The wiring that you use really does make a difference, even on a stock sound system. Just for the hell of it, I replaced the stock 20 gauge power and ground wires that go to my stock radio with 14 gauge wire, and I also replaced the 22 gauge stock speaker wires going to all 4 speakers with 16 gauge wire. Even though the sound system is otherwise stock, there was a large improvement in the performance of the system, especially at higher volumes.
@@quintocreations5091 The difference in voltage supply was measurable. With the stock wiring, I measured a total of about a 1.5 volt drop at the radio compared to at the battery at higher volumes. My wiring only loses about 0.1 volts total. An extra 1+ volts and cleaner power certainly could make a difference. The difference in speaker wiring isn't something that's easily measurable like voltage drop, but basic electrical theory suggests that thicker wiring run directly from the radio to the speakers eliminating several factory connectors would have to be at least marginally better.
@@averyalexander2303 awesome, I agree. Especially if also replacing door speakers as I did. Wire plays a big role, most aren't smart enough to test for accurate difference. Only relying on their abused eardrums. LoL. Funny how one UA-cam video claims you can't notice a difference, and so many believe it. (I'm referring to Sonic YT channel on same topic of replacing factory speaker wires with bigger & better but not increasing power.) To anyone who says wire makes no noticable difference I say this 🍳 is your 🧠 on 💉 💊
Thanks Bruh, your explanation of Amperes really cleared up my problem...I moved up from 4 gauge to 1/0 and my system sounds great and does not overheat. The overheating resulted shut offs...not anymore...I can drive all day with my sounds blasting with awesome quality.
I've been working in the IT field for over 13 years installing copper and fiber Ethernet, and for some reason audio cabling completely escapes me!!! Thank you for this video.
So I've been feeling some type of way about feeding my 1500 watt amplifier through an 8 gauge power wire. But my battery is 3 ft from my amplifier. I plan on upgrading to zero gauge, but this at least gives me some peace of mind. Great video!.
Eli Hembree Just run 4g OFC wire and be done with it. Not wore the potential problems of being on the edge. Only use OFC wire. Copper clad aluminum is cheaper but has far higher resistance which is never a good thing. Plus it will run hotter than the same gauge of copper.
So I have a question in the system I’m going to be installing is calling for a 150 amp fuse on the wire from battery to amp when my alternator puts out 100 which I’m going to be upgrading to a 130, but what would a 150 amp fuse protect if my electrical system doesn’t even put out 150
I just bought 100 feet of 14 gauge oxgen free copper wire for my speakers and I will be running it 25 feet to my surround speakers from my Yamaha HTR-5935 receiver. Did I get the right wire for this? If not I only have today left to return it.
3:20 my answer is 1,600 amps. I need a bigger chart! LoL So far I've been getting away with 4 runs of SHCA 2/0 (2 pwr 2 gnd) from hood to LTO and 1500f Super Cap (3 XS Power batts as you'll soon see on my YT channel by clicking on my channel picture and viewing my videos as they are released). $10,000 system, 12,000-16,000W build, 155+dB so far. MECA STREET class, only 2 • 15s (Fi ftw) in Ford SUV. Charge up to 16V, 390a JS alt, XS Power Titan 8 S6 14V & 45ah Yinlongs, and SB1500-75, AudioControl LC7i, 2 Taramps Bass 8Ks, Stetsom DSP BT, 3 SMD fuse blocks, SHCA 2/0 XL & 4g spkr wire, Rockford Fosgate 6.5s, Fi Car Audio Neo 4.11s (killer $1,000 ea subs). 34.6Hz tuning, 8.5ft enclosure, 130in port, subs up port back driver's side, below window line, hair tricks, towel tricks, and more! Northeast Ohio. Bass head Brandon Low - Hertz High SPL. Wish the above YT channel offered install suggestions on big 10kW+ builds.
Someone really ought to make a bigger chart with higher amperages, like up to 1,000 amps (or 2,000 in my case) by using 2/0 and 4/0 wire. Sky High Car Audio now sells 4/0 XL wire (which is more like 5/0 or 6/0). I use multiple runs of SHCA OFC 2/0 XL (size of 3/0) wire which each can endure 600 amps at 20 feet which is why I need 6 runs (3 powers and 3 grounds)
hi, how come my amp burnt without burning power line fuse (60A) and 2 fuses on Amp (30a each), i thought, fuses are there to save amp, burn themselves before burning the amp? Those fuses should be lower amperes?
So I just bought a Soundstream t5 2500dl amp. It's a 5channel amp with 75wx4 plus 325wx1 into 4 ohms which is how I will be running it. So by your calculation my 1/0 awg power wire will be a little over kill, but better bigger than smaller. The amp itself is fused with a 100A fuse. So I guess the amp has the potential of pulling a lot more current if it was run at 2 Ohms the power almost doubles.
now someone is going to run 16gauge to power the amp. and 4 gauge to the speakers!! I like to run ground from front to rear also. and chassis connection at front and rear! to bare metal. make connection then coat with conductive primer. and then paint. to prevent corrosion. I know that's going a bit far. but never a issue with power! and run additional body to engine / alternator. and chassis ground. also. a larger power from alternator. to battery. especially if it has been upgraded.. most alternators have 10 gauge at best. I always add 4 gauge with factory alt . to battery. power and ground. and 2ga. with HO. alts. great info...
You should do a video on when you have more than one amp. On how you measure how thick of a wire you need as they recommend running a large wire into the car with a power distribution block that you run wires from to both of your amps. i.e. how do you determine how big of a wire you need to run into the car?
