Stiffening Caps For Audio

So, after a near fire or explosion and a horrible stink from an over used, over charged car battery running my 1200 watt sound system it looks like a CAP would be a bit safer.

Question is, what's up with the prices? A generic 1mf 25v CAP is $5 - Will it work? I don't need a show peice, just Bass.

Here's what I found so far >

Quote:

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1F Capacitor 1F Capacitor 555-1.4z5.5  $              10.00 
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MANUFACTURER NTE ELECTRONICS 

ITEM # HD1.0M25-NTCP
DESCRIPTION CAPACITOR, 1 MFD, 25VDC, RADIAL ALUMINUM ELECTROLYTIC, ±20% TOL HIGH FREQUENCY
PRICE $ 4.60
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LS10-03 2003 1.0-farad Capacitor $129.95 $99.99


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1.0 farad storage
20 volt, 24 volt surge.
Ultra low ESR <0.0015 ohms, -10/+50% tolerances Your Cost &#036;129.95

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1.0 FARAD Capacitor by Cascade Audio Engineering
CAP-1fd &#036;99.95
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Specs: ESR less than 0015 ohms, +/- 20% tolerances.

Bolt digital monitor series 1.0 farad capacitor Regular price: &#036;189.99Sale price: &#036;67.99

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LB10Y Lightning Audio 1.0 Farad Non-Digital Car Capacitor
Free Ground ShippingMSRP &#036;122.95Sale price: &#036;59.99

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DACAP4 1-farad Capacitor out of stock &#036;149.99 &#036;114.99

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A rule of thumb is:
Choose at least .5 farad (500,000 microfarads) per 500 watts RMS of power output. You can use as many farads as you wish, but just the number indicated by the formula above is all that is necessary.

and mount them as close to the amplifier as possible.



What gives with the prices is the Difference between the Digital & Non-Digital display. A non-digital readout window CAP will run you anywhere from &#036;15-&#036;25 cheaper.


As for the CAP you listed, like they say you get what you pay for. A reasonable low end (affordable one) would probably be like the LIGHTNING AUDIO LB10Y 1.0 Farad Non Digital Car Capacitor &#036;49.99 is a darn good price.


Might not be what you expected but with a system hitting 1200W don&#39;t you think it at least deserves a little something. Oh and it&#39;s not one of those fancy shiny looking gizmos.... :D

Thanks.
It is a good price for 1 but it looks like I&#39;d need 2 or 3 to get the kick I&#39;m looking for. I&#39;m guessing those are US prices too so it&#39;s close to &#036;200 canadian to do it right.
&#036;200 could get me a Nasty deep cycle Gel Cell and enough arc welder cable to put the battery outside. Not Ideal but at least I&#39;d have a spare battery for those cold canadian winter mornings lol.

Think I&#39;ll wait till payday and go with an impulse buy then.

I found an article from early 2002 about capacitor prices going up due to a shortage of whatever they make the paste from? Not sure if that still applies now.

I saw also that it&#39;s usually OK to go higher in voltage if the farad rating is close so I&#39;m wondering about indusrial Caps I&#39;ve seen which are the size of a mason jar.
I couldn&#39;t get a farad rating for them from the wholesaler but I think they were 7500 volts maybe? Is that like rediculously too high or ... ?

Don&#39;t relate much with Industrial CAPS, so overkill, perhaps but you never have to worry about blowing that CAP now would you. :lol:

The Impulse would be a good choice considering it&#39;s a 2.0. Giving you that extra .5mf. I wish you well in your research endeavor and future purchase. :)