audio dictonary

[littleme13]

after writing my post on ported vs. not i realized something. when i first wrote it i was like wait a minute, hes not gonna understand what I'm saying so i had to rewrite it without the use of technical terms.

so, this leads me to this post. here is a list of terms found when looking at audio systems and what they mean to a simple man.

Audiophile- one who loves audio stuff

AWG- short for American Wire Gage, size of wire( larger number=smaller wire)

Bass- lowest of the frequency's, usually felt and not heard on quality system

capacitor(cap or power cap)-an extra "battery" that allows an amp to draw power without causing a surge(see post #4 for more in depth description).

COAXIALS-common door speaker that features the woofer and tweeter built into the speaker

COMPONENTS-common door speakers that feature a separate woofer and tweeter to produce the sound from the receiver

HU- HEAD-UNIT, the main stereo receiver in the dash of a vehicle to control the music in the car.

COMPONENTS-common door speakers that feature a separate woofer and tweeter to produce the sound from the receiver.

Ohms-the measurement of resistance of electricity in an electronic component(ie. speaker).






also some things that differ house audio from car audio.

-most home audio runs on 8 ohms vs the 4 ohms car audio does.


this is a work in progress and if anyone has anything to add please do so as there are many knowledgeable people in this forum.

 

[RangerFabWorks]

HU- HEAD-UNIT, the main stereo receiver in the dash of a vehicle to control the music in the car.

COMPONENTS-common door speakers that feature a seperate woofer and tweeter to produce the sound from the reciever

COAXIALS-common door speaker that features the woofer and tweeter built into the speaker.

these are just some for the serious newb

 

[flyingbrick]

Don't you mean?
"crapacitor-an extra "battery" that allows an amp to draw power without causing a big voltage drop, but in the end does little due to needing to be recharged by the alternator causing a bigger load."

 

[AllanD]

Don't you mean?
"crapacitor-an extra "battery" that allows an amp to draw power without causing a big voltage drop, but in the end does little due to needing to be recharged by the alternator causing a bigger load."

No.

You obviously don't understand how a capacitor works or what it does

A capacitor stores electrical energy electrostatically and can deliver it's stored energy in an almost instantaneous jolt.

It can be "recharged" just as fast, FAR faster than a battery can
(batteries work electro-chemically) and even faster than an alternator can react.

It's like if you need money in a store check-out like,
you can borrow it from a friend, almost instantly
you can phone home and borrow it from a family member
(minutes) or you can apply for a Mortgage.

Capacitors can react in a matter of nanoseconds
Batteries in Microseconds
Alternators in Milliseconds

Suspension react to irrgularities in the pavement,
but when you hit a speed bump you still feel it.

Capacitors work best if they are mounted as close to
the amplifier as possible.

there are practical limits to what a cap can do, and some people
give them credit for things they cannot do.

as for them needing to recharge?

That happens almost as fast as they can be discharged.
And the time between deep base notes of anything other
than a digital recording of a space launch is an eternity
compared to the charge time of a capacitor.

adding a half farad cap can help most systems
adding a one farad cap CAN help a big "practical" aftermarket
amp adding additional capacity (aside from adding one cap
for each amp) is wasted effort.

A Capacitor isn't a "Battery" by any stretch of imagination
it is more of an electrical shock absorber, but it only limits
voltage spikes until it is charged and can only limits voltage
"dips" when it has been discharged.

This works out well for a typical Alternator/battery driven audio system
becaus after a sudden voltage dip from a spike demand for power the alternator usually overreacts and generates a spike that the freshly discharged capacitor is waiting to absorb.

It isn't so much the nature of the altenrator that is at issue as it is the voltage regulation of an alternator, which is built to be reliable, not partcularly "quick"

The primary "filter" for an alternator is actually the battery
but batteries are only good at absorbing spikes not transient dips...

and "Transient" is THE operative word.

when you don't know (and THINKING you know doesn't count)
it is best to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak (or type)
and remove all doubt.

Especially by speakign derisively about something you obviously don't understand.

Granted there are many people out there that have a purely imaginative understanding about what a capacitor does or how it does it, but just because there are idiots spouting pure BS in favor of caps doesn't make caps BS.

That all being said... I DO NOT have a capacitor on my truck's
audio system. I run off the internal amps in my Sony head unit.
I did run a heavier power wire to the HU on it's OWN fuse to isolate the HU from other things on the same DC-buss that caused dips and spikes (like the wiper delay module that caused a dip(current draw)/spike(inductance from the non-diode protected motor) that blew out TWO tape head preamps in my previous Sony built premium sound head units.

AD

 

[flyingbrick]

Allan, I already know too much about capacitors, I was just too tired to get out my collage text book and go into that great of detail, and to explain a cap to most people calling them a "quick discharge battery" is easier then getting my text book.