4:00 don't forget to include length of grounds combined with power wires. 20' SUV = 40' just for one power and one ground ran from back to front battery. My length is over 100' 2/0 XL OFC Sky High Car Audio wire. At $1,000 worth of wire between my entire 155+dB build. ($10,000 total in products alone)
Very well narrated. I will keep you posted on my new 6000 amp battery capable pack we have been designing. I will only be using around 1200 amps current draw, but the cable I will be using is the first ive ever seen in the industry. It’s a cable that is capable of thousands of volts and amps. Dc power cable that changed my life, I absolutely love this wire. Individually tinned 22 gauge copper strands and thousands of them. Amazing 🤩
My cheap $30 10 gage wire melted at the fuse. So I just now installed a 4 gage wire that I bought from bestbuy. So far its working good sounds better to. I guess I'll see if I made the right choice in a couple months if my truck doesn't catch on fire
Wow I can't believe that chart recommends 10 gauge wire for up to 85 amps! Although the voltage drop may not be problematic for 4 feet or less, that wire would get ridiculously hot very quickly and likely start a fire. There's a reason we protect 10 gauge wire with no larger than 30 amp circuit breakers in houses.
Houses and cars is comparing apples to oranges. Car Audio wire is much better quality. Plus not to mention AC vs DC and in car audio that max amp number is rarely ever seen unless competing in SPL and even so, still may not draw that much because SPL is in one frequency whereas to draw from sub amps and mids and highs would require more than one frequency at once which we don't do when competing and drawing max amp numbers.
@@lowhertzhighspl I agree that there are differences, but physics doesn't care about whether the wire is in a house or a car or the "quality" of it since the conductivity of the copper is the same assuming the same thickness (gauge). Since car audio wire isn't made to an actual standard like house wiring, it's important to get "true spec" wire (meaning it conforms to actual American Wire Gauge standards) from a reputable brand. A constant load vs an intermittent load is certainly a factor and you will likely get away with overloading the wiring intermittently, I assume that these ratings are for a continuous load since we don't know what someone will use the chart for. For all we know, someone may be looking to wire a winch, alternator, fans, etc and assumes that the wire sizing would be the same for a given load. Suggesting that someone can safely run 85 amps through a 10 gauge wire is just a bad idea.
I’m moving up (graduating) from budget builds. I have been running a Lanzar Heritage 2 channel amp (2000w is a lie, more like 2-300) for my subs since 2015 and I have a Hifonics Brutus 1100 that I want to put in. I’m concerned about keeping my 8awg power and ground but I hear that it’ll be fine. What do you guys think? That heritage amp SLAMS every sub I throw at it, but it doesn’t have that much powe and you can tell if you’ve been doing several installations and are a bass head like me.
On the extreme side of things, there is no need to go extreme on cable or terminal size, on one end the bigger wire flows current better but too big and it will actually add resistance. When people have 0 gauge going to their amp with those block copper terminals, those terminals would have a lot of resistance from 1 side to the other. But if your pushing your systems hard you need that so the connection doesnt get hot.
@@mikethompson3026 yea my bad I was still an apprentice when I wrote that, I once asked why earth wires in a switchboard are smaller and I was told it's because they need to have less resistance for the fault to go to earth but this is not true and they are only thinner to save money because they are not under constant load. Bigger wires do have less resistance
Far havnt seen a lightning audiio amp for around 10 years good amps back in the day had a coupple of mates with same amp power as yours and I had a 75x2 rms lightning audio cranking my mids
It's quite possible that I'm missing something, but shouldn't the efficiency be multiplied by the result of the calculation of RMS Wattage/DC Voltage? For example, if the amp has a 75 percent efficiency then wouldn't the output effectively be lower? Or does the RMS of the amp already take the reduction in output due to efficiency loss meaning that the the efficiency would indeed need to be divided by the original RMS/DC V calculation? Just a 3rd yr electrical engineering major trying to understand exactly why it is being calculated this way. Thanks in advance for a reply.
RMS is already taking in account the loss in efficiency. Although this mostly applies to good name brands that are honest about their ratings. If u use this formula for overrated amplifiers then u will end up w oversized write every time. Which won't hurt either way.
3:20 but my amperage number is 1,796 amps!! That's nowhere on this chart!! Now what?? I will divide it by 6 and buy 6 of whatever wire gauge it recommends, sound right? (no guessing)
So I have 2 active subs with built in amps. 1500w peak and 750watt RMS each. Total 3000w peak 1500 watt RMS. Want to run from battery to Capacitor then to a distribution block and to the amps/subs. Wire from battery to Capacitor would be around 5- 6 feet. From capacitor to distribution block around 1-2 feet. and from distribution block to anmps/subs 1 foot. The Capacitor is a 5000watt capacitor. What gauge wire do I need from the battery to the capacitor and capacitor yo distribution block, and also what gauge from block to amps/subs? The fuse sizes for both the main power cable and distribution block I'm also unsure of.
I’m using 6 gauge 7-strands wire. It makes me feel like the sound is fuller. Can I honestly tell the difference from a 10 gauge not really, The length is only about 10 feet.
I'm using a 4 gauge wire but my Amp still cuts the bass after a certain volume level than bass not as strong as it should be so ordered a 0 gauge to not play no games lol gonna see if it helps or if the person who hooked up my system just wired it bad
2:48 Taramps Bass series (Class D) amps are 87% efficient (at least according to their manual) I have TWO 1-ohm Taramps Bass 8Ks both running at 0.7 ohm = 20kW (20,000 RMS watts)
Great knowledge thank you I have a hippo 122 r 5000 watt 2000 rms now I have it at 4 ohms but I wanna switch to 2 ohms I have 4 gauge power wire as speaker wire that’s 4 to plus 4 to neg should I switch to 2 gauge ofc cause I will be capin off that 2000 ohms RMS
WAIT A SECOND 1200 WATT RMS / 12.8 = 93.75 AMPERES divided by 78% eff. 120 amps ? I think you mean 93.75 x .78 = 73.125 Bc if it's only efficient 78% that means your number 93.75 should decrease right? What I'd say is be safe and take total amperes and add 10% to be safe Like my infinity ref 551a amp is very underrated says 550w RMS but tests around 650-700 and higher depending on ohms 4 Gage ofc is the lowest I'd go personally I run 0 to everything and just put reducers to amps or whatever. And speakers I run 10 or 12 awg But honestly your videos are awesome
I took out the 600w golden Phoenix of my partners car which had 4 Gauge wire and I put it into my car which it already have an amp sub combined but I wanted to use hers, Anyway I put it in and connect it with the existing wires from my car which is 8 gauge when I turn the ignition on the amp sparked and caught fire. As quick as I could I removed the power from the amp. I believe it's to late and damage is caused! $580 amp! I watched your video after this happened and did your calculations the 8 gauge is only good for 40 amps where as this amp needs 60amps to proform without failures and upon further research of the amp manufacturer also state 4 Gauge wire minium :( FML
I had a jl audio 400/4 rd series for mids and it had 4gauge wire but I added a pioneer gm-d8601 class d amp with 2 pioneer 10in Tsswx2502 but the powerwire is reduced to 8gauge from distribution block will my audio system sound better if I get a different distribution block 4gauge in & out for both amps???
