Amp Wire prices

Adidasman159 · Post by **Adidasman159** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 3:30 pm

Talking to the guy at my local audio shop he told me to budjet in 70 bucks for stinger amp wiring kid.

Good price? i thought it seeemed kind of high, im not looking for the absolute best install kit you can buy.

any good websites where i can get some good amp wire or an install kit for a good price. I was planning on installing a 4 channel Diamond D3 amp for the speakers in the car.

Ryan from Ohio · Post by **Ryan from Ohio** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 3:40 pm

http://www.knukonceptz.com

When I buy for an install I buy there. If I need just a little this or that I have another source. I get 4 Ga wire for $1.24/ft...

_gonz_ · Post by **_gonz_** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 4:02 pm

x2, KNU all the way.

And don't buy "kits", they're always a waste of money. Just buy exactly what you need.

ridr4lif · Post by **ridr4lif** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 5:30 pm

Kits arent always a waste of money. Knu has a 4 guage kit for like 20 bux...includes everything you need.

_gonz_ · Post by **_gonz_** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 2:58 am

Well, it's usually a waste of money to go with 4ga as it is....
more than likely, sooner or later, you're going to throw it in the trash to upgrade to 0ga... so why not just do it right in the first place, and only spend for cable once?

I speak from experience on this one

Adidasman159 · Post by **Adidasman159** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 4:02 am

Can i just put in 0ga on a diamond D3 amp, its not the best amp in the world so will the better cable really be necessary

whats the price difference

_gonz_ · Post by **_gonz_** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 4:33 am

Adidasman159 wrote:Can i just put in 0ga on a diamond D3 amp, its not the best amp in the world so will the better cable really be necessary
whats the price difference

Well heres the thing...
You progress in this hobby. We start with one little amp, move to two, then get a bigger sub amp, new components, bigger front amp... it's a disease I tell you!

So the best advice I can really give anybody, concerns their wiring. This is the one aspect that is practically guaranteed to stay with you... or, at least it can, if you're smart about it. How can You be smart about wiring? Thats easy...

You just plan for the future.

4ga is cheaper, sure... but then it turns into 2 runs of 4ga. Thats more mess, and still not the equivelent of a single 0ga run, which at that point, probably woulda cost less up front...

0ga is about $2 per foot, and I estimate 15ft positive, and 2-3ft of negative, roughly. Really depends on the vehicle obviously. Your fuse holder for 0ga will cost $20 and the fuse comes with it. You'll want 2 0ga ring terminals, or a new battery terminal/block and just one terminal for the ground cable.

Once the cable gets to the amp location...
I use a distrobution block, two actually.
0ga input, and 4ga output. So this allows you to split your main power cable, into two 4ga power cables, one for each amp. Same thing for the grounds. Keeps things neat and secure.

I have KnuKonceptz "KonFused" blocks and they seem to be really nice products. The nice thing about them, is they are configureable, so you can have 4ga OR 8ga outputs, whatever the max gauge cable is, that your amp allows.

So to recap and summarize, my install goes like this:

RCA cables - as short as reasonably possible. Shielded and twisted.
0ga cable for power and neg + 2 ring terminals
Distro blocks
4ga cable for the blocks to the amps
Big three upgrade cables - 0ga or 4ga w/ extra ring terminals
Speaker wire - 16ga minimum to 12ga max, I'd prefer 12ga

Let me know if you have any questions.

My setup is going in at the same time I'm deadening the car, and I plan to only do this stuff once. Overall, the wiring setup cost me $200 but, I'm sure I'll have some material left over. Better to have too much, than too little.

If you decide to go with 4ga cable... it'll still work for your amp. I did that with the last car, and never ran into a problem... but I was also running less than 600 watts.

If you plan to ever use two amps with a combined output of 1000 or 1200 or more watts... you should just invest in the 0ga now. It'll only be more expensive later.

Bwcad1 · Post by **Bwcad1** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 4:35 am

i agree on this if you ever plan on upgrading just do 1/0 in the first place.

_gonz_ · Post by **_gonz_** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 4:41 am

Hey Bill, did you learn it the hard way too?

I know it looks like alot of money up front. I guess the biggest question you really need to ask yourself, is how long are you going to keep this car? I have a new car, so it's absolutely worth it for me. Not only am I keeping this car for awhile... but my amps too... and they'll make good use of the stout power cable, even if it is just a little bit overkill.

And remember, it's not that much work to remove your wiring, if you do get rid of the car. You can take a rag, dampen with some general purpose cleaner, and make the cables good as new... for your next install.

Bwcad1 · Post by **Bwcad1** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 4:45 am

yup i sure did except as i progressed into spl i went from 4-2-0 no i have 2 runs of 0 gage and soon to be 4 as each of my amps have 2 power and 2 ground inputs. so i went the extra hard way. and i have gone through multiple companys first mobile spec then tsunami/raptor Now im with hooker. and hooker is so far the best