parasonic

Okay. Here's what I just ordered:

Eclipse CD8053 headunit
JL 300/4 amp
Diamond Audio S600s 6.5" components
Eclipse SP8992 6x9's

I'm going to be driving 75 watts RMS to each channel and POSSIBLY upgrade by bridging the JL amp to 150x2 and buy another amp for the rear speakers. I'll also later on get a 1000W amp and sub for the back. I'm tempted to mount the amp under the driver's side seat, and there should be enough clearance for ventilation. Otherwise, it will go in the back.

What do you all suggest for my wiring, brands, length, gauges? An inline fuse and power distribution block. I'll also be needing a security system for when I won't be parking in my garage in a few months.

Thanks!

rcurley55

A bonafide 1kW amp, plus the 300W amp that you have now should be 0/1ga to the trunk - IMO of course. You can probably get away with a 4 ga, but you will want 0/1 to the trunk, then split it to 4 ga for each subsequent amp.

parasonic

Cool, thanks. What about speaker wire now?

rcurley55

you don't need anything special - anything from 16 to 12 ga really...but I would run 16

xero-cool

any specific reason for 16 over 12? rcurley recommended these wires to me:

http://www.knukonceptz.com

very nice wires....got them from ebay where they are also listing their items. You might want to check them out.

rcurley55

16ga wire is plenty for most every application in car audio - especially at 75W. There really is no reason to go any higher then that - anything larger is over kill and it's just more expensive...

knukonceptz is a good place to get good quality wire at a reasonable price.

nOOber

Hey,

don't forget to buy a little extra power wire, so you can upgrade the ground path too.

o_Rage_o

16ga Also makes it much easier to route through the molex plugs in the doors, although I've worked 14ga pair + 1 single through it.

It's hell. And the extra guage is not necessary but came cheap.

-Shane

parasonic

Do you guys have any recommended places to buy the 0 or 1 gauge wire, and what length should I go for? I'm kind of on a budget now that I've spent over $1100 Also, any recommended power distribution blocks, and how should I go about calculating the current that these amps draw...I've heard something about factoring in 50% efficiency.

Thanks again..

parasonic

Okay, basically, I want to know what you guys think is the best place to order the 0 and 16awg cable and the distro block and fuse holder...

Someone here is anxious

rcurley55

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by o_Rage_o &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">16ga Also makes it much easier to route through the molex plugs in the doors, although I've worked 14ga pair + 1 single through it.

It's hell. And the extra guage is not necessary but came cheap.

-Shane
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Shane you wuss...I got one run of 12 ga in my civic doors!!!

I also had two pair of 16ga in there as well...

It's actually not 0 ga or 1 ga, it's called 0/1 ga. It can be rather expensive and it's freaking huge (almost the same size as garden hose). You can get it for a nice price at a welding supply store, or you can get car audio specific wire.

There's a few things to remember when installing wires.

1. fuse no more then 18" from the battery and before you pass through any metal.
2. fuse everywhere that the wire size drops in diameter
3. grounds as short as possible and to bare metal with tight connections

So essentially what you need would be 0/1 ga to the trunk (with a fuse holder in the engine compartment). A grommet for the wire to pass into the cabin (or use an existing one). Then a fused distribution block in the trunk (one with 0/1 input and the number of 4ga outputs you need - i.e. the number of amps you have). Then the appropriate length of 4 ga and the necessary connectors.

Remember, the fuse under the hood does nothing to protect the amplifiers! It is there to protect the car/wire against a short. The general rule of thumb is to take the fuse rating on your amplifiers, add them up, then use that number to get a fuse for under the hood.

A more mathmatical way to do this is to take the total output in watts that you expect from your amplifiers. Then double that number to account for 50% efficiency in an amplifier. So:

Actual Power Needed = 2 x Amplifier Rated Power

Actual Current Draw = Actual Power Needed/Voltage

Use a general number for voltage - around 13.3V

These equations will generally over-estimate current draw, but they are safe approximations. With a properly setup system playing typical music programs, your amplifiers will rarely - if ever - hit maximum current draw.

nsxxtreme

Be careful, you want to make sure that your fuse is no greater than half the peak current capabilities for a particular battery. Otherwise poof!

parasonic

Should 16awg wire be okay for the headunit to the bla/amp? Thanks.

rcurley55

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by parasonic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Should 16awg wire be okay for the headunit to the bla/amp? Thanks.</TD></TR></TABLE>

No, for an amplifier you need RCA cables to send signal from the head to the amp. The only other wire you need is the amp remote wire (it tells the amp when to turn on and off) 16 or 18 ga wire is fine for that purpose

parasonic

Can you show me a product/cable or recommend some RCA stuff? (The cabling part was something that I never found enough to read up on if you're wondering...)

ShaunRR

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rcurley55 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
It's actually not 0 ga or 1 ga, it's called 0/1 ga. It can be rather expensive and it's freaking huge (almost the same size as garden hose). You can get it for a nice price at a welding supply store, or you can get car audio specific wire</TD></TR></TABLE>

Don't use power wire from welding supply store. My friends and I used to do that in high school because we were cheap. The insulation isn't very resiliant in an automotive application.

nsxxtreme

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rochesterricer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Don't use power wire from welding supply store. My friends and I used to do that in high school because we were cheap. The insulation isn't very resiliant in an automotive application.</TD></TR></TABLE>

You must be on the pipe. You think someone is going to cheese wire that 200-400 volts is running through. I garantee any welding environment is harsher than your car.

ShaunRR

I have seen the decaying insulation myself. Your wire may be better, but I have seen it happen with the stuff from our local supply store(Mississippi Welding Supply Co.).