Look for the specs / properties or description of your amplifier (in the user's manual, Internet, etc.). It will either be an 'AB' ... or ... a 'D' type. Then review the video at 2:46 for the approx. efficiency.
I'm at a lost. Please hear me out. I purchased a Pioneer TS-WX1210A. A powered subwoofer. 1300 W max, NOM 350 W. The suplied wire harness has a 12 gauge wire set. I'm hooking it up to the Pioneer AVIC W 8500 head unit. I called Best Buy and Crutchfield and they both told me I need at least an 8 gauge wire, but to me that makes no sense if the supplied wire harness has 12 gauge wires for power, ground, RCA's and remote. Please help steer me in the right direction. It also has a 20 amp fuse that goes with it. I'm thinking that 20 amp fuse can hook into the fuse box instead of the battery.
I would contact Pioneer. I just watched their video on it and all they say is you connect yellow to battery and black to metal/chassis. ua-cam.com/video/lbLvvzvvLro/v-deo.html
So if I have more power then what’s mentioned in the video like say a 7,000 watt class d amp for my subs and a 2,400 watt class d amp for my kids and highs roughly about 25 feet wired with a fuse under the hood and then one before the amp would a zero gauge wire be fine? And I also have a 10 fared power capacitor all of which is ran through a distribution block what would be the best wire for my power wire
Why is it we need 0 or 4 gauge power wire but only 8-16 gauge speaker wire? I'm confused. I'd think if the power wire is 4 gauge than the speaker wire would need to be at least 4 gauge considering the electricity just went thru an "amplifier" and therefore was amplified.
because the amplifier is more of a converter than it is an amplifier. It converts the DC signal into AC which apparently must require much less wire size I presume.
Would 14 gauge work for the amp to sub run for two dvc4 sa12’s wired down to 1 ohm? The amp is a taramps md1800.1 and the subs can take about 1000 watts rms on the daily
If I'm running a fuse tap. From fuse box to CD player is regular speaker wire enough or to big or need certain size. Help please. And also if I'm running a 12 volts off the cigarette lighter and it keeps blowing what about if I run it through the fuse box will it still blow please help me get back as soon as possible thank you
MAJORLY missed something... I understand the formulas on figuring amps... EXCEPT... my 4 channel has different power output levels depending on Ohms. which do I use? the 1200.4 that I have has 4 ohm watts per channel of 130 watts at 4 ohm, 198 at 2 ohms and 300 at one ohm..... which do I use? and is it dependent on what speaks I have and how they are wired (series or parallel)? cause this amp could change the expression 3 different ways... 4x300 watts divided by 12.8 = 93.75, or 4x198 watts divided by 12.8 =61.875 OR 4x130 divided by 12.8= 40.625.... THIS IS A HUGE RANGE!!!
Do I calculate the amps according to the RMS rating I’ll be using depending on whether the subwoofers are 1, 2, 4, or 8 ohms? The greater the ohms the lower the watts in the amp right?
I have a question about speaker wire, Does it really matter if it's OFC or CCA? Because I got some decent 14 AWG CCA speaker wire. But then again I hear OFC is way better! I do have OFC main power cables but from what I heard it really does not matter for speaker wire,Is this correct?
Could someone please help me understand where he got the efficiency rating? Like i have a 4000 watt rms power acoustik class d caliber 8000 watt mono amp and over the years i have lost the manual, and have no idea where i could find the efficiency rating
slatebeard For only 100 x 4 and assuming you are not running a .5 ohm load to your subs, 8 gauge is fine for power and ground. 12 gauge is fine for the speakers.
hello There. I do planing use 4 channel 720W amps but using 4ohm speakers so its 4x60w - 240W not 720W at 2ohm do i have to use 720w or 240W to calculate what wire to use? same think for my mono 320w amp for sub 320W or 150W bridged at 4ohm Thanks!!
So I have a soundstream rubicon class D 3000 watt single channel. Manufacturer specs for RMS are 600w x1 @4ohm, 900w x1 @2ohm and 1500w x1 @4ohm. I'm planning on pairing it with Dual Electronics (2) 12" subs in a single enclosure listed as being 600w RMS @4ohms and 1100w peak. So I believe I'd be safe in assuming that because the single channel RMS for each at 4ohms is 600w then that's what I would base my selection in power wire gauge off of? Based on 600w RMS I've done the equation exactly as you've shown and come up with 46.87 amperes or 62.49 running at 75% efficiency. According to your diagram I'd be needing something between 4 and 6 gauge wire. That being said if I do the same equation with the 1500w max RMS for bridged single channel at 4ohms I come up with 156.24 amperes at 75% efficiency and the diagram then calls for something between 0 and 2 gauge. Seeing as I'll be running between 10 and 13 feet of course. I'm just confused as to which applies to my setup. Could I run 0 gauge and call it a day even though the single channel output that I'd be actively using is approximately 600w RMS?
Sir kindly correct me. Im using focal auditor and focal expert 165fx. I connected the speakers at bridge mode which the amp capacity at bridge is 170 watts. Does it means that the require power by my amp will be 42.19 amp? Thank you
I have a 1200WX1@2ohm RMS and an 80WX4@4ohm RMS amps. I will only be running the 1200W amp at 500W@ 4ohms and the 4 channel at 30W@4ohms. Would I use the numbers from the spec's or what I am actually going to be running at(with a little extra margin) for the calculations?
