What AWG wire to run from amp to subs?
Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=48784
Printed Date: April 28, 2024 at 5:25 PM
Topic: What AWG wire to run from amp to subs?
Posted By: DukeDuke
Subject: What AWG wire to run from amp to subs?
Date Posted: January 28, 2005 at 7:12 AM
I have asked many different car audio guys, and I have come to the conclusion that 12-14 awg will work just fine, however, I have still wondered apon the fact, would a thicker wire not give it more power. Kinda using the amp like a disto. block(going in with a thicker gauge and coming out with something smaller) I guess, that is kind of a stupid way to put it, but still... I will be running 0 AWG into the amp, and then from there I was going to just use a 12, however, I still am wanting to try maybe an 8 AWG and see how that goes. I am just lookin for everyone to throw there 2 cents in, even the DIY's. Thanks! I hope this can help me out as well as others! Thanks guys!
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Duke Duke
Replies:
Posted By: haemphyst
Date Posted: January 28, 2005 at 8:43 AM
The answer to this is based on how far you are running AND how much power you have. You cannot say with absolute certainty "This size wire is best for your application". HOWEVER, since your sub is typically in the trunk, close to the amplifier, you are save with a 14 or a 12. Me? I think overkill looks good, so I am using an 8 to my woofer, but the only benefit is a vanishingly smaller resistance between the amp terminal and the woofer.
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It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."
Posted By: Teamrf
Date Posted: January 28, 2005 at 8:43 AM
Well the thing with larger wire it produces more current flow. If you took a current hungry sub, and place a 18awg wire oppose to an 8awg wire(if the terminals are big enough for 8 awg) then you are robbing your sub of its full potential using smaller wire. But 12awg is big enough in most cases. What subs, and amp are you using?
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~The Rookie~
Rookie of the year that is...
Don't let the smoke out of your equiptment..it doesn't go back in.
Posted By: DukeDuke
Date Posted: January 28, 2005 at 10:08 AM
I wasn't really asking this for me personally, however just more of a general discussion as to where others could learn and understand more about what other people use and how they do their wiring! I am uncertain of my setup right now. It was going to be a Memphis Mojo Amp and a Eclipse Titanium, however I sold the titanium and am thinking about saleing the Mojo amp. I have just heard many different ways of wiring up subs and the wire that is used. I am just curious as to what others were using as well. Overkill is good if it looks nice, and it diffently won't hurt anything in anyway. However, if there is no need for it, and you are stuck with a roll of 12 awg, but running a 2000 watt system, is it worth buying some 8awg to wire the system up. I was originally just going to use 12awg however, with the 2000 watts I will be using, I had changed my mind to using 8awg. But it is just a question of how benefical it will be to my setup. But again, I just started this to help others out as well, I have been asked many times which should they use, and for what reason, as well as 'Why can't I use bigger, wont it push the subs harder?" so i was just letting everyone post their responces to this! Thanks everyone in advance!
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Duke Duke
Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: January 28, 2005 at 10:31 AM
Teamrf wrote:
Well the thing with larger wire it produces more current flow. If you took a current hungry sub, and place a 18awg wire oppose to an 8awg wire(if the terminals are big enough for 8 awg) then you are robbing your sub of its full potential using smaller wire. But 12awg is big enough in most cases. What subs, and amp are you using?
Huh? No no no and no. Larger wire does not "produce more current flow" nor does it rob anything from anything to use multiple sizes. The LOAD (in this case the amp or the speakers) creates the demand for current flow. Larger gage wires ALLOW more current flow than smaller ones with less HEAT and losses. ANY wire will try and pass whatever current demand is required by the load. The wire does not care. A 36 gage wire will try to pass all 200 amps demanded by a large amplifier if you hook it up that way. It's just that smaller wire will add enough resistance to burn up faster. It is impossible for a wire, any wire, to "produce" current all by itself. Using smaller wire does not "rob your sub of its full potential," this is a myth. Smaller wire is simply a fire hazard. ------------- Support the12volt.com
Posted By: fastone
Date Posted: January 28, 2005 at 11:00 AM
Ohm's law man. Calculate your current draw and size your wire accordingly. No rocket science.
Posted By: stevdart
Date Posted: January 28, 2005 at 3:58 PM
fastone is on the money. It's purely simple math. Help files along the left border of this page... I did some calculations one time and figured that you would have to be running 1000 watts into a 1 ohm load to need to use 12 gauge speaker wire out. 1000 watts into 2 ohms came up as 14 gauge, but just barely. And as DYohn said, that's just to keep the wires from getting warm if you are sustaining max output. You can see how the recommended 16 gauge for speaker wiring makes sense. Unless you want that little bit of wire showing to be beefy, like haemphyst does.
Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: January 28, 2005 at 6:06 PM
stevdart wrote:
I did some calculations one time and figured that you would have to be running 1000 watts into a 1 ohm load to need to use 12 gauge speaker wire out.
Exactly. I use 16 or 14 AWG for every speaker installation I do, (unless it's a 70V or 100V system, then I use 18 or 22AWG) ------------- Support the12volt.com
Posted By: chiliphilli1968
Date Posted: February 06, 2005 at 1:11 AM
I opened my brothers box up to put some poly-fill in it and found what looked like 18 awg connecting from the speaker terminals to the ouick release plugs. I replaced that with 8awg along with stuffing the box with that poly-fill and I had to turn his amp down, it was an big, noticable difference. It's just my opinion and you know what they say about opinions, but replacing that smaller awg stuff with the larger stuff was proof enough to me that bigger awg is better. Just a thought.
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Chilliphilli1968
Posted By: Steven Kephart
Date Posted: February 06, 2005 at 4:11 AM
My sub is connected with 16 awg wire right now and it works just fine. In fact just before a competition we ran out of wire so I ran to the store and had to get some 18 awg wire. My amp does about 1200 watts and I was running it at 2 ohms stereo IIRC and I was able to pull a 143.7 dB with my single 10" sub in a .36 cubic foot sealed enclosure. Personally I think 16-18 awg wire is just fine for subs, but of course it doesn't hurt to go a little larger. But it is not a requirement. And this is especially true for front speakers where you are running at the extreme a couple hundred watts. Steven Kephart Adire Audio -------------
Posted By: speedwayaudio1
Date Posted: February 06, 2005 at 10:42 AM
12 to 16 awg is fine for just about any sub, BUT if you are mounting your sub inverted or you have a plexi window in your box. a nice looking 8awg looks great. I have 8 12's mounted inverted and all 8awg going to them. I use spark plug wire looms and crome spark plug wire holders to give it a nice look. to me there is no such thing as overkill in car audio. if you can dream it up you can do it.
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Big Dave
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