subwoofer/amp wiring

i have two 12" AW1251T audiobahn subs with a sound storm amp F700.2.  the subs are 4 ohm dual voice coil.  i need to get a load of 4 ohms and im still unclear about how to wire the subs.  i've looked at a lot of diagrams and it doesn't make sense to me with my wires.  This is a diagram i found, but i don't know where to start with my wires.  my wires have + and - attached together and this looks like only one wire.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

hey buddy, do a search on audiobahn on the site, it should help you out

It is just one wire connecting the voice coils.  You can split a length of speaker wire and use one strand for one sub and the other strand for the other sub.  The diagram above is a series/parallel connection and is the best for your purpose.  After connecting the voice coils of each sub with a short wire, shown in the diagram as the connection between the + and-, then use a longer run of speaker wire that will connect the subs to the box terminal.  Split the wire again.  Those two single wires are represented by the diagram lines terminating in an arrow.  The diagram shows a "T" connection, but that is just for illustrative purposes.  You just connect one wire as shown on the left from one sub's + to the other sub's + and then to the box terminal + (or directly to the amp +).  Same with the other side with the - wire.Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.

so it doesn't really matter if the wires say + or - on them when i wire the coils?

A wire is a wire.  They are color-coded and labelled only for convenience sake.  Often, subs are wired together inside an enclosure with other wire than "speaker" wire.  Just as long as it is copper stranded, and of about the same gauge as the wiring that will connect to the amp.Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.

thank you very much, i think i know what's goin on now

one more thing...is there a certain way to connect the wires to the box?  there's just a little prong with a circle to put the wire through...

http://www.jlaudio.com/tutorials/index.html  Middle of the page - "Wiring your subs"

ok, i have my subs wired to the amp according to the previous diagram...i have a 2 channel amp that puts out 250 RMS at 4 ohms, but also 700 watts peak at 4 ohms bridged...i need the 250 setting for my subs...how do i know for sure which mode it is in?

Solder the wire to the terminal jack you described.  As for your last question, you only need to know RMS output of an amp into a given ohm load.  Ignore peak ratings, as they mean nothing.  With your subs connected to the amp properly, the amp will read a 4 ohm load and produce 250 watts RMS.  That power will be divided between the two subs.  At certain music passages the source material will cause the amp to provide short bursts of higher power, which the speakers can very easily deal with.  That is the peak that they are referring to.  Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.