So how do I wire my 2000 wrms sub in parallel with 8 gauge if it doesn't even fit in the push terminals? take them off and solder it to the leads? I can fit two 12 gauge wires in one terminal (because you need two wires on two of the four terminals), but not two 8 gauge wires.
Hello I know this was posted 3 years ago but I need help with a system I am putting in my 1995 Toyota Camry, it’s gonna have 2 6.5 dB drive s65p speakers , 2 dB drive 6x9 s69 speakers, 1 400 watt 4 channel taramp amplifier, 1 3000 watt 1-2 ohm smart taramp amplifier, and 3 sundown 8s or 2 sundown 10s, what gauge wire should I get?
any recommendations for onkyo rz 830 high current avr...... speaker wire gauge size for polk rti a7 8 ohm speakers?? and power inputs for avr.....will home suppy ll work fine or i ve to add online ups?
If budget is no issue, then just to be on the safer side is it simpler to just go with let's say 12 gauge wire instead of 16 gauge (calculated using charts)?
Is it ok if I replace my amp ground wire with 10 gauge? The wire that came with my kit looks to be 8 gauge, maybe even thicker, but it’s only 3 feet and not long enough for my set up. Would I be able to use the 10 just for the ground? The amp is mono 500w rms and id be using about 6-8 feet. If it isn’t, could I use two of them together (side by side)? :)
Don't think of which will provide more power, that's really dependent on your gear. There are really no benefits or side effects to using a lower gauge wire than necessary
I have a question I'm wanting to build a BOOMBOX using my old Pioneer DEH P5900IB head unit my power supply is 18 V. Is that to much? Will that cause a problem?
I bought a Sound Storm EVO5000.1 EVO Amp. 3750x1 @ 1 Ohm. I plan to wire it to my Orion HCCA152 which has dual 2 Ohm voice coils. I will wire it in parallel, which would give me the 1 Ohm. O gauge from the battery is a given and I plan to use 8 gauge for speaker wire. This is powered by a stock battery and alternator on a 2017 Sonata Limited in the trunk. OK, it is just about the entire trunk and I probably need new shocks/springs. I also bought an Boss-Audio CAP8 capacitor(8 Farad) . I am unsure what to do with the power though.... Will my battery and alternator be able to handle the power I am consuming? Will I have enough power when I hook the capacitor up? OR... Do I need an additional another full battery in the trunk and another alternator? IDK.... Please help!
If I'm doing all the work to properly run a power wire, I'm never using smaller than 0 gauge. Leaves room for update and no stress about choosing between different gauges.
Pentti Jakonen That is thick wire. Not very easy to hide. With high efficiency amps today you won't need it unless you're having multi batteries and many high power amps.
lol that milk shake straw analogy was an excellent way to explain that.
:)
The wiring that you use really does make a difference, even on a stock sound system. Just for the hell of it, I replaced the stock 20 gauge power and ground wires that go to my stock radio with 14 gauge wire, and I also replaced the 22 gauge stock speaker wires going to all 4 speakers with 16 gauge wire. Even though the sound system is otherwise stock, there was a large improvement in the performance of the system, especially at higher volumes.
Placebo
@@quintocreations5091 The difference in voltage supply was measurable. With the stock wiring, I measured a total of about a 1.5 volt drop at the radio compared to at the battery at higher volumes. My wiring only loses about 0.1 volts total. An extra 1+ volts and cleaner power certainly could make a difference. The difference in speaker wiring isn't something that's easily measurable like voltage drop, but basic electrical theory suggests that thicker wiring run directly from the radio to the speakers eliminating several factory connectors would have to be at least marginally better.
@@quintocreations5091 🙄
@@averyalexander2303 awesome, I agree. Especially if also replacing door speakers as I did. Wire plays a big role, most aren't smart enough to test for accurate difference. Only relying on their abused eardrums. LoL. Funny how one UA-cam video claims you can't notice a difference, and so many believe it. (I'm referring to Sonic YT channel on same topic of replacing factory speaker wires with bigger & better but not increasing power.) To anyone who says wire makes no noticable difference I say this 🍳 is your 🧠 on 💉 💊
Thanks Bruh, your explanation of Amperes really cleared up my problem...I moved up from 4 gauge to 1/0 and my system sounds great and does not overheat. The overheating resulted shut offs...not anymore...I can drive all day with my sounds blasting with awesome quality.
I've been working in the IT field for over 13 years installing copper and fiber Ethernet, and for some reason audio cabling completely escapes me!!! Thank you for this video.
Glad it helped Ken!
So I've been feeling some type of way about feeding my 1500 watt amplifier through an 8 gauge power wire. But my battery is 3 ft from my amplifier. I plan on upgrading to zero gauge, but this at least gives me some peace of mind. Great video!.
To be safe just run 2/0 on everything and 8 gauge for speaker wire
Legendary504 just run solid copper rods everywhere 😂
Legendary504 if I ran 8 gauge wire for my 1000 watt amp will that cause the protection light to come on
JOSH WILDE Official Something went wrong with your install or your amp sucked.
Eli Hembree Just run 4g OFC wire and be done with it. Not wore the potential problems of being on the edge. Only use OFC wire. Copper clad aluminum is cheaper but has far higher resistance which is never a good thing. Plus it will run hotter than the same gauge of copper.
So I have a question in the system I’m going to be installing is calling for a 150 amp fuse on the wire from battery to amp when my alternator puts out 100 which I’m going to be upgrading to a 130, but what would a 150 amp fuse protect if my electrical system doesn’t even put out 150
I got the all details and specific specs of all my material for my car sound system. Thank you
Great to hear!
I am not installing anything, this guy is just entertaining. "seven gawd damn batteries! " Ha!
matt mead I lost it when he said that
I like the truth and rawness
I just bought 100 feet of 14 gauge oxgen free copper wire for my speakers and I will be running it 25 feet to my surround speakers from my Yamaha HTR-5935 receiver. Did I get the right wire for this? If not I only have today left to return it.
