Speaker and amp wire

I'm looking at doing a new sound system in my rig. I'm going to replace all 4 Speakers and both tweeters as well as adding a small amp. My question is should I run new speaker wire or just get new plug adapters and keep the factory wire. What brand of wire should I use for my amp (alpine ktp445)? any input would be sweet

 

I was in car audio for over 10 years and have installed hundreds of custom systems....just tap into the OEM wires, if your not going into Sound Q compatitions, you'll never notice the difference.

 

Ok that is what I thought would be best. what would be a good amp and ground wire for the amp or is it even that big of a deal?

 

Well, as far as the ground, you do want a good wire. You want to keep it shorter than 3 ft. The shorter the better. Make sure you grind or scrape away any and all paint from the truck that is tuching the ground, so you get a good metal to metal connection. As for the amp, you don't need anything huge for power. Maybe something that is at least 50 watts RMS per channel, and nothing more than 100 RMS per channel. At least a 4 channel for your highs, and if you plan on running a sub later, you can add an amp for that then. I would stick with pretty popular brand amps, as well as a good quality RCA cable. The better the RCA, the less chance of engine noise. Good luck, and make sure you post pics!

 

I'm still in car audio and he you're 100% right. No difference that you ears will hear and it'll save you hours on the install.

 

Ok sweet. What is the RCA cable for and what does it connect? Sorry I know you think this guy must be an idiot. I just want to know absolutely everything I can.

 

rca goes from the back of your deck to the amplifier. should have two plugs on each end. make sure to get a good one. oh and it sends the signal to your amp.

 

I'm going to go ahead and disagree. The factory speaker wires run from the head unit to the speakers. If you add an amp, you'd need to run new speaker cable from the amp to the head unit (or find the same wires in the kick panels) in order to be able to tap into the factory wiring. You might as well run them straight into the doors in that case. It's not tough to pull the rubber conduit loose and feed additional wire through. On top of that, if you're doing separate tweets & mids, the set will come with crossovers that you must use, and this is not at all convenient with factory speaker wiring. If it's not a matter of sound quality - it's going to be a matter of feasibility. The gauge of the cables (speaker and power) will depend on the components. What's the make and wattage of the amp?

 

RCA jacks look a lot like video cables you use to hook up a DVD player to your TV. The only difference is that it only has the red (right) and white (left) pair. You want to make sure you get a good "sheilded twisted pair." This will prevent as much interferance as possible.

 

Plus, running all new speaker cables will allow you to leave your factory wiring untouched and it will be a breeze to return it to stock if you ever want to.

 

Sorry, guys. Gotta provide a contrary opinion here as well. Look: if you're putting new speakers in, you've already got the door panels off. If you're putting an amp in, you've already got your kick panels off (for the RCAs & power cable). So what's so much harder about running the new speaker wire directly to the doors rather than to the factory wiring? I'd say running it to the doors is actually faster. It's a straight shot - 1 length. no unreliable snap splicers, no researching which color factory wires go to which speaker.

 

Run new heavier speaker wire and get the best rca cables, it does make a differance. I have $600-$700 just in stinger wiring, fused blocks, ground blocks and rca cables, in my f250. I used the stock wire and cheap stuff the first time i installed a system in my f250 and the 2nd and 3rd stereo upgrade I have done I went with allstinger products. Made a big differance!!

 

just use stock speaker wires.

And what you need is an amp wiring kit. KnuKonceptz makes the best wire for the money.

http://www.knukonceptz.com/productMaster.cfm?category=Amp Installation Kits

 

For the amp that you're buying (Alpine's power pack) just use the stock wiring. It's not a traditional amp that would require running new speaker and or power wire.

 

Stock wiring. Unless your a complete audiophile nut then there really is hardly any difference at all.

 

1st) If you add an amp you DON'T need "to run new speaker cable from the amp to the head unit"; you NEED to run RCA CABLES between the two.

2nd) depending were you place your amp, it maybe earier run new speakerwire, or it maybe easier to use the factory wiring.

3rd) Factory wiring is perfectly good enough to use with you amp. There is NO need to use aftermarket wire at all, unless your amp is some rediculas size like 10,000 watts! The only time you need to worry about the factory wire is if it is too small ( 18 or 20 guage wire). 16 or 14 guage wire is more then enough for a 50 watt amp. And their alot of places like CRUTCHFIELD that sell "pre-made" wire harnesses that will clip right into your factory wiring clip and will the hook right to you amp, so there is NO splicing or figuring out which color wire to use! Also many amps have crossovers built in! And after market wire harness that hook into the factory wiring can then be hooked to the different speaker output on the amp;...I highly doubt that the tweaters in the doors or cealling are wired in paralell with the factory lowend speaker. If they were right next to each other, maybe; but not in different locations like that.

4th) Saying that "good quality after market speaker cable" improves the sound over factory is a load of SHIT. Factory wiring these days is better then 30 or 40 years ago because the stereos are more powerfull with better factory speakers, beacuse the consumer demanded it with their purchasing power. So the wireing is better, non of this 22 guage crap. Unless you have the most sensitive ears in the world you will NEVER NEVER NEVER hear the difference! Assuming your cable is large enough to handle the power!

I have read many product reviews, especially when Monster Cable first came out. They tested that cable v/s the cheep cable at Radio Shack (litterally) v/s lamp cord (yes for real!). The results were that there was an improvement with the Monster Cable, BUT BUT BUT so small, that it was only visably better on the test equipment, and that the amount was so small that no human ear can detect it.

Now think about this one...where are your speakers??? There in your truck!!! They are not in a sound proof room with the most high end speakers. They are in a cehicle that is filled with other noises. Even if you had the best ears on earth, you are going to have all this other noise comming in degrading your listeng experience. And not to mention the most important weak link in all this....your SPEAKERS!!!! Speakers are the weakest link in ANY and ALL systems. I don't care how expensive and good your head unit, amp and cables are, if you have shitty speaker, it will sound like shit! Even a cheep crappy head unit with a cheep small amp, with factory wiring can sound great with good speakers!

I am alway suspect of people trying to "up sell me" on shit I don't need!

 

The point that I think most people are missing is that the op's amp in question is actually a plug-n-play add-on from Alpine. I believe it literally plugs into the head unit via two harnesses.

 

yes, we all know this. reread the second half of the sentence from my previous post that you quoted. You're missing my point.