hey guys....

i have just finished putting in my sound system, because i have never done anything like that before it was all about trial and error! (and ALOT of swearing) once i had it figured i was testing out the theory of different gauge wires... i originally dummy wired up my system with normal speacker with... including the wire to the battery (with a fuse) but then i was told by a jaycar sales person that i need to have heavier gauge wire, so me being a sucker, i bought all new wiring. and to tell you the truth i have not found any difference in sound quality, also none of the wires get hot.... is it just me or didnt i have to spend my money on all that? what do you guys think?

~take care...

Martin

Okay, Is there an Amp involved ??
If there is then Normal Speaker wire even with a fuse will restrict Current draw if you used it as the Positive feed to the Amplifier... The Skinieer the wire the less Power can flow through it...
So what kind of Wire did you end up Buying??
A Proper Amplifier Wiring Kit ???

i have a 800 watt amp.... i had speaker wire running all over the place and it was skinner as... but now i have 8 gauge wire all over and i have no preformance difference.... i dont know if it was a waste of money or not. i didnt buy a wiring kit coz i could get all the wires i needed of a cheaper price than the kit itself...

~Martin

OK.. When Cranking your Subs, Your amp would have had a Bad time trying to get the Current needed for the Deep Bass Hits through normal speaker wire..
8 Gauge is OK for a Power wire..


If you replaced ALL the Wring with 8 Gauge Including the Wire to your Front Speakers then Yes, it was a Waste of money.
Make Sure your Power Wire and Ground Wire are the same Gauge and as Short as Possible..
Make Sure your Fuse on your Power Wire is within 30cm of your Battery and make sure that that Fuse is no more then 10 amps more then the total Fuse Amperage of the Fuses of your Amp...
So if your 800W Amp has 2, 30 Amp Fuses, make sure your Power wire fuse is no more then 70amps..

What is your Amp running ? Subs, Rear Shelf speakers or the Fronts ????

thanks heaps for that you made more sense than the bloke from jaycar...
thanks champ

~Martin

Thats what we are here for,You post the Questions first, then go and get what you need...

Posting on a Forum like this will save you money..
There are some People who will try and Sell you a Doberman when you only need is a Toy Poodle....

So when it comes to Car Audio, Post up the Questions, Get the Answers and then you can get what you need with a little more confidence and you wont get done by the sales man..

If anything I would suggest matching the total of the amps fuses or going smaller than this. Install ur fuses so they will blow before anything else otherwise they serve little purpose.

But you definetly should not be running speaker wire for power.

As Magnat said the big bass hits will put pressure on ur amps.

You may not notice a difference audibly. but using cheap / small wire can easily smoke ur subs under big loads.

peace

Tim

Hey all, Sorry to ji-jack thread. Im in a similar boat. Ive just bought an amp (the 4 channel response one from jaycar) and Im not sure what size wire to use. Which would be better: 4g or 8g?

You could get away with 8ga if running in sterio but if bridged any of the channels you are best to use 4ga. :) It seems that at the magical 500WRMS you need to upgrade your wire, however, shouldn't it be say 600WRMS if you where using a Class D over a Class AB since the Class D draws less current.

fyi

Wire Gauge - Fuse Size
2/0 gauge - 430 amps
0 gauge - 345 amps
1 gauge - 265 amps
2 gauge - 215 amps
4 gauge - 135 amps
6 gauge - 80 amps
8 gauge - 55 amps
10 gauge - 30 amps
12 gauge - 20 amps
14 gauge - 15 amps
16 gauge - 7.5 amps

Peace

Tim

Hmm well that is easy, just use P=VI to find out how bigger cable you need. Length also plays its part in the thickness.