Rep Power: 277

I'm hooking an amp up to power my speakers and I guess the easiest way would be to tap into the speaker wires with another piece of wire. So which size wire would I need? And where can I find the speaker wires to tap into? I have a 2005 coupe.

 
Rep Power: 337

easiest way to do it is right behind the radio.

when you have your RCA wire out of the car, cut four speaker wires the same length, and wrap everything together (dont forget the remote turn on wire!).

when you are crimping up the wire harness for the radio, rather than hooking up the speaker outs from the radio to the speaker outs of the wire harness, crimp the wire harness to the output wires you just layed with the RCA line. let your car stock wiring do the distribution.

this is how shops all over the country crank out installs. Its good to around 50x4 rms, easy. I think we've done it with 75x4 rms amplifiers, too, but if you are running that large of an amp, I'd be recommending rewiring the car.

the next five posters are going to tell you this is a BS way to do things, and rewiring the car is the only way. Its not, it really works, and its how shops everywhere install amplifiers, and do it fast and efficiently.

if youve got a 50 watt 4 channel amp, I dare say this is the best, fastest, neatest, and easiest way to do it.

 
Rep Power: 811

thats what i did but took a step further and used pre-made speaker wire that was insulated and had a bunch of separate, color wires wrapped together (i think 8 total, two for each speaker). but my amp is only 30-40wrms per channel.

 
Rep Power: 277

That's an awesome idea, that's what I'll do. I don't have a headunit, just a screen and a computer in the trunk. The remote lead will come from the computer to the two amps so I don't need to run a remote, just the speaker wires. Never even thought of that, thanks.
So, uh, what gauge is that?

 
Rep Power: 337

Dex, 18 gauge is more than fine, and you should be able to get an arseload for dirt. and since you arent using any of the other wires, it simplifies things even more. you can do all the wiring outside the car, then install one big bundle, snake the plug up behind the dash, and you are good to go the second you plug in the harness.

now thats sweet!


I bought some of that stuff (5 and three wire iterations) for other purposes. expensive as hell, but I LOVE how neat it makes my wiring. love, love, love!

 
Rep Power: 277

Sorry, forgot to mention the amp's 30x4. It's just enough to power the stock speakers.
So 18 gauge, but wouldn't that be overkill? I think the speaker wire is 20 or 22 gauge. Is there a disadvantage to mixing sizes?

 
Rep Power: 811

doesnt matter really. bigger the better youre amping stock speakers? hmm i thought they only handle 5wrms

 
Rep Power: 337

theres no disadvantage for this particular wiring schema.

18 is WAY overkill, but 18 gauge can be found in a 2 conductor variety in 50 yard lengths for dirt cheap. For 30x4, if you can find 2, 4, or 8 conductor 20 gauge for less money, I'd jump on it.

 
Rep Power: 277

They'd have to handle more than that, your aftermarket headunit's 50x4 right? That's more than my amp. It's just because the sound card in the computer can't power a speaker enough to move the cone. The amp's there to help it.

I can get a package of 25 feet of 20 gauge for $5, I'll pick that up tomorrow I guess.

 
Rep Power: 811

aftermarket headunits and *maybe* 15-18wrms per channel. stock is no higher than 10wrms but thats pushing it. stock speakers cant handle very much at all, they're just paper! peak wattage means nothing.

 
Rep Power: 277

I'll turn the gain down a lot then. I suppose it'll take some experimentation between the volume and the gain before I'll feel comfortable with them. But I know for sure they wouldn't move at all without an amp.