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Fact is even one (quality) amp running 500+ watts puts a drain on your vehicles system. It was designed to provide some extra amperage for accessories but not for larger audio equipment. It is my opinion that anyone hooking up amplifiers in their car, especially more than one, needs to run at least a 1 farad capacitor to ease the electrical drain on the stock alternator and battery. Very loud and low bass notes take large and sudden amounts of power... for instance if you listen to electronic music that has a pretty steady bass drum type rhythm, the bass drum takes stored energy from your cars power system and then it must be restored by the alternator. With each bass hit, your alternator has to return the lost power. It isn't as extreme as I'm painting it, but you get the idea. Yes, it still has to return the power even with a capacitor, but the point here is your car isn't trying to keep up with the music in real time, it's just making sure the capacitor is topped off. All of the strain is on the capacitor, not your electrical system. Only noobs hook up stereos without capacitors.. they are cheap as dirt now, no excuse to not have one. And don't buy based on the name... capacitors are very simple devices, buy something with a decent name but a lower price tag. I've used Stingers, Audiobahns, and one other I can't remember the name of right now. They all worked exactly the same, though I prefer digital ones because the voltage readout is handy.
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