how true?

[normand]

I read in a car audio magazine that capacitors are helpful in sq set up (eliminating harmonic distortion) and not much of a help in spl. How true is it?

[-Andrew-]

sa bayo nde importante? why? minsan kapag sa competition ka and nagkaroon ng voltage drop and kapag nde regulated yun amp mo yari ka, u might loose just because of that. caps give the extra bass u need and to guarantee power during intense SPL competitions.

[Billabong]

sir normand, ano pa po ang nakalagay sa article? what's the explanation behind it? im very curious.

[normand]

it's quite long and i cant understand some technical terms. will try to post tomorrow the summary then ill lend you the magazine

[Billabong]

okay, thanks a lot!

[tachophobia]

The problem with technical articles are they are too technical.   Anyway, let me ask you guys this question. Do you really know what harmonic distortion means? I'm not just asking about the techincal definition but do you really understand the term harmonic distortion?   Anyway, here's an excerpt from an article that I've read at www.soundstage.com "Tube amplifiers as a group have 10 to 100 to 1000 times more harmonic distortion than properly designed solid-state amplifiers. People used to blame the "bad sound" of solid-state amplifiers on having significant amounts of odd-order harmonics."  

[-Andrew-]

paki post yun link, id like to read it too. ive been told kasi by gurus na importante ang caps sa spl set-ups. they might be wrong too u know, im always open to new found ideas.  

[Juan]

im guessing that that concept is based on a specific isolated sense...but 'generally' a cap is a necessity for both SQ and SPL setups. peace

[Moo Pare]

A cap stores "energy" thats needed whenever an amplifier needs it. The stored energy is good for only quick burst. It can provide energy for 1 or at most 2 second burst. So in a music recording such as jazz where low notes are played for only a second or two, this is where the cap comes into play. It supplies the current needed to reproduce that note.

In SPL competions, bass notes are played constantly. Caps cannot handle this. They are only good for short bursts. Now, since the cap has "released" the strored current, it will now drain the battery to store some more thereby adding to the load which in turn causes more voltage drop.

[A+Audio]

           Ang pagkaalam ko ang caps is a unit that prevents the voltages from dropping thus making it stable. Kasi at a stable and constant voltage you will get high efficiency sa wattage. Pag nag drop ang voltage below performance level the amp heats up ang thus produce lower impeadance maybe too low for the amp to be able to work efficiently.
         Just my observation, i have  notice na di umiinit masyado ang amp pag may capacitors kasi matagal mag drop ang voltage. or maybe coincidence lang pero na observe namin sa show yung performance ng 1000/1 at high voltage and low voltage.

Peace

[Moo Pare]

check this link to see why caps are not recommended for spl

http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/scripts/rightnow.cfg/php.exe/enduser/popup_adp.php?p_sid=xOhD-nLg&p_lva=143&p_li=&p_faqid=145&p_created=1039532788

[normand]

A cap stores "energy" thats needed whenever an amplifier needs it. The stored energy is good for only quick burst. It can provide energy for 1 or at most 2 second burst. So in a music recording such as jazz where low notes are played for only a second or two, this is where the cap comes into play. It supplies the current needed to reproduce that note.

In SPL competions, bass notes are played constantly. Caps cannot handle this. They are only good for short bursts. Now, since the cap has "released" the strored current, it will now drain the battery to store some more thereby adding to the load which in turn causes more voltage drop.

you hit it right moo...the magazine that i read concluded close to what you said. the graphs and the test results prove that.

[stukach]

so for SPL setups, Highoutput alternators and multiple batteries are more favorable....

[tachophobia]

Wow! Parang ang complex ng capacitor ah. Anyway,  I have a question, in SPL competition you win by getting the highest SPL right? How do they score your system? Do they get your average SPL over a period of time or just the peak SPL of your system?

Kasi if they only get the peak SPL, then having a capacitor still gives you an advantage. Kahit na your capacitor will only last 2 seconds, but if in those 2 seconds, you can hit the highest SPL, you still win right?  

[Billabong]

if im not mistaken they get the peak SPL.