Rough amount to budget for wiring?
Thread Starter
Donating Maxima.org Member
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 1,530
Just wondered what I should take into consideration for wiring for my system when I get it put in.
2 amps (600w total @ 4ohms)
3 processors (1 parametric eq, 1 30-band eq, 1 x-over)
head unit
Stealthbox
Any rough guesses given an average to high quality wire?
2 amps (600w total @ 4ohms)
3 processors (1 parametric eq, 1 30-band eq, 1 x-over)
head unit
Stealthbox
Any rough guesses given an average to high quality wire?
Disco Biscuit
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,790
:)
Someone told me to figure 10% of what the equipment costs, should be how much you spend for wiring. $2,000 worth of equipment means spending $200 in wiring. It's a rough estimate but fair. I'd try to spend around 15% or so. Go to http://www.audioadvisor.com to look for patch cables. You can buy 20' MIT Terminator 4 RCA's for around $50, which is what I did. The shorter ones are cheaper than that. MIT makes killer cables, better than most i've found for car use anyway.
Man those look sexy...
Of course there's always Kimber...
I'd love some of that...
Audio Advisor has nice speaker cables as well, made for home use but works very well in the car.
Hitting deals like that helped me keep my costs down.
And I don't care what anyone says, Cables DO make a difference...
[Edited by Whitemax on 12-07-2000 at 09:00 AM]
Man those look sexy...Of course there's always Kimber...
I'd love some of that...Audio Advisor has nice speaker cables as well, made for home use but works very well in the car.
Hitting deals like that helped me keep my costs down.
And I don't care what anyone says, Cables DO make a difference...
[Edited by Whitemax on 12-07-2000 at 09:00 AM]
Disco Biscuit
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,790
Well, I picked up a Streetwires Kit for right around $100
Only thing I didn't use were the patch cords.Had everything needed for power. If you hunt, you should be able to get everything you need for power fairly cheap. The most expen$ive pieces will be the Patch cables and speaker wire. In time I did replace the main fuse under the hood with a circuit breaker, which was like $40. I ended up spending around 25% total, but that was over time. The only thing that hasn't included has been a Cap, but I'll get one in time. A shop on E-bay has Lightning Audio's digital display 1 farad cap for $99. My local shop wants around $160 for the same one.
Installation is going to be the killer,though. Anything you can do on your own would help cut the cost some.That's what's saved me. Of couse my trunk still looks like crap, but what do you expect for a job done in a poorly lit basement garage in Brooklyn with no power tools?
Installation is going to be the killer,though. Anything you can do on your own would help cut the cost some.That's what's saved me. Of couse my trunk still looks like crap, but what do you expect for a job done in a poorly lit basement garage in Brooklyn with no power tools?
for that much power, you're going to need at least 4awg power wire, but I would recommend going with 2awg just to be safe. You can find it for as low as about $1.50/ft in catalogs, but if you buy locally it'll cost you $4-6/ft.
also look at welding cable. it's black and ugly, but is just as good, if not better than the $5/ft shiny red stuff.
you'll need 20-25ft of power cable to go from the battery to the trunk, then some smaller stuff (8 awg usually) around the trunk to go to each amp. some 10 or 12 awg for your crossover/eq, but it won't be much.
for RCA cables, plan to spend about $30-60 for your long run, then $15-40 for your short ones around the trunk.
if you feel like getting out the soldering iron and making your own, you can buy some good cables for cheap at http://www.mcmelectronics.com.
it ended up costing be about $0.40/ft for each pair of wires. that's about half what you'd pay in a store for them.
Speaker wire, plan to spend about $0.50-1.00/ft for any of it. you'll need about 25 ft for each front speaker, and about 10 ft for feach rear.
I know that doesn't give you a close range in prices, but it's better than nothing.
also look at welding cable. it's black and ugly, but is just as good, if not better than the $5/ft shiny red stuff.
you'll need 20-25ft of power cable to go from the battery to the trunk, then some smaller stuff (8 awg usually) around the trunk to go to each amp. some 10 or 12 awg for your crossover/eq, but it won't be much.
for RCA cables, plan to spend about $30-60 for your long run, then $15-40 for your short ones around the trunk.
if you feel like getting out the soldering iron and making your own, you can buy some good cables for cheap at http://www.mcmelectronics.com.
it ended up costing be about $0.40/ft for each pair of wires. that's about half what you'd pay in a store for them.
