Capacitors, ^ Did I spell that correct? ^ Options

[yyet]

Well, I've been reading everyones post about their audio and stuff and I wanted to know what exactly does a capacitor do and is it neccessary?

Heres what I am running.

Component 6 1/2 type Alpine R fronts
Coaxial 6 1/2 type R Alpine R rears
MTX MXA-6004 Amp (75W RMS X 4 Chan)
Kenwood KAC-729S (600W Max 200W Rms bridged)
Rockford 12" Subwoofer

Only got 1 battery.
Oh yeah, i heard not having a capcitor dims your headlights...
I got Euro Eyes HID lights.

YES YES I KNOW... Thats a good system i got... Besides the sub, I was broke when I bought it

[tangcla]

The theory behind a capacitor is that it is able to deliver a large current much quicker than a battery - due to the fact that a capacitor is a temporary storage of power, and also because the capacitor is closer to the amp than the battery.

But remember capacitors are capable of doing two things: supplying power, and also dampening the flow (ie. normalising). Caps will do the first one well, but as creis said, when the capacitor is depleted, the much-needed power for the n+1th (mathematical terminology hehe) bass hit will go to recharging the capacitor instead of supplying it to the amp.

In short, my 2c: if you don't already have a capacitor, don't bother getting one. If you already have one, sell it, and your amp, and get yourself a decent amp.