Hi guys I was wondering do the wires for an amp kit make a difference. Like say using off brand wiring kits/RCA (Absolute/Lanzar/SPL) instead of Monster Cable. I am trying to save some money but not trying to cut corners when it comes to installation quality.

Thanks in advance

 

it can make some difference...depends on what your looking to do. what are you looking to do? what kind of power are you looking at getting out of an amp? Also, stay copper. some kits come with wire that isn't copper. They scare me, even though they can do the trick.

 

no i dont think so. just use proper gauge wiring and your set.

 

Thanks guys for the quick reply. I am going to run an Alpine MRD-M1000 to three type R 12's for some bass but as you can see from the set up I am running out of loot!

 

i dont think it makes a difference...

 

if you want cheap wire buy at wall mart, I bought a 4 gauge kit.
14feet 4 gauge,
3 feet 8 gauge ground,
4 feet 8 gauge extention,
17 feet remote wire,
100amp fuse box,
4gauge to 2 8 gauge splitter
+ small connectors.
all for $24.95

The only problem is the 14 feet 4-gauge, I have to be very neat with the wiring to allow the cable to have 1 feet of cable on the trunk. (it works for me thou)

 

What would be the better brand of wire to buy?

 

Wire is wire is wire... as long as it's the right type. You want stranded copper, flexible and well shielded of the proper guage. For RCAs, you want to make sure they are twisted to reduce noise. Anything beyond that is pure marketing gibberish. Monster Cable is the king of marketing gimmicks.

 

yeah, i'm just running some generic "brand" for my 4 gauge power wire. why pay lots more for a name?

 

not all rca's are created equal. you could probably run moster rcas right next to the power wire w/no noise. the are shield well. but i wouldn't buy them cause the cost too much. i would say g o with the scoche brand (Found at walmart) cause that is what www.crutchfield.com sells.

 

I have 0 ga and it's much better than the 4ga and 8 ga I had had originally.

 

Slow Moe, on 16th street and D in National City they sell good electronics for cheap... everything from speakers to home security. They are called *****'s Electronics. Its a small electronic hobby shop. PM me and we'll roll down there.

 

Thanks Chrome I'll check it out.

 

Yeah, lemme know how things go.

 

Oxygen free copper is Oxygen free copper. Regarldess of what the plastic coating says on it. Thats why I have 1/0 arc welder cable running in my car rather then $4/ft stinger wire.

 

Here is the deal, I recently upgraded my speaker cable. Before I had my alpine amp tapped into stock cable. I posted about this about 2 weeks ago. All i did was make a switch from the stock 20 gauge? to 16 gauge (still not so big) OFC copper from radio shack- nothing to crazy, and reran new wiring in the car. It truly is night and day. I promise. The dynamics were restricted when using the car's stock wirring. You will notice that you can turn it up louder with less distortion. The dynamics will greatly increase. I promise you this. You do not need to be an audiophile to notice the difference. Trust me. Your speakers will come alive. And yes, as far as interconnects, don't cheap out on them. I was lucky because on my first system, the installer had pride and used some high quality goldquest, not that tinsle zip interconnect, you know, the kind that comes with your home cd player or DVD. Those are just aweful. Do yourself the favor and don't skimp or be lazy on running new wiring. It DOES make a difference. DO IT

 

http://www.bcae1.com/images/swfs/spe...rassistant.swf

it all depends on how much power and length. this calculator will tell you what gauge is needed.

 

I've never heard of *****'s but looks good.
http://www.willyselectronics.com/
Ebay has stuff for butt cheap. 300amp wire kit was only $15 after shipping.
Jae

 

i've got a cheap scoshe rca cable running for my subs amp and a supposedly higher quality one running for my front speakers amp.

As for power, i've got forney 4ga welder cable (flexible fine strand with a higher heat tolerance than the audiophile store stuff, and for less $ its just flat black and says FORNEY WELDING on the side instead of being some purdy color) running from front battery to rear battery..with my old 8 ga amp wiring kit connecting the grounds cause it was already there

 

As far as power cable is concerned just remember that current follows the path of least resistance, so using larger gauge power wire is key when it comes to getting the juice needed for the amplifier. The sizing of the wire is determined by what the product manufacturer suggests. You also need to take into consideration how far the amp will be mounted from the power supply (battery) this is also a determining factor because wire will lose effiency over a certain distance. Ofcouse it wouldn't make much sense to run 0awg. wire into an amp that physically can only accept 10awg. However the system will perform better if you run larger wire from the power supply as close to the amp as possible before reducing to a smaller gauge. Most people will run 0awg. or 4awg wire into a distribution block that will allow smaller wire to exit from the block. Usually most distribution blocks that can accept 0 or 4awg wire have 2, 4 or 6 ports that hold 8awg wire.
Now for RCA cables, I have never thought there is that big of a difference between $100 cables & $10 cables. Mainly the difference is if they are being installed in a vehicle that can produce unwanted interference (engine wine). But this can be easily avoided if you take your time & run the cables properly away from anything that can cause interference.

 

run your rca's on one side of the car, the power cable on the other

 

http://knukonceptz.com

high quality stuff at very good prices

 

Yes..........................

 

Zero gauge is for the bid dogs

 

Agreed...the real real real good stuff only becomes worth it in the best of the best systems or if you just got tons and tons of money to blow.

 

Whats a good brand of RCA's to use because I currently have some PPI twisted RCA and I still get alternator whine when my cars lights are on. Power and remote wire are and on drivers side and RCAs are on passengers so that shouldn't be a problem. thanks

 

More then likely you don't have a problem with your RCA's unless they are extremely old & the inside of them have been damaged. To me engine noise occuring when the headlights are turn on sounds like a grounding issue to me. You may want to improve on the grounding system or at the very least check to make sure everything is tight. (Battery, amp ground etc.)

 

so could that mean I have some bad grounds under the hood because my system has a good solid ground underneath the rear seats. thanks

 

Yes, it is possible that the chassis ground under the hood is insufficient. Maxima's are notorious for having a horrible ground. That's why alot of people use hyper grounding kits. Some people have even reported picking up some more horsepower because the ECU is receiving better power with the improved ground. First of all just make sure that the terminal on the battery is tight. You may also want to check the other end of the battery ground also. It bolt's to the engine block. One thing I want to ask you is if you made sure to remove the paint when your amp ground is bolted under the back seat? You want to make sure to sand off any paint between the mounting location & the ring terminal on the end of your ground. Also are you using a star washer where you have the amp grounded? Incase you don't know what a star washer is it kinda looks like this <*>. These are great to use in grounded locations. They help kinda increase the strength of the ground.

 

thanks, its probably got something to do with the grounding under the hood because my amp grounds are stripped/sanded and make great contact. i'll look into getting one of those ground kits. my only question now is it okay to have four 8 gauge wires under the hood for ground or would 4 4 gauge wires make a noticable difference because almost every ground kit i've seen uses 8 guage wires. Also, i don't use a star washer because i thought it would hurt the ground because it would add spaces inbetween the chassis and my wire terminal.

 

I don't think that there will be a big difference between the 8awg & the 4awg wire, just make sure to ground to some good places under the hood. As far as the star washer is concerned I've never heard of them hurting the ground only improving it. But if you are confident that the amp's ground is sufficient then don't worry about it. Hopefully improving the ground under the hood will do the trick. Good luck!!!