Amplifier wiring kits

[GTPGuy82]

I was just curious as to anybody who installs audio systems or has one in their car, which wiring kit do you prefer? There are so many different brands out there (Stinger, Lightning Audio, Streetwires, etc)...I have no clue which one to buy. For my last system I found a Scosche kit in WalMart for like, $25, and it seemed to work just fine.

I can understand how you'd want great quality with the RCA cables...but things like the power wire, ground wire....a wire is just a wire, no? What do you think? I'm going with a Kicker setup in my trunk, and I just found out that they also make wiring kits now, but they're a bit pricey...

[ginuwine]

wire for the most part is wire like no name food just put a different brand on it i really dont care my self if you can read crap or fosgate on my wires lol you hardly see them in the car

the rca are a gimme they need to be good since thats whats sending sound to amp & the sound will only be as good as the wires can give it

wire count in the power & ground cables matter sometimes the more expensive kind may have say 1000wires in the cable instead of say 850

[Teelo]

Rockford Fosgate

[simplyred]

I use monster cables... a tad on the expensive side, but when I had my RX7 with 3 12's... nothing carried the signal better than those RCA's, power and ground are pretty much equal cept wire count like was said. But RCA's can make all the difference, the only problem I had with those "Wally World" kits was they never had a big enough gauge wire that I was comforable with and they always had those crappy inline fuses. I always go 4 ga or bigger with like a monster 60amp fuse just for piece of mind! But if your not going a huge system than those kits will be fine, just stick with the basic RCA's on one side and Power on the other and you'll be good to go!

[GTPGuy82]

Alright. I'll probably end up spending something in the $40 range for a wiring kit then, I saw some on ebay that were pretty decent. I'm not so much worried about the power/ground cables as I am the RCA cables and terminal/connectors that come with it.

[bristol16]

don't cheap out on the wire. it's like having a million horsepower car with bald tires. what good is all the power if you can't get it to the pavement, or in this case the speakers. you may not need the best of the best wire cause it is a waste if your system can't utilize it, but i always overplan my setups rather than underplanning them. it will sound better that way.

[GTPGuy82]

Yea, like I said, I'm mainly concerned with the RCA cables and the hardware that comes with it.

[ShadowLab]

Alright. I'll probably end up spending something in the $40 range for a wiring kit then, I saw some on ebay that were pretty decent. I'm not so much worried about the power/ground cables as I am the RCA cables and terminal/connectors that come with it.

I have to strongly disagree, a good set of power and ground cables can make a world of difference. Don't skimp, but certainly don't go overboard.

In my '92 Chevy Beretta I had 4 Kicker 10's powered by a Rockfor Fosgate Punch 150 and it was originally Jerry-rigged just to make sure everything was functioning properly. It sounded like total ass and had terrible engine humm from the poor ground wire until we added larger gauge Monster Cable wiring. After that, there wasn't enough Dynamat in the world to hold that poor car together...Lol.

[GTPGuy82]

I'll probably be going with just a single L5 solo baric and maybe a 400.1 amplifier.

[Hadriel]

RCA cables = very important. i'll try to break this down as best i can and still have it make sense.

TWO things you need to look for in a quality RCA cable.

1. - Shielding - shielding is important because it keeps all the good stuff (singal) in, and all the bad stuff (engine noise, radio frequency, baby monitors, tooth decay) out. the better a cable is shielded, the less of the crappy hissing, popping, etc that you will have. very important - i have found that the high end monster cables are pretty good.

2. - Material - i can safely assume that we all took high school chemistry and have a basic understanding of conductvity and how it works. with this in mind wire companies usually base there price off the material there equipment is made of. standard conducting wire is copper. pretty much every standard wire on the planet is copper. it has a decent signal, and conducts pretty well. as far as sound is concerned, better materials mean better sound, because of less signal loss. a few example of better materials are; silver, gold, and platinum. (platinum being the best) Now don't be duped, lots of wire companies like to put gold, and platinum tips on there wires they say to "promote" better conducivity, but i think thats a crock. my reasoning is because if all ten feet of the wire between is a steel allow, then whats the point of having expensive connectors? it's kind of like getting a prime rib, and dumping ketsup on it. doesn't make much sense does it?

with this in mind, fork up good money for good RCA's i have had a car with crappy RCA's and let me tell you, engine noise sucks. it's the most annoying sound you will ever hear, and you will just get angry and end up buying the more expensive ones anyway. plus your system will be slightly louder and a butt load cleaner with good connections. i hope this infor helps

[bluegtp33]

good post, and all that noise is called cross talk, and what is wrong with the red stuff on steak?

if you run wires right to begin with will help alot too, as for buying other than copper that is a great idea as you will conduct the current faster in these materials, meaning the quality will not dampen

again good post

[Hadriel]

thanks, i may not be able to change a tire, but my love for sound quality is almost OCD.

[bristol16]

that's fine...i don't think AAA will pick out and instal your car audio for you

[Hadriel]

To be totally honest with you guys, i don't really see the neccesity of changing out the stock headunit, at least for those of us with the monsoon audio system. i assume some would say it is because they want to put sub in the car. well i have been doing some research and there are several companies that are developing harnesses that attatch to the stock radio and add the wonderful feature of pre amp outs. with this product and coupled with the fact that the monsoon system is already amplified and crossed over, a couple of 10 inch subs or one twelve should be kosher. the only reason to go aftermarket IMO would be if you wanted to increase the total volume output by a signifigant amount. but this would include buying a 4 or 6 channel amp for the high end, a set of good component speakers (Diamond Audio, Infinity etc) re crossing all of these speakers, installing a DSP or EQ, and then finnaly hooking up the subs to a seperate two channel amp. unless your going to compete for sound quality at car audio shows, or are just as obscenely anal about sound quality as I am, this just aint worth it.

once again this is just my opinion.

[ShadowLab]

To be totally honest with you guys, i don't really see the neccesity of changing out the stock headunit, at least for those of us with the monsoon audio system. i assume some would say it is because they want to put sub in the car. well i have been doing some research and there are several companies that are developing harnesses that attatch to the stock radio and add the wonderful feature of pre amp outs. with this product and coupled with the fact that the monsoon system is already amplified and crossed over, a couple of 10 inch subs or one twelve should be kosher. the only reason to go aftermarket IMO would be if you wanted to increase the total volume output by a signifigant amount. but this would include buying a 4 or 6 channel amp for the high end, a set of good component speakers (Diamond Audio, Infinity etc) re crossing all of these speakers, installing a DSP or EQ, and then finnaly hooking up the subs to a seperate two channel amp. unless your going to compete for sound quality at car audio shows, or are just as obscenely anal about sound quality as I am, this just aint worth it.

once again this is just my opinion.

My main reason for wanting to swap out the headunit is for MP3 connectivity. GM obviously put forth some decent effort in terms of the stereo, so why they decided to skimp on MP3 compatibility is beyond me. I know there are FM transmitters out there, but I have a very keen ear and can't even stand MP3s ripped at a bitrate less than 192kbps, so I don't think I'd enjoy the quality produced from a FM transmitter.