dead alternator

I was coming home from my grandparents this weekend and noticed that my lights were dim and that my stereo was weak and static when i braked, but when i accelrated they came back up. i thought my battery was shot. my car died like a block from my house, i pushed it home and had my dad look at it. we figured outi had killed my alternator. i obvisouly assumed that it was my amp. but after thingking about it, the amp is only pulls 20 amps, and ive got either a 80 or 108 amp alt. amp alternator [big ass car] and after doing some reserch, with my headlights on and driving my car pulls about 45-50 amps. so this leaves me with 30 or more left over, thus 20 shouldnt be a problem. im pretty sure its just that the alternator was old, it was atleast 5 years old. i have my amp unhooked cuz i can afford about 100$[my dads the manager of a auto parts store, i get crazy discounts] alternator. ive got a new one, but i jsut want to know if hooking the amp back up will kill this one, or if i should be fine for a lil while, i am getting a aftermakret one, i jsut havent decided what type, im working on researching, but there arent alot of aftermarket alt makers.

for those of you who dont want to read that entire thing:
i think my amp killed my alternator, it was 5 years old. i have a new OEM on, is it safe to hook my amp back up, according to my math i have the extra power for it. and what are some good aftermarket alternator makers, and do they run?

What kind of amp do you have???
No I don't think the amp killed it, stuff just wears out.

Oh and by my math, your amp is pushin somewhere around 288watts?

Later

-Ryan

There are a few internet only alternator brands that go 200 amps or so for about $100. I can't remember them though, and that price might be a little low. A search on google turned up tons of sites dedicated to high output alternators, though the people here probably will be able to refer you to better places.

a stock alternator should be able to handle 800-1000 watts of stereo amp. Remember, if it has a 40 amp fuse, it does NOT draw anywhere near 40 amps of constant current, probably more like 15.

ive seen some but i wanted to know what brands were good.

my amp says 500x2 two. the rated rms is 125x2, its a craptastic amp i know. im replacing it when i redo my subs, i jsut needed something cheap right now to hold me over.