Increase amp power

[joe102283]

Hi i have a rockford fosgater punch 500x amp what can i add to increase output wattage for example switch/add Capacitors , transistors . regulators ,transformers ETC
I work with circuit board and constant soldering so i am familiar with electronic components and removing and modifying pieces

[1moreamp]

You can "stiffen" up a amp by altering components but because a car amp is a engineered design including its heatsink you will most likely not increase its output to any perceptive level. Most car amps are designed limited by their power supply and its heart the toroid transformer.
Alterations without taking into account of these limitations will most likely be pretty much null, and even if there was some gain to be had you also have to look at heat loading on the sink and what this will do to the thermal-power curve. Most likely you will just make it thermal shutdown quicker then normal.

These things were not designed to be "hot-rodded" and removal of safety designs such as VI limiting and thermal sensing will only burn the amp up in short order. Yes there is always room for better components but better components will not produce higher output power levels. It just does not work that way, especially when some engineer went out of his way to make sure such things did not occur in the first place.

I suggest you buy your amp larger then needed and just turn its gains down. At least this way if you do need more power you can turn up the amp from its initial setup point.
No one builds a amp that can be built up past its intended design spec. its just not a financially feasible way to do business, Plus why give away what your selling in the first place "Power". Again it just does not make business sense...Please don't waste your time trying to out engineer another engineer....Buy big and turn it down, it will live much longer and provide much more reliable service over the long run...

PS "Red-Lining" anything kills it faster, just ask anyone that designs for a living, they will all tell you the same thing. A car driven at 200 miles per hour only lasts so long especially when compared to a car driven 45 miles per hour....

[bob91343]

I agree. And realize that doubling the power will only result in a 3 dB increase in output, barely noticeable.

[Dr Zeus]

The only thing I've seen; and not like it makes much difference if at all - is if the amplifier has provisions on the PCD for added components (like large Caps, power and/or output transistors) then you might be able to get something different out of it. Different could mean anything though - possitive, negative, reliable or negligable.

Perry has an interesting writeup somewhere on his web pages on how he upgraded an old RF The Punch 45 to something rediculous. I dont think it had much thermal stability though.