do i need a capacitor?

i've got a 92 honda 4dr that i use as my daily driver. i plan on running like a 1200w power acoustik amp to my 2 10" power acoustik subs. the amp puts out about 250-300w rms per channel. i bought a cap when i got everything for my last system that was in my truck (the 2 10" listed above and a 1440w PA amp) i wired it all up and a guy at a local installation shop said i wouldn't need to run the cap with my system so i took it out. should i run a capacitor at all? i've heard mixed stories about caps and wanted to know before i got the amp.

it wont hurt to use it so if you have it you might as well use it

Been a while since I kept up with car audio. Doesn't the cap just work as a back up in case your battery starts dropping? I would just run it. You paid for it.

Run it... You wont hurt anything.

Run it.  You will be better off with it. Quicker and tighter bass response as the capacitor releases energy at a much quicker rate the the conventional battery/alternator setup.  Use it.

Edited: 4/13/2009 11:11:40 AM by redspowerjams

If you run a amp with no extra power to the amp it will pull from the battery then past the battery from the alt, if you see the lights dim down when it hits, that is under powered. if this happens it can make the alt, go bad or the battery or both and todays autos it could play with the ECU. This is not good for the car/truck.. Amps pull power to fast for a battery to keep up, do to the battery does not have a fast dicharge rate. a yellow top is faster but still not fast enuff to keep up. this is where the cap comes in play. rull of thumb is, for every 500w you need a 1/2-farad, but with todays amps i say for every 500w you need a 1-farad.  now lets say you need 3-farads, it is better to have 3  1-farad caps than a 3-farad bank,they have a faster recharge and discharge rate.  now if you look at the batterys like Stinger,Bat Cap or Kinetik. you can get them in almost whever size you want. lets say you go with a  Kinetiks 100-farad. you still need to use this like a cap. thees work grate. but under stand that they are not the same as a 100-farad bank.  If you do not have the farads you need at this time, then 1 is better than none at all. your farad size can not be to big. it would be grate to have 1000-farad Stinger, Bat-Cap or Kinetiks on your amp. Hope this helps..

yeah just run it. the best thing to help with lights dimming is going to be upgrading the alternator and adding an extra battery. a cap doesn't really do much but since you already have it, it's foolish not to run it. it will help some but the best way to power a system is via an upgraded charging system and extra battery, or 1 larger battery.

You don't need a capacitor on your honda.  If the headlights start dimming, you need to add another battery not a alternator or capacitor.  Run a dual battery setup.  Parallel from each other.  Your alternator puts out about 90 amps and would be sufficient in charging both batteries. 

An upgraded charging system( Alt and Battery) is a great idea for any vehicle running a sound system and other electrical accessories.  The reason for the cap is not extra battery power it's for instantaneous battery power to help with the response of your subwoofers. Granted it doesnt sound like you are running alot of power and subs I still would use it. If you designed your sub enclosure and your system correctly you will notice a difference.

NorthwestS is right.. a cap is good to have but not the only thing you should have. look into ( Alt and Battery) upgrade as well. a amp is hard on the stock setup that you have and can go bad on you if you don't bump it up.