speaker gauge wire?

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bumflik

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Joined: January 03, 2008

Location: Florida, United States

Posted: January 08, 2008 at 4:05 PM / IP Logged

How is it possible to run a 2 gauge power wire through you whole car and then use 12-16 gauge speaker wires? Like lets say you have the 2x 1000 Rms pioneer premier subs using 12 gauge speaker wires. How do the wires handle the high load? Shouldn't you be using the same 2 or 4 gauge wires (that you ran through the car) with the subs connected to the terminal and from terminal to the amp as well?

I don't understand how it works.

- I never hooked up subs before.

DYohn

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Joined: April 22, 2003

Location: Arizona, United States

Posted: January 08, 2008 at 4:55 PM / IP Logged

Wire gauge size determines how much current the wire can carry. Power in a vehicle is low voltage but can be very high current. Speaker-level signals are relatively high voltage but relatively low current.

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stevdart

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Posted: January 08, 2008 at 5:13 PM / IP Logged

...and is a good time for you to get introduced to Ohm's Law. Ohm's Law uses simple math to explain what occurs between electrical forces. The basic law is known as PIE, or in words, power is the result of current times voltage. Ohm's Law explains why the wire has to be thicker from battery to amplifier than from amplifier to speaker.

https://www.the12volt.com/ohm/ohmslaw.asp

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sedate

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Posted: January 08, 2008 at 5:28 PM / IP Logged

bumflik wrote:

How do the wires handle the high load

The inversion from DC to AC contributes significantly to this - DYohn's mention of voltage is but one aspect of this attribute. This is actually why Westinghouse took the power industry from Edison way back in the day - DC is not suited to transmitting power over more than just a few feet at most. The losses are enormous.

When the power gets to the amp however, the amp turns the low voltage DC into high voltage AC formed into a neat, pretty sine wave. As such, small speaker wire, (>16g for subs) is permissible as long as it is not excessive - say >100ft or so before losses are significant compared to just a few dozen inches for DC current.

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crewwzin

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Posted: January 09, 2008 at 11:50 AM / IP Logged

sedate wrote:

bumflik wrote:

How do the wires handle the high load

The inversion from DC to AC contributes significantly to this - DYohn's mention of voltage is but one aspect of this attribute. This is actually why Westinghouse took the power industry from Edison way back in the day - DC is not suited to transmitting power over more than just a few feet at most. The losses are enormous.

Most people are unaware that an amplifier is actually a variable voltage power inverter. DC input, AC output at varying voltages. Just thought I'd throw that out there for the car audio newbies.

I'd rather be in the boat with a drink on the rocks, than in the drink with a boat on the rocks!

bumflik

Copper - Posts: 58

Joined: January 03, 2008

Location: Florida, United States

Posted: January 09, 2008 at 5:20 PM / IP Logged

sedate wrote:

bumflik wrote:

How do the wires handle the high load

o0o thanx i didnt know that! You answered my question!

bumflik

Copper - Posts: 58

Joined: January 03, 2008

Location: Florida, United States

Posted: January 09, 2008 at 5:22 PM / IP Logged

stevdart wrote:

https://www.the12volt.com/ohm/ohmslaw.asp

thanks put "DC to AC" was all I needed to know.

DYohn

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Posted: January 09, 2008 at 6:15 PM / IP Logged

bumflik wrote:

thanks put "DC to AC" was all I needed to know.

Maybe if you want to stay a noob. Dc to AC is NOT the only reason, although it is a part of the reason. The main reason is the current. You really need to know Ohm's Law by heart if you intensd to be more than a "user' in car audio.

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Steven Kephart

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Posted: January 10, 2008 at 12:28 AM / IP Logged

I broke Ohm's Law once which created a huge mess. Voltage was flowing everywhere. speaker gauge wire? - Last Post -- posted image.

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speaker gauge wire?

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