and call it good. I've had tons of trouble with my triple-alternator setup. <sigh> Hoping to work that all out and have all the monitoring capability I could want in the longrun.
Then to fix the minor things in the Z after that...
