If you wondering where is the part 1 of this post, then you may check in the link here.
When we are talking about capacitor for car audio, one thing in mind is the big capacitor that mostly put at the trunk of the car, near the sub-woofer and the power amplifier. This capacitor is flashy and eye catching with digital volt indicator on it and few LED. But that's how it works for the sound pressure level improvement on their car audio power supply. That capacitor stored energy and release for instant demand need by the power amplifier and the sub-woofer.
If you skeptical about how much the result is, then you can make some test by your current cat audio system now. First, run the engine and turn ON the car audio system and listen to the music. Then immediately turn the key OFF so the engine stop but the key position still at the ACC so the car electrical still ON and the head unit keep operate. With this condition, do you feel how the sound changes? The sound quality with the engine OFF means the supply directly come from the battery instead from the car alternator. The sound quality should be more clear, the bass response more impactful and the background noise is far reduced. This is not just because the engine is OFF so no noise from it, but instead the car head unit is now get the cleaner power supply, pure only from the battery without any alternator noise. The ripple itself is the electrical noise, non linear power source that cause degradation in sound quality. On minor cases, the high ripple can also cause the unit malfunction.
Once the installation is finished, then secure the cable and the capacitor. I am using cloth tape to prevent the cables rattling or contacting to the metal body.
Back to the car, all installation is just plug and play.
As you can see my car audio setup is a standard setup. Means I only using the head unit and direct connect to the speakers. With this setup, I still can hear the sound improvement. The margin will be greater in the more advanced car audio installation, such as using DSP and additional power amplifier.
I notice the overall sound quality after this capacitor installation is more clearer, especially on the mid-bass section. This improvement also makes the instrument music more heard than before. I am quite happy with this upgrade. Not so much cost to spent for this little upgrade over the OEM system. Anyway, I bought this capacitor quite long time ago for around US$7.
Disclaimer: Any statement and photos in this article are not allowed to copy or publish without written permission from the writer. Any injury or loss from following tips in this article is not under writer responsibility.
But right now, I am not talking about that kind capacitor function. Just put away those capacitor first. I will focusing the capacitor for the car head unit. This capacitor must be good in specification, high quality rather than only high storage (Farad) capacity. This capacitor function is mostly to improve the power supply ripple rejection cause by the car alternator. The voltage go to the head unit will be much cleaner.
If you skeptical about how much the result is, then you can make some test by your current cat audio system now. First, run the engine and turn ON the car audio system and listen to the music. Then immediately turn the key OFF so the engine stop but the key position still at the ACC so the car electrical still ON and the head unit keep operate. With this condition, do you feel how the sound changes? The sound quality with the engine OFF means the supply directly come from the battery instead from the car alternator. The sound quality should be more clear, the bass response more impactful and the background noise is far reduced. This is not just because the engine is OFF so no noise from it, but instead the car head unit is now get the cleaner power supply, pure only from the battery without any alternator noise. The ripple itself is the electrical noise, non linear power source that cause degradation in sound quality. On minor cases, the high ripple can also cause the unit malfunction.
Every car head unit has their own capacitor inside the unit for sure. But that is not enough in term of value and quality. The included capacitors are intended to fit inside the head unit by the manufacturer. The capacitor quality is also just a standard multi purpose capacitor to reduce the cost. So we want to add more, not to aim like the SPL does, but we put the very good quality capacitor to improve ripple rejection yet smoothing the voltage input to the head unit.
This idea is very common in electricity engineering. Many product already aware about this and offering this kind of function mostly from well known high end audio system such as Pioneer Power Line Filter RD-7X, Pivot V-capa or Mundorf Headcap. This is also the secret that most installer in car audio won't tell you. Many sound quality car audio installer system doing the same method on their own setups and go to the audio competition.
I will choose the best possible capacitor for this project. The Nichicon KG or Super Through is the highest grade capacitor mainly for audio purpose. The value of the capacitor is 4,700uF. This capacitor value is enough since we only need this capacitor as an additional smoothing for power supply ripple rejection in the head unit.
The capacitor installation is also straight forward. Take the constant power cable and negative ground polarity and connect directly to the capacitor. Make sure the polarity connection is the same otherwise the capacitor will blow once the voltage is present. The common color cable for positive polarity is yellow and negative ground is black. This capacitor will always get the power supply from the car battery. But you don't have worry about that it will drains the battery. Most car head unit have it already and add another capacitor like this doesn't make any difference in the dark current amount taken when the car not operate.
I will choose the best possible capacitor for this project. The Nichicon KG or Super Through is the highest grade capacitor mainly for audio purpose. The value of the capacitor is 4,700uF. This capacitor value is enough since we only need this capacitor as an additional smoothing for power supply ripple rejection in the head unit.
The capacitor installation is also straight forward. Take the constant power cable and negative ground polarity and connect directly to the capacitor. Make sure the polarity connection is the same otherwise the capacitor will blow once the voltage is present. The common color cable for positive polarity is yellow and negative ground is black. This capacitor will always get the power supply from the car battery. But you don't have worry about that it will drains the battery. Most car head unit have it already and add another capacitor like this doesn't make any difference in the dark current amount taken when the car not operate.
Once the installation is finished, then secure the cable and the capacitor. I am using cloth tape to prevent the cables rattling or contacting to the metal body.
Back to the car, all installation is just plug and play.
As you can see my car audio setup is a standard setup. Means I only using the head unit and direct connect to the speakers. With this setup, I still can hear the sound improvement. The margin will be greater in the more advanced car audio installation, such as using DSP and additional power amplifier.
I notice the overall sound quality after this capacitor installation is more clearer, especially on the mid-bass section. This improvement also makes the instrument music more heard than before. I am quite happy with this upgrade. Not so much cost to spent for this little upgrade over the OEM system. Anyway, I bought this capacitor quite long time ago for around US$7.
Disclaimer: Any statement and photos in this article are not allowed to copy or publish without written permission from the writer. Any injury or loss from following tips in this article is not under writer responsibility.
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