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correct cable

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=57811
Printed Date: March 28, 2024 at 5:00 AM


Topic: correct cable

Posted By: wrathchild281
Subject: correct cable
Date Posted: June 16, 2005 at 10:59 AM

hey you guys me and my freind hooked up my 4 12's to my jbl 1200.1 amp. Its only like 14 gauge and i heard it was much to small. What size speaker cable should i hook them up with? thanks



Replies:

Posted By: Francious70
Date Posted: June 16, 2005 at 11:05 AM
Practically, 14 gauge is fine. For looks, go with 10 gauge. There will be little performance gains, but they won't be audible. But the bling factor over-rules the function factor.

Paul




Posted By: wrathchild281
Date Posted: June 16, 2005 at 11:17 AM
ok cuz the installer at the local car audio shop said i should be using much thicker cable.




Posted By: haemphyst
Date Posted: June 16, 2005 at 11:18 AM
Here... Check the speaker wire calculator...

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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: stevdart
Date Posted: June 16, 2005 at 11:41 AM
Ohm's Law applies.  The installer should know that.  But seriously, for a short run of speaker wire, who cares?  As Paul said above, go with whatever you think looks best...but know that 14 gauge won't even get warm to the touch.

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Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.




Posted By: wrathchild281
Date Posted: June 16, 2005 at 11:57 AM
ok now would 10 gauge have any better sound performance




Posted By: mthomecouple
Date Posted: June 16, 2005 at 12:18 PM
10-14 guage will not make a huge difference in sound i have 12 awg running to my kicker s15L7 subs and its fine

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joe




Posted By: samroza
Date Posted: June 16, 2005 at 12:36 PM

Read, Wrath. The sound difference will not be apparent-physics/ohm's law is in play. No matter how much voodoo you perform, it won't sound any better. It's just a way for the installer to charge you $20 more for some wire.



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Sam Roza




Posted By: speedwayaudio1
Date Posted: June 17, 2005 at 6:03 AM
I use 8awg wire for my subs. I come off the mono block amp with a 4awg pos and neg, they go to 4 gang dist blocks, then the 4 8awg pos and 4 8awg neg go to the 8- 2 ohm dvc subs wired @ 2ohms. my subs are inverted and I use chrome spark plug wire looms to route the wires. Like a V8 engine. looks real sharp. And it is for looks only. I don't think my ears could tell the diff between 14 and 8 awg.

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Big Dave




Posted By: Poormanq45
Date Posted: June 17, 2005 at 9:56 AM
Wait, do you mean that you sent the speaker wire through a distribution block? If so, WTF?

COuld you post a picture please?

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Posted By: Chad7n7
Date Posted: June 17, 2005 at 9:54 PM
hmmmmmmmm....................WTF???? Distribution on speaker wire?

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Posted By: auex
Date Posted: June 17, 2005 at 10:03 PM
I only use the finest 00 awg wire for all my speakers.

Hehehe.

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Certified Security Specialist
Always check info with a digital multimeter.
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I've been sick lately, sorry I won't be on much.




Posted By: Poormanq45
Date Posted: June 17, 2005 at 10:56 PM
LMAO

I bet it could look pretty cool though. USing the Spark plug things he was talking about. It woudn't affect performance, but it could look great if done properly.

I'd really like to see a picture

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Posted By: speedwayaudio1
Date Posted: June 18, 2005 at 5:05 AM

My camera took a crap so i can't show you the set up. yes I use unfused dist blocks. like I said before 4awg in one side of the block and 4 8awg out. yes it's overkill, but WTF I like it. it works great, and it made using 8--12" subs on 1 amp alot easyer to wire up. that's the main reason I invert my subs too. easy to wire up. no holes to drill in the enclosure, no terminal cups to install. no leaks.



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Big Dave




Posted By: haemphyst
Date Posted: June 18, 2005 at 10:57 AM
um... yeah, guys it the SAME as running them in parallel... just pretend your amps are SPEAKERS, and hook 'em up... works just the same.

You COULD, if'n ya felt like it, even use fused distro blocks, and protect your woofers... Been there, done that. Ohm's law will tell you what size fuse to put in.

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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: 91rsliberty
Date Posted: June 18, 2005 at 8:16 PM

one thing to keep in mind is that look at the terminals on the sub, then look at the size of cable that runs to the voice coil, over the spider.... that size is it ? its not 8ga is it? ... then there is no advantage to running larger cable to the woofer otherwise they would have used it on the woofer from the terminals to hte voice coil...

but yeah it looks cool posted_image





Posted By: speedwayaudio1
Date Posted: June 19, 2005 at 3:54 AM
I never said thier was an advantage to running 8awg wire. It cost a bunch more for one thing, but I don't care it looks cool. That's the only reason to use a 8awg wire for a sub. 12 to 16 awg would have been fine, but I don't care it looks cool. The 8awg wire, the 8 inverted 12's are all over kill, but I don't care it looks cool. It slams pretty good too.

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Big Dave





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