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.