You should be fine with 12-14 gauge for speakers :)
@@Qualitymobilevideo Thank you so much!!!!
I used 4 g from my battery and 8g to the subs. Kicker 10s comp vr with kicker 700 watt amp.
3:20 my answer is 1,600 amps. I need a bigger chart! LoL So far I've been getting away with 4 runs of SHCA 2/0 (2 pwr 2 gnd) from hood to LTO and 1500f Super Cap (3 XS Power batts as you'll soon see on my YT channel by clicking on my channel picture and viewing my videos as they are released). $10,000 system, 12,000-16,000W build, 155+dB so far. MECA STREET class, only 2 • 15s (Fi ftw) in Ford SUV. Charge up to 16V, 390a JS alt, XS Power Titan 8 S6 14V & 45ah Yinlongs, and SB1500-75, AudioControl LC7i, 2 Taramps Bass 8Ks, Stetsom DSP BT, 3 SMD fuse blocks, SHCA 2/0 XL & 4g spkr wire, Rockford Fosgate 6.5s, Fi Car Audio Neo 4.11s (killer $1,000 ea subs). 34.6Hz tuning, 8.5ft enclosure, 130in port, subs up port back driver's side, below window line, hair tricks, towel tricks, and more! Northeast Ohio. Bass head Brandon Low - Hertz High SPL. Wish the above YT channel offered install suggestions on big 10kW+ builds.
Someone really ought to make a bigger chart with higher amperages, like up to 1,000 amps (or 2,000 in my case) by using 2/0 and 4/0 wire. Sky High Car Audio now sells 4/0 XL wire (which is more like 5/0 or 6/0). I use multiple runs of SHCA OFC 2/0 XL (size of 3/0) wire which each can endure 600 amps at 20 feet which is why I need 6 runs (3 powers and 3 grounds)
Even though your guys customer service is trash I can't even argue that you guys have the best car audio content on UA-cam.
Sorry about that bud! We're a pretty small operation so we do our best. Thanks for watching though!
hi, how come my amp burnt without burning power line fuse (60A) and 2 fuses on Amp (30a each), i thought, fuses are there to save amp, burn themselves before burning the amp?
Those fuses should be lower amperes?
So I just bought a Soundstream t5 2500dl amp. It's a 5channel amp with 75wx4 plus 325wx1 into 4 ohms which is how I will be running it. So by your calculation my 1/0 awg power wire will be a little over kill, but better bigger than smaller. The amp itself is fused with a 100A fuse. So I guess the amp has the potential of pulling a lot more current if it was run at 2 Ohms the power almost doubles.
now someone is going to run 16gauge to power the amp. and 4 gauge to the speakers!! I like to run ground from front to rear also. and chassis connection at front and rear! to bare metal. make connection then coat with conductive primer. and then paint. to prevent corrosion. I know that's going a bit far. but never a issue with power! and run additional body to engine / alternator. and chassis ground. also. a larger power from alternator. to battery. especially if it has been upgraded.. most alternators have 10 gauge at best. I always add 4 gauge with factory alt . to battery. power and ground. and 2ga. with HO. alts. great info...
You should do a video on when you have more than one amp. On how you measure how thick of a wire you need as they recommend running a large wire into the car with a power distribution block that you run wires from to both of your amps. i.e. how do you determine how big of a wire you need to run into the car?
If you use 4 awg OFC and not copper clad you'll be fine with that but if otherwise you should at least double up on your wire
4:00 don't forget to include length of grounds combined with power wires. 20' SUV = 40' just for one power and one ground ran from back to front battery. My length is over 100' 2/0 XL OFC Sky High Car Audio wire. At $1,000 worth of wire between my entire 155+dB build. ($10,000 total in products alone)
Very well narrated. I will keep you posted on my new 6000 amp battery capable pack we have been designing. I will only be using around 1200 amps current draw, but the cable I will be using is the first ive ever seen in the industry. It’s a cable that is capable of thousands of volts and amps. Dc power cable that changed my life, I absolutely love this wire. Individually tinned 22 gauge copper strands and thousands of them. Amazing 🤩
Amazing video dude - I been dreaming of this - Thank you for explaining everything for a newb to understand. Have a good weekend super star .
Woo! Glad it helped!
My cheap $30 10 gage wire melted at the fuse. So I just now installed a 4 gage wire that I bought from bestbuy. So far its working good sounds better to. I guess I'll see if I made the right choice in a couple months if my truck doesn't catch on fire
4 gauge power wire for 3000 watt Orion amp with 10 gauge speaker wire on a 2000 watt sub works perfectly
I hope that orion is a ztreet or cobalt not an xtr or hcca. Hcca 3000 puts a real 3000w and will heat up 4 awg
Thanks got everything installed correct with the correct wires now I’m looking at adding a second battery !
Wow I can't believe that chart recommends 10 gauge wire for up to 85 amps! Although the voltage drop may not be problematic for 4 feet or less, that wire would get ridiculously hot very quickly and likely start a fire. There's a reason we protect 10 gauge wire with no larger than 30 amp circuit breakers in houses.
We have a video on this very subject coming, same amps different power wires. Stay tuned.
Houses and cars is comparing apples to oranges. Car Audio wire is much better quality. Plus not to mention AC vs DC and in car audio that max amp number is rarely ever seen unless competing in SPL and even so, still may not draw that much because SPL is in one frequency whereas to draw from sub amps and mids and highs would require more than one frequency at once which we don't do when competing and drawing max amp numbers.
@@lowhertzhighspl I agree that there are differences, but physics doesn't care about whether the wire is in a house or a car or the "quality" of it since the conductivity of the copper is the same assuming the same thickness (gauge). Since car audio wire isn't made to an actual standard like house wiring, it's important to get "true spec" wire (meaning it conforms to actual American Wire Gauge standards) from a reputable brand. A constant load vs an intermittent load is certainly a factor and you will likely get away with overloading the wiring intermittently, I assume that these ratings are for a continuous load since we don't know what someone will use the chart for. For all we know, someone may be looking to wire a winch, alternator, fans, etc and assumes that the wire sizing would be the same for a given load. Suggesting that someone can safely run 85 amps through a 10 gauge wire is just a bad idea.
