Needing some new wires - help help

Just got a alpine pdx 1.600. Its hooked up to a 10w3v3 in the ported JL box. Im running WALMART WIRING, i know please don't judge. Its from scosche. Its 8 gauge. I don't know much about wiring, but i am pretty sure i need bigger and better. Any suggestions for a reasonable price?

 

You are correct, that you would probably be better off with 4 guage cable. Look at Knukonceptz if you are on a budget. They are easy to find on eBay, and make a good quality product at a very good price.

 

I'm pretty sure knuconceptz is the same copper coated aluminum that I would guess is in the wal mart wiring. If you are only pulling a few hundred watts upgrading to 4 gauge is completely pointless.

 

the size of the wire is completely dependent on the amount of current (amps) that your amp draws from the battery and the length of the wire used to connect the amp to the battery.

http://www.mecp.com/downloads/Overview_MECP_Program.pdf

looking at the first graph, you 600W amp pulls approximately 50 amps of current @ 12V (600w/12V = 50a) and you cna go about 8 ft on an 8 gauge power wire before you should start to consider upgrading to a larger size. If you've got leftover wire from the Scoshe kit you bought, and it's long enough, just double up on the 8 gauge going from the battery to the amp.

Also, Scoshe is a pretty reputable brand in the car audio world - at least it was back when I was installing. Doesn't matter where you got the kit at, be it Walmart, Best Buy, or your local exotic brand stereo shop. You likely just saved a few bucks buying it at WallyWorld.

On page 6 of the pdf (it shows page 37 in th lower right corner) are a couple of charts for wire size related to the length of the wire and the amount of current you're pulling

 

Knu has 2 lines, the CCA stuff is the KCA line.

The solid copper is the Kolossus Flex. And both are decent wires, but know that the CCA is not as good as pure copper. Unlike other mfgs, they actually list the limitations:

Basically, with that amp, you are good with the KCA 4ga kit. The Kollosus line will leave you some room to upgrade, if you feel like it.

Another spot to check is BCAE1.com, and on the right scroll down to number 16.

calculators, graphs, and lots of info on wiring.

 

In the future I plan on hooking up another pdx or maybe two when I get another sub and some speakers. Would the 4g that I get soon, work when I want to run more amps?