19Cutlass94 Posted November 21, 2005 Report Share Posted November 21, 2005 Well Im getting my new set up pretty soon and Im kinda thinking the cutlass itsnt gonna handle it very well in the electrical department. The amp is rated at 1200w RMS @ 12.5v. Im also thinking about doing the "Big 3" upgrade, but would rather get the battery as it is easier. Ive heard some stuff about the optima batteries. Which one would be better for my needs, a red top or a yellow top? On their website it says a yellow top is basically for car audio, but what about the red tops? I know the yellow top is a deep cycle and the red top is basically a starting battery, but besides that, whats the difference? Which would should I go with? I of course plan on going to SPL comps and such so Ill need a battery that will hold up good ( dont know if that matters or not) Any suggestions/imput? Mods: If its in the wrong section, Im sorry. I just though since it dealt with car audio....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terryk2003 Posted November 21, 2005 Report Share Posted November 21, 2005 yellow top!...i'm sure the red one would work without much trouble...but, i've heard the yellow tops are better for the car audio stuff.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1990lumina Posted November 21, 2005 Report Share Posted November 21, 2005 Yellow top will probably handle being run down/discharged many more times then a red top or regular type battery would... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuntzie Posted November 21, 2005 Report Share Posted November 21, 2005 i was running 2 red top batteries and 3 amps (about 2600 rms+) and they took it fine now im running the one in the front ony with 2 amps at about 1600 rms.. and the lights rarely dim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwmin Posted November 21, 2005 Report Share Posted November 21, 2005 i have a yellow top and its great. the wiring upgrade isnt hard and well worth it. there are other dry cell deep cycle batteries out there, but i havent really looked into any. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Powered Posted November 21, 2005 Report Share Posted November 21, 2005 I have been running 1000 watt amps for years and chewed up and spit out all that the battery market has to offer. I even payed the extra $ for a giant RV sized AGT (absorbed glass mat) Lifeline battery that is way better than a spiralcell but same technology. The Optima style batterys are NOT the best and DEFINATELY are NOT worth the $100+ prices people pay for them. The only reason I would buy another one of those is to power my trolling motor I got for fishing in my raft.(non-spillable) AC Delco. If you need more reserve power and don't want to put a battery in the trunk, Yellow tops got more reserve. Otherwise you can go with an isolator and put a huge RV battery in the trunk for about $70. Get the isolator with the E-wire post. and hook up the exciter wire to it. 120 A. And swap charge wires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19Cutlass94 Posted November 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2005 So your telling me to get an RV battery that weighs more than my car? How are these batteries not worth the price when several of the guys that posted above have had no trouble with it at all? and 1000w really isnt all that much. And Im kinda doubting my stock Delco battery will be able to handle it. So basically I guess you guys are saying that its a toss up between the yellow top and the red top since they both seems to work good for you guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1990lumina Posted November 21, 2005 Report Share Posted November 21, 2005 If you run your stereo for a long time without the engine started, the yeollow top will be able to run longer and you can run the yeollow top down and recharge it more times then a red top as well. Depends what you intend to do with your setup - if you run for long periods of time with out any charge the yellow top can handle that better. If you run for shorter periods, or with the engine on more the red top should be able to handle it. Personally I am buying a red top because I hear these Optima batteries aren't affected as much by cold weather. This POS Delco battery sucks in my car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terryk2003 Posted November 22, 2005 Report Share Posted November 22, 2005 yeah...i'm going just from what i've heard/read by saying to go with the yellow top...i know if/when my battery dies i will prolly get a yellow top optima...my dad does have a red top in his '78 ford truck...its been in 3 different trucks now...1 had a 460v8 the other a 390v8 and its currently in one with a 302..the battery had no problems crankin any of them over...in fact...the alternator crapped out on one of the trucks and he drove it to work for a week on just the battery alone before realized he had a problem...i thought that was pretty impressive!... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19Cutlass94 Posted November 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2005 yeah that is pretty impressive! yeah I agree, I think the yellow top would be better for my needs and for what Im going to use it for. Because I know these elcetrical systems are not the best and the battery will get drained, so I think the yellow would prolly be the better choice. I just need to wait for my amp to see how everything holds up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puggsley456 Posted November 22, 2005 Report Share Posted November 22, 2005 As previouslly stated.....I see no point to going with a yellow top unless you plan on sitting in your car playin the stereo with the ignition off. I have experimented with both the yellow and retop optima batteries. I purchased a group 75/78 red top optima at Walmart with a 9 year warranty. And the best part about the group 75/78 redtop is you can drop it right in with no modifications needed. I tried to fit my brothers yellow top into my car and I ended up having to pull out the washer fluid resevoir, and unbolt the air box. And after all that I had to use a bungie cord to hold it there as it was too large to use the factory hold down. Now as far as performance.......well....I NEVER listen to my stereo without the car running. So in that area I cant really compare the two. But with the car running I really counldnt tell a difference betweent the two of them. Except i will say that I live in a very cold Canadian Climate. And this past winter...We could really tell a difference in the cold cranking power that these two batteries have to offer. My car would always fire right up with no problem with my redtop and My brothers car with the yellow top was noticeably harder to start. Is this just a case of a lemon battery my brother had? I dont know......But in my case.....the redtop won over the yellow....because it was cheaper....had a longer warranty, and droped right into my factory location. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwmin Posted November 22, 2005 Report Share Posted November 22, 2005 i like having the yellow top just in case i leave my lights on or something so my battery wont die. like i said, there are other dry cell batteries out there you can find for cheaper probablyl, but i havent looked into them myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1138 Posted November 22, 2005 Report Share Posted November 22, 2005 I got a free Red Top and I would probably spend the dough to buy one if it ever craps out on me. It's excellent. If I do an interior mod or something I can listen to music nonstop and not have to worry about boosting the car. It makes normal batteries seem primitive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pabz Posted November 22, 2005 Report Share Posted November 22, 2005 Sorry to get off topic but what about adding one of these??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwmin Posted November 22, 2005 Report Share Posted November 22, 2005 i would start with a better battery. that cured my dimming lights better than an oversized cap did. the 160A alt helped a lot too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Powered Posted November 22, 2005 Report Share Posted November 22, 2005 Well, what I was saying that earlier is they are not a good value. I did not say anything about them being a crappy battery! I have killed them a lot of times so I have experience with them and had them fail just as easy as some cheap normal everyday batteries. They will shit out on you if you even run them down one time. My experiences with batteries has given me this knowledge, so take it or leave it. Like I said earlier, I have had a way better battery than red/yellow top, Lifeline RV. another "dry cell, non-spillable". RV batteries are heavy, but when you got a LG5 it don't matter, load it up. I got heavy duty struts installed in the back. Its not just a 1000 watt amp either . I am packin a lot more than that. A thousand watts, actual RMS watts, pushing the biggest/best speaker money can buy. a 50 lb. motor structure on a W-7. The red top sucks. Get the yellow top for like $135 and you can be hard on it for a little longer. The top of the line AC delco is what you want under the hood though. They are the best, sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darksyde Posted November 22, 2005 Report Share Posted November 22, 2005 I've been running Exide's Orbital battery since they were released 7 or so yrs ago. After the 1st 2 yrs of mistakes they admitted to, i have never had a problem. I have them in every vehicle i own. It's the same tech. as the Optima's just cheaper. You can run these things down to nothing and they come back every single time. Not that it matters but i had one in my ford f150 and i was offroading it came out of the battery box and landed against the fan. It nearly split the case in half. It ripped a cpl of the cylinders inside. I put it back in the battery tray and had no problem for about 2 more weeks. Then i decided to take advantage of the warranty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Powered Posted November 22, 2005 Report Share Posted November 22, 2005 Yep, those are the same battery almost and I have had one of those red tops in another car that had two smaller amps. This is the first red top I ever had back in high school senior year when I built my first motor. It was a Chevy cavalier and we fully rebuilt a 4 cyl. motor and cranked it over like 25 times with a red top to get the pre-lube out of the cam. We killed that battery over and over. That was in 1993. We thought that red tops were the wave of the future, and they would make all other batteries obsolete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sl3196 Posted November 22, 2005 Report Share Posted November 22, 2005 HMmm I'm still running my stock delco battery and have a 1000watt amp. I don't get dim lights. (I do have a 1.0 MA audio cap on there too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puggsley456 Posted November 22, 2005 Report Share Posted November 22, 2005 IMO......The propper order to address the charging system to offset the strain of a aftermarket stereo is.......1) replace the battery...2) do the "Big Three" upgrade....3) upgrade the alternator.....5) install a capacitor if required. Capacitors are the last step in this scenerio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19Cutlass94 Posted November 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2005 yeah the cap is the last thing I want to be dealing with. Plus I guess you have to charge them everyonce n a while or something and if they get drained enough they will actually work against you because they will be trying to charge and drianing your battery even more. Those excide batteries, that are like the optima ones, we and my manager actually compared the sepcs and the excide battery was actually better, spec wise. But I will not put a RV battery in my car. I dont need to ride with the ass dragging the ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terryk2003 Posted November 23, 2005 Report Share Posted November 23, 2005 IMO......The propper order to address the charging system to offset the strain of a aftermarket stereo is.......1) replace the battery...2) do the "Big Three" upgrade....3) upgrade the alternator.....5) install a capacitor if required. Capacitors are the last step in this scenerio. so...whats the "BIG THREE" upgrade?... :oops: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19Cutlass94 Posted November 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2005 Dont quote me on this, but i believe its the ground wire to battery, aux wire to battery and amp wire to battery, all done over in 4g wire. Dont quote me on the wires though, although I do believe thats it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puggsley456 Posted November 24, 2005 Report Share Posted November 24, 2005 Dont quote me on this, but i believe its the ground wire to battery, aux wire to battery and amp wire to battery, all done over in 4g wire. Dont quote me on the wires though, although I do believe thats it Yep..... Here is one of the best explinations and how to's on the "Big Three". http://forum.sounddomain.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=007801 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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