Quick question do you go based on the 2 ohms or the 4ohms rms? Because on my amp to that math for 2ohms is 2 gauge wire and 4 ohms is 4 gauge wire
Err on the side of max, go with the 2 gauge.
4 gauge OFC should fit and be the safer bet for most of the basic installs, unless pairing multiple amps...
I'm running a 4g w/ 120a fuse to a Fosgate prime 500 to a Alpine Type R
overkill but now you have room to upgrade to a 1000w amp which is perfect.
Holy crap! A video that actually answers questions, gives reasons, and makes sense. Fabtastic! (Man, do the stores ever over-sell this shit.)
THANKS!
If I’m using 2 amps, should I run 2 different power ccables, or can I bridge one amp to the other?
I’m moving up (graduating) from budget builds. I have been running a Lanzar Heritage 2 channel amp (2000w is a lie, more like 2-300) for my subs since 2015 and I have a Hifonics Brutus 1100 that I want to put in. I’m concerned about keeping my 8awg power and ground but I hear that it’ll be fine. What do you guys think? That heritage amp SLAMS every sub I throw at it, but it doesn’t have that much powe and you can tell if you’ve been doing several installations and are a bass head like me.
On the extreme side of things, there is no need to go extreme on cable or terminal size, on one end the bigger wire flows current better but too big and it will actually add resistance. When people have 0 gauge going to their amp with those block copper terminals, those terminals would have a lot of resistance from 1 side to the other. But if your pushing your systems hard you need that so the connection doesnt get hot.
Totally not true. Oversized wires and terminals will not add resistance.
@@mikethompson3026 yea my bad I was still an apprentice when I wrote that, I once asked why earth wires in a switchboard are smaller and I was told it's because they need to have less resistance for the fault to go to earth but this is not true and they are only thinner to save money because they are not under constant load. Bigger wires do have less resistance
Is this applicable to a 5 check amp at 150 RMS x 2 (4 ohm) and 300 RMS x 1 (2 ohm). The amp is a Lightning Audio, L 5600 with an 8 awg RF amp kit.
Far havnt seen a lightning audiio amp for around 10 years good amps back in the day had a coupple of mates with same amp power as yours and I had a 75x2 rms lightning audio cranking my mids
timing of this video is perfect. I was just searching to bone up on this topic and boom.
Woo!
It's quite possible that I'm missing something, but shouldn't the efficiency be multiplied by the result of the calculation of RMS Wattage/DC Voltage? For example, if the amp has a 75 percent efficiency then wouldn't the output effectively be lower? Or does the RMS of the amp already take the reduction in output due to efficiency loss meaning that the the efficiency would indeed need to be divided by the original RMS/DC V calculation?
Just a 3rd yr electrical engineering major trying to understand exactly why it is being calculated this way.
Thanks in advance for a reply.
Cornstock99 I thought so too..
RMS is already taking in account the loss in efficiency. Although this mostly applies to good name brands that are honest about their ratings. If u use this formula for overrated amplifiers then u will end up w oversized write every time. Which won't hurt either way.
its output rms values so input will be higher with less effeciency
how do you measure the fuse to use from Battery to the Amplifier?
Thanks man 👍
💪
3:20 but my amperage number is 1,796 amps!! That's nowhere on this chart!! Now what?? I will divide it by 6 and buy 6 of whatever wire gauge it recommends, sound right? (no guessing)
So I have 2 active subs with built in amps. 1500w peak and 750watt RMS each. Total 3000w peak 1500 watt RMS. Want to run from battery to Capacitor then to a distribution block and to the amps/subs. Wire from battery to Capacitor would be around 5- 6 feet. From capacitor to distribution block around 1-2 feet. and from distribution block to anmps/subs 1 foot. The Capacitor is a 5000watt capacitor. What gauge wire do I need from the battery to the capacitor and capacitor yo distribution block, and also what gauge from block to amps/subs? The fuse sizes for both the main power cable and distribution block I'm also unsure of.
Is 0/0 wire thicker than 1/0 or is it invisible?
Tugg Speedman I go. poppa. amp. what. gauge. I. meed
No, no, no... -1/0 is invisible.. pfft... Newbs, am I right!?
Idk
you always need to run tinned MCM 750 for your tweeters
I’m using 6 gauge 7-strands wire. It makes me feel like the sound is fuller. Can I honestly tell the difference from a 10 gauge not really, The length is only about 10 feet.
Err on the side of max, you are likely getting everything from that amp.
I'm using a 4 gauge wire but my Amp still cuts the bass after a certain volume level than bass not as strong as it should be so ordered a 0 gauge to not play no games lol gonna see if it helps or if the person who hooked up my system just wired it bad
Man your videos are great but i feel like u looking at bottom of camera that feels wired pls fix that ty :) and keep up good work
Thanks Ashkan, this is an old video, we've made upgrades since :)
2:48 Taramps Bass series (Class D) amps are 87% efficient (at least according to their manual) I have TWO 1-ohm Taramps Bass 8Ks both running at 0.7 ohm = 20kW (20,000 RMS watts)
is there a simple way to figure out our amps actual efficiency? (without having to buy an amp dyno but with several DMMs and running our system)???
Great knowledge thank you I have a hippo 122 r 5000 watt 2000 rms now I have it at 4 ohms but I wanna switch to 2 ohms I have 4 gauge power wire as speaker wire that’s 4 to plus 4 to neg should I switch to 2 gauge ofc cause I will be capin off that 2000 ohms RMS
Is your amplifier stable at 2 ohms? What are the exact models of your gear
damn it man. now i want a milkshake
What flavor
WAIT A SECOND 1200 WATT RMS / 12.8 = 93.75 AMPERES divided by 78% eff. 120 amps ?
