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I know it is bad to run the RCAs and Power wire down the same side of the car next to each other...but is it ok to run speaker wires next to the power wire? What is true and what is myth?

 
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Yeah you can. Its just much easier and doesn't make too much difference.

 
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The reason is interferance. Basically your RCA's carry your audio signal and most power wires will interfer with that signal. The most common example is to turn your radio to AM rev the engine and listen if you can hear your speakers making noise. Your RCA's will not only be more receptive to this interferance but will amplify it more after reaching your amplifiers. Heres what I did. The power wire (O gauge) runs through the firewall and all the way down the pass. side. The RCA's run all down the drivers side. The speakers run straight down the middle until they reach the firewall and then branch out to the kickpanels. Good habit to follow. That is unless you enjoy removing all of your **** to find out where that noise is coming from.

 
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YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!

Although Rufus is right, it is ideal to split it the way he said, your speaker wires will not pick up interference from power wire. Its safe to run everything next to eachother except power and RCAs. Some people also run a ground wire front to back and ground to the battery. This is not good practice. Ground your amps within 16-24" from them to the chassis of the car.

J

 
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I might buy this deck, what do y'all think

http://www.clarioncanada.com/english...oduct=DXZ745MP

 
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That is kinda random for this thread

 
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for all intensive purposes, you can keep em with the rca's, or separately: your choice

 
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the reason for this is because of the relationship between electric and magnetic fields. we all know that 2 different electric fields will induce a current (hook up the positive terminal to ground and you'll see that). but an electric current will also induce a magnetic field. it's been so long since i took the classes i can't remember how to figure out where the field will be generated and in what direction. but i know there is the guideline to run your RCA's perpendicular to the power wire when they must cross, so i assume that is to minimize the effect the magnetic field will have on your signal. but i digress...

why should you car about magnetic fields? well the fact is that they influence the electric fields as well. they will actually induce a voltage in a piece of wire. or change the voltage in the wire that is there. thus creating interference.

we know how to shield electric fields, thats easy. all wire have insulation on them, and we know better than to touch two wire together. but magnetic fields are not as easily shielded, so we must take more care with them.

the strength of the induced magnetic field (and then the induced voltage change in the signal wire) is proportional to the current. so the wires carrying more current generate more EMF (electromagnetic fields). so a power wire carrying say 30-40 amps is a much bigger problem than a speaker wire carrying maybe 5 amps (that would be current to a front speaker receiving 100W).

so the truth is everything interferes with everything. a .08V EMF induced on a 20V wire (the 100W speaker example again) is not going to do much at all. but a .08V EMF on a 2V (peak) amp output signal can be huge. hope this helps.

 
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Whoa, that's possibly the worst hijacking I've seen in years. LMAO. Mega, that was like a comment from RainMan.

J