Speaker wire, plan to spend about $0.50-1.00/ft for any of it. you'll need about 25 ft for each front speaker, and about 10 ft for feach rear.
I know that doesn't give you a close range in prices, but it's better than nothing.
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,075
What catalogs??-->>
2 Gauge wire ..Damn!! Can you give me some opinions on the posts I did over that last few days or are you not talking to me for some reason??#;>)
Originally posted by Matt93GXE
for that much power, you're going to need at least 4awg power wire, but I would recommend going with 2awg just to be safe. You can find it for as low as about $1.50/ft in catalogs, but if you buy locally it'll cost you $4-6/ft.
also look at welding cable. it's black and ugly, but is just as good, if not better than the $5/ft shiny red stuff.
you'll need 20-25ft of power cable to go from the battery to the trunk, then some smaller stuff (8 awg usually) around the trunk to go to each amp. some 10 or 12 awg for your crossover/eq, but it won't be much.
for RCA cables, plan to spend about $30-60 for your long run, then $15-40 for your short ones around the trunk.
if you feel like getting out the soldering iron and making your own, you can buy some good cables for cheap at http://www.mcmelectronics.com.
it ended up costing be about $0.40/ft for each pair of wires. that's about half what you'd pay in a store for them.
Speaker wire, plan to spend about $0.50-1.00/ft for any of it. you'll need about 25 ft for each front speaker, and about 10 ft for feach rear.
I know that doesn't give you a close range in prices, but it's better than nothing.
for that much power, you're going to need at least 4awg power wire, but I would recommend going with 2awg just to be safe. You can find it for as low as about $1.50/ft in catalogs, but if you buy locally it'll cost you $4-6/ft.
also look at welding cable. it's black and ugly, but is just as good, if not better than the $5/ft shiny red stuff.
you'll need 20-25ft of power cable to go from the battery to the trunk, then some smaller stuff (8 awg usually) around the trunk to go to each amp. some 10 or 12 awg for your crossover/eq, but it won't be much.
for RCA cables, plan to spend about $30-60 for your long run, then $15-40 for your short ones around the trunk.
if you feel like getting out the soldering iron and making your own, you can buy some good cables for cheap at http://www.mcmelectronics.com.
it ended up costing be about $0.40/ft for each pair of wires. that's about half what you'd pay in a store for them.
Speaker wire, plan to spend about $0.50-1.00/ft for any of it. you'll need about 25 ft for each front speaker, and about 10 ft for feach rear.
I know that doesn't give you a close range in prices, but it's better than nothing.
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,075
Jambo I'm no pro but so far I've spent ~$60 on wiring an that was just RCA cables and a bit of 8 Gauge wiring. I'm still looking for cheap 4 Gauge which I can't find for less than $2.50 a ft. I just bought and received yesterday 3/8"
4 Gauge Gold Ring Terminals @ 2.37 and 3/8 8 Gauge Gold ring terminals @1.33. I didn't want to pay $30+ for a distribution block so I found one at 10.76 (holds two fuses) and a little fan for 10.50. This wiring sh$t nickels and dimes you. I have yet to add this to my $60 count. I still have to buy the fuses for the distribution block and other nicnacks I'm sure..
4 Gauge Gold Ring Terminals @ 2.37 and 3/8 8 Gauge Gold ring terminals @1.33. I didn't want to pay $30+ for a distribution block so I found one at 10.76 (holds two fuses) and a little fan for 10.50. This wiring sh$t nickels and dimes you. I have yet to add this to my $60 count. I still have to buy the fuses for the distribution block and other nicnacks I'm sure..
Guest
Posts: n/a
Just an example
Whay I did was go down to my local Audio store and make friendly like with the tech guy. After talking about systems for awhile I mentioned that I needed some wires to hook-up my system. He cut a whoole bunch of spare wiring for me and didn't charge me a dime. On top of that he gave me his own %50 discount on $150 RCA's. Connections are good.
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