I think you mean 93.75 x .78 = 73.125
Bc if it's only efficient 78% that means your number 93.75 should decrease right?
What I'd say is be safe and take total amperes and add 10% to be safe
Like my infinity ref 551a amp is very underrated says 550w RMS but tests around 650-700 and higher depending on ohms
4 Gage ofc is the lowest I'd go personally I run 0 to everything and just put reducers to amps or whatever.
And speakers I run 10 or 12 awg
But honestly your videos are awesome
I'm not an aluminum wire fanboy and generally a nerd just curious. Is aluminum inferior for another reason other than you need to use thicker wires?
Great video, easy to understand..thanks
I took out the 600w golden Phoenix of my partners car which had 4 Gauge wire and I put it into my car which it already have an amp sub combined but I wanted to use hers, Anyway I put it in and connect it with the existing wires from my car which is 8 gauge when I turn the ignition on the amp sparked and caught fire. As quick as I could I removed the power from the amp. I believe it's to late and damage is caused! $580 amp! I watched your video after this happened and did your calculations the 8 gauge is only good for 40 amps where as this amp needs 60amps to proform without failures and upon further research of the amp manufacturer also state 4 Gauge wire minium :( FML
Sorry bud
I think the stupid part in the whole story is that YOU SPENT 500+$ ON A AMP HAHA , I have one of the best amps for my subs for 1/3 the price
Thats weird, I run a 800w amp with 8 Gauge and i have never had problems. I can tell it is slightly lacking power and has more potential tho.
For remote wire what’s best gauge?
Measure three times cut twice
I cut my power wire like two feet too short last week. Now looking at coupling solution/dist block
boxed fenders .
I cut the wire 3 times and its still too short, FUCK!
@@willie9397 cut it one more time
I had a jl audio 400/4 rd series for mids and it had 4gauge wire but I added a pioneer gm-d8601 class d amp with 2 pioneer 10in Tsswx2502 but the powerwire is reduced to 8gauge from distribution block will my audio system sound better if I get a different distribution block 4gauge in & out for both amps???
Which wire gauge suitable for car head unit to speaker?
Thanks man, it was helpful.
But how can get the efficient?
Look for the specs / properties or description of your amplifier (in the user's manual, Internet, etc.). It will either be an 'AB' ... or ... a 'D' type. Then review the video at 2:46 for the approx. efficiency.
I needed to know this, thanks bro.
Anytime ;)
I'm at a lost. Please hear me out. I purchased a Pioneer TS-WX1210A. A powered subwoofer. 1300 W max, NOM 350 W. The suplied wire harness has a 12 gauge wire set. I'm hooking it up to the Pioneer AVIC W 8500 head unit. I called Best Buy and Crutchfield and they both told me I need at least an 8 gauge wire, but to me that makes no sense if the supplied wire harness has 12 gauge wires for power, ground, RCA's and remote. Please help steer me in the right direction. It also has a 20 amp fuse that goes with it. I'm thinking that 20 amp fuse can hook into the fuse box instead of the battery.
I would contact Pioneer. I just watched their video on it and all they say is you connect yellow to battery and black to metal/chassis. ua-cam.com/video/lbLvvzvvLro/v-deo.html
Thank you bro saved me from payn for an install
So if I have more power then what’s mentioned in the video like say a 7,000 watt class d amp for my subs and a 2,400 watt class d amp for my kids and highs roughly about 25 feet wired with a fuse under the hood and then one before the amp would a zero gauge wire be fine? And I also have a 10 fared power capacitor all of which is ran through a distribution block what would be the best wire for my power wire
Thank you!
Thumbs up for "seven gawd damn batteries!" XD lmao
LOL
Thank you
Why is it we need 0 or 4 gauge power wire but only 8-16 gauge speaker wire? I'm confused. I'd think if the power wire is 4 gauge than the speaker wire would need to be at least 4 gauge considering the electricity just went thru an "amplifier" and therefore was amplified.
because the amplifier is more of a converter than it is an amplifier. It converts the DC signal into AC which apparently must require much less wire size I presume.
Would 14 gauge work for the amp to sub run for two dvc4 sa12’s wired down to 1 ohm? The amp is a taramps md1800.1 and the subs can take about 1000 watts rms on the daily
Just what i was looking for. Thanx QMV. Nice to know if you go big it wont be a problem ( Besides the savings account).
Ayyyyy glad it helped!
If I'm running a fuse tap. From fuse box to CD player is regular speaker wire enough or to big or need certain size. Help please. And also if I'm running a 12 volts off the cigarette lighter and it keeps blowing what about if I run it through the fuse box will it still blow please help me get back as soon as possible thank you
MAJORLY missed something... I understand the formulas on figuring amps... EXCEPT... my 4 channel has different power output levels depending on Ohms. which do I use? the 1200.4 that I have has 4 ohm watts per channel of 130 watts at 4 ohm, 198 at 2 ohms and 300 at one ohm..... which do I use? and is it dependent on what speaks I have and how they are wired (series or parallel)? cause this amp could change the expression 3 different ways... 4x300 watts divided by 12.8 = 93.75, or 4x198 watts divided by 12.8 =61.875 OR 4x130 divided by 12.8= 40.625.... THIS IS A HUGE RANGE!!!
Do I calculate the amps according to the RMS rating I’ll be using depending on whether the subwoofers are 1, 2, 4, or 8 ohms? The greater the ohms the lower the watts in the amp right?
I got 2 dual 4 ohm 2300 watt 1150 rms. How do I wire the speakers to put them in a box and what wire size
I have a question about speaker wire, Does it really matter if it's OFC or CCA? Because I got some decent 14 AWG CCA speaker wire. But then again I hear OFC is way better! I do have OFC main power cables but from what I heard it really does not matter for speaker wire,Is this correct?
You always want to use OFC for both! It really does make a difference
Ok cool Thanks!
