Burninrock
New member
I have a 500 watts RMS sub amp and want to know if this will work for me rather than a capacitor
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In car audio, what is the Big-3?
- Thread starter Burninrock
- Start date
The "Big 3" refers to upgrading three different wires in your vehicle's charging system:
--The wire between the alternator's output terminal and the positive battery terminal
--The wire between the negative battery terminal and the vehicle's chassis
--The wire or ground strap between the engine block and the vehicle's chassis.
Upgrading these wires can help eliminate excessive voltage drops due to undersized factory wiring. It can't hurt, but it's not a magic bullet; if your alternator isn't able to handle the extra load generated by your audio system, then upgrading the wires won't fix the problem. Most stock alternators should be able to handle the load of a 500-watt amplifier used for normal musical listening.
--The wire between the alternator's output terminal and the positive battery terminal
--The wire between the negative battery terminal and the vehicle's chassis
--The wire or ground strap between the engine block and the vehicle's chassis.
Upgrading these wires can help eliminate excessive voltage drops due to undersized factory wiring. It can't hurt, but it's not a magic bullet; if your alternator isn't able to handle the extra load generated by your audio system, then upgrading the wires won't fix the problem. Most stock alternators should be able to handle the load of a 500-watt amplifier used for normal musical listening.
a capacitor will cost considerably less. the "big-3" is essentially when you replace your cars alternator with one that has a higher output of amperage. "high output/HO alternator" in the long run... the big 3 is the best way to go... but a capacitor will be a cheap, easy fix. if your not familiar with what a cap. does... when your not using a lot of amperage, (when your music isnt loud) the cap. will store the extra energy that is going to the amp that the amp isnt using. then, when you blast it, instead of pulling power that the battery may not have, it will pull it form the cap.
JLaudio4life
New member
the big three, in simplest terms are the major wires running from your battery to other "accessories". If your problem is dimming headlights, indicator lamps etc... then a capacitor will only worsen the problem. Do not listen to what anyone says about caps. Caps are just another thing that draw current from your battery, so if anything, itll make your problems worse. The big three arent too hard to replace, and will fix any dimming you have. so i say go for that, THEN get a capacitor.