Modus Says Goodbye to Big Power Wire

By James Chevrette

As announced, Modus Global’s new car and marine audio products will offer a unique power supply design. What dealers may not yet know, is that the new amplifiers will also require smaller gauge wires, which cuts down on wiring costs, said Modus.

In a recent demo of Modus’ Mezzo car amps due for release in Q3, there was no sign of the typical 4- or 8-gauge wires.

The system was shown at MasterTech Expo in a 48-volt Cybertruck using two Modus MZA-8 8 channel and two MZA-1 Mono Mezzo amplifiers. 

Jason Digos of Modus Global explained that unlike typical amplifiers, the Modus amps use a patented PREACT Current Averaging Technology that includes a lithium-ion battery.  In a Modus set up, the wires from the amp draw minimal current, just enough to charge the amp’s lithium-ion battery.  In contrast, a typical amplifier draws current directly from the car battery to feed the power supply of the amplifier.  Traditional amps lack the reservoir of power created by the lithium-ion battery so they require larger wire to handle a larger current draw.

Digos said in a recent YouTube video, “…the thing that’s really cool about current averaging technology is that it takes a separate power supply that operates and powers up a lithium-ion power bank in the amplifier that then powers the audio amplifier section of the amplifier. So what that means is that we’re not drawing a lot of current as the music is playing. The charge comes in, charges up the lithium-ion power bank, kind of like a reservoir, and the amplifier then draws that current there so we have minimal current draw.”

To explain further, microprocessors in the Modus amplifier regulate the charging of the amp’s lithium-ion battery by adapting to the vehicle’s charging system.  Modus amplifiers can use anywhere from 9 to 58 volts to charge their batteries, said Modus. The wires remain small whether in a 12-volt or 48-volt vehicle.

Most people remember our grade 10 science class’ study of Ohm’s Law.  Essentially as electrical voltage goes up, the electrical current goes down. Here is a very simplified example –

If a 2000-watt stereo system needs 100 amps of current in a 12-volt system, then it requires only 50 amps of current in a 24-volt system, 25 amps in a 36-volt system, and 12.5 amps of current in a 48-volt system.

Smaller wire is also used by Modus in a traditional, non-EV 12-volt system.  Instead of  100 amps of current, requiring 4-gauge wire with a 25-foot run, Modus systems need only 12-guage power wire for the same 25-foot run, it said.

Modus is planning new head units as well as amplifiers, speakers and subwoofers for the car and marine audio markets.