Could someone please help me understand where he got the efficiency rating? Like i have a 4000 watt rms power acoustik class d caliber 8000 watt mono amp and over the years i have lost the manual, and have no idea where i could find the efficiency rating
Can I run 12 gauge for everything? (Speakers amp and subwoofer?) My amp kicks 100w x4 channel @ 4 ohms.
slatebeard For only 100 x 4 and assuming you are not running a .5 ohm load to your subs, 8 gauge is fine for power and ground. 12 gauge is fine for the speakers.
Than k u. Sr.
Help alot.
8awg ok?
I use 0 guage as a positive ground for my battery and also as a star pattern grounding in my car :)
Nice!
hello There. I do planing use 4 channel 720W amps but using 4ohm speakers so its 4x60w - 240W not 720W at 2ohm do i have to use 720w or 240W to calculate what wire to use? same think for my mono 320w amp for sub 320W or 150W bridged at 4ohm Thanks!!
What size wire do I need for vibe1800d mono amplifier
Is it bad running o Guage wire to my sundowns 18s from a Orion hcca 17k from 90 amp hour c max
So I have a soundstream rubicon class D 3000 watt single channel. Manufacturer specs for RMS are 600w x1 @4ohm, 900w x1 @2ohm and 1500w x1 @4ohm. I'm planning on pairing it with Dual Electronics (2) 12" subs in a single enclosure listed as being 600w RMS @4ohms and 1100w peak. So I believe I'd be safe in assuming that because the single channel RMS for each at 4ohms is 600w then that's what I would base my selection in power wire gauge off of? Based on 600w RMS I've done the equation exactly as you've shown and come up with 46.87 amperes or 62.49 running at 75% efficiency. According to your diagram I'd be needing something between 4 and 6 gauge wire. That being said if I do the same equation with the 1500w max RMS for bridged single channel at 4ohms I come up with 156.24 amperes at 75% efficiency and the diagram then calls for something between 0 and 2 gauge. Seeing as I'll be running between 10 and 13 feet of course. I'm just confused as to which applies to my setup. Could I run 0 gauge and call it a day even though the single channel output that I'd be actively using is approximately 600w RMS?
Sir kindly correct me. Im using focal auditor and focal expert 165fx. I connected the speakers at bridge mode which the amp capacity at bridge is 170 watts. Does it means that the require power by my amp will be 42.19 amp? Thank you
I have a 1200WX1@2ohm RMS and an 80WX4@4ohm RMS amps. I will only be running the 1200W amp at 500W@ 4ohms and the 4 channel at 30W@4ohms. Would I use the numbers from the spec's or what I am actually going to be running at(with a little extra margin) for the calculations?
Great video and explanation thanks !
amazing detailed video got a 2 channel 600 watt amp ima just throw A 10 guage speaker wire on it to connect to my sub... thanks!!
Good luck with your install!
Yo those pancakes and bacon look bomb btw
So how do I wire my 2000 wrms sub in parallel with 8 gauge if it doesn't even fit in the push terminals? take them off and solder it to the leads?
I can fit two 12 gauge wires in one terminal (because you need two wires on two of the four terminals), but not two 8 gauge wires.
Hello I know this was posted 3 years ago but I need help with a system I am putting in my 1995 Toyota Camry, it’s gonna have 2 6.5 dB drive s65p speakers , 2 dB drive 6x9 s69 speakers, 1 400 watt 4 channel taramp amplifier, 1 3000 watt 1-2 ohm smart taramp amplifier, and 3 sundown 8s or 2 sundown 10s, what gauge wire should I get?
So u you could run 12 awg for speaker and power line with a fuse to the the battery?
Very informative
ERES UN CHINGON! THUMBS UP!.
should i run an amp at 0.5 of its stable at 1 ?
any recommendations for onkyo rz 830 high current avr...... speaker wire gauge size for polk rti a7 8 ohm speakers?? and power inputs for avr.....will home suppy ll work fine or i ve to add online ups?
If budget is no issue, then just to be on the safer side is it simpler to just go with let's say 12 gauge wire instead of 16 gauge (calculated using charts)?
Yea sure, there are no downsides than using a lower gauge wire!
When making speaker cables. If it's on solid wire, how or should you ground that? What happens if you don't?
thx man, this one was very helpfull..
Is it ok if I replace my amp ground wire with 10 gauge? The wire that came with my kit looks to be 8 gauge, maybe even thicker, but it’s only 3 feet and not long enough for my set up. Would I be able to use the 10 just for the ground? The amp is mono 500w rms and id be using about 6-8 feet. If it isn’t, could I use two of them together (side by side)? :)
Generally speaking, which will provide more power at 12 feet? 8 gauge OFC wire or 4 gauge AWG copper coated aluminum??
Don't think of which will provide more power, that's really dependent on your gear. There are really no benefits or side effects to using a lower gauge wire than necessary
I need a milkshake now
Me too
Right on. Valuable information.
Glad it was helpful!
I have a question I'm wanting to build a BOOMBOX using my old Pioneer DEH P5900IB head unit my power supply is 18 V. Is that to much? Will that cause a problem?
I bought a Sound Storm EVO5000.1 EVO Amp. 3750x1 @ 1 Ohm. I plan to wire it to my Orion HCCA152 which has dual 2 Ohm voice coils. I will wire it in parallel, which would give me the 1 Ohm. O gauge from the battery is a given and I plan to use 8 gauge for speaker wire. This is powered by a stock battery and alternator on a 2017 Sonata Limited in the trunk. OK, it is just about the entire trunk and I probably need new shocks/springs. I also bought an Boss-Audio CAP8 capacitor(8 Farad) . I am unsure what to do with the power though.... Will my battery and alternator be able to handle the power I am consuming? Will I have enough power when I hook the capacitor up? OR... Do I need an additional another full battery in the trunk and another alternator? IDK.... Please help!
If I'm doing all the work to properly run a power wire, I'm never using smaller than 0 gauge. Leaves room for update and no stress about choosing between different gauges.
Pentti Jakonen That is thick wire. Not very easy to hide. With high efficiency amps today you won't need it unless you're having multi batteries and many high power amps.