Do I need new aftermarket speaker wire?

[rocgalant 10+ year member]

What's up? I tried looking all over but can't find info. I have polk db 651s in my front speakers and rear deck. I'm going to add a little 12" 200-250 RMS sub. Still debating whether I should go with a 5 ch amp to get the job done or go with a 4 ch amp with series wiring setup (trying to keep the ohm higher than 2 impedence. The polks are rated at 4 ohms). Anyway, do you think that I need to run new speaker wire for a setup like this? I'm thinking the system won't be pulling more than 400-500w RMS. I just don't want to deal with the hassle of trying to running new speaker wire through the car. Thanks.

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[rocgalant 10+ year member]

Also, if I go with the 4 ch amp and wire the front parallel and rear parallel; then the amp would see a 8 ohm load right? The speakers are rated at 55w rms at 4 ohm. So would that setup then reduce the actual power? Like reduce the rms output by some %?

 

[pentavolvo 10+ year member]

ok i recommend a 5 channel but u can get away with a 4 channel

if u wire then in parallel it will show a 2 ohm load per channel and this will work, wiring in series would give 8ohm but yield far less power

if u are gonna runt he fronts and rears off one set of channels and the sub bridged on the other run em in parallel, basically just run the positives and negatives to the amp and dbl it up

IMO some cars its far easier to run speaker wire in then others but if u are running less then 60wrms u shoudl be fine with factory wiring especially if its hard to run on ur car

 

[rocgalant 10+ year member]

Thx! I always get parallel and series backwards. Thx for the correction. More than likely, I'll go with a 5 ch. It's just much easier to setup for me and I can get more control over each ch. And I'll probably stick with the factory wiring too. I thought I could prolly get away with it given the limited power that I plan to send through the wires; just looking for some more opinions on it. Thx again.

 

[pentavolvo 10+ year member]

what car is it

 

[rocgalant 10+ year member]

09 sport galant with standard audio system. it says it has 6sp but I can only see 4. the front door and rear deck

 

[rocgalant 10+ year member]

if u wire then in parallel it will show a 2 ohm load per channel and this will work, wiring in series would give 8ohm but yield far less power

Ok last question- If I run the full range speakers parallel, that will send a 2 ohm load to the amp. Is that bad for the speakers since they are rated at 4 ohms?

 

[loopkiller 10+ year member]

Ok last question- If I run the full range speakers parallel, that will send a 2 ohm load to the amp. Is that bad for the speakers since they are rated at 4 ohms?

The resistance of your speakers is constant. Wiring two speakers together will never damage the speaker. However, since you are changing the resistance, your amplifier must be rated to handle the changed resistance. If you amplifier is only rated to 4 ohms, then applying a 2 ohm load (parallel) would likely cause problems for your amplifier. If you presented a higher resistance lever of 8 ohms (series), your amp would be just fine, but you would get less power from the amplifier. Usually in the range of half the rated output @ 4 ohm.

So unless you want to run in series and run under powered, then you need to look for an amplifier that is rated to 2 ohms. If it is a 2 ohm safe amp, then you can parallel the two 4 ohm speakers without any worry.

 

[pentavolvo 10+ year member]

what amp is it, odds are its 2ohm stable so u will be fine

 

[loopkiller 10+ year member]

what amp is it, odds are its 2ohm stable so u will be fine

Odds are better that he could find the specs or manual and be 100% sure. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

 

[rocgalant 10+ year member]

Thx! I think I'm good to go! On a side note- I'm probably going to add the Kicker CVR122 for the sub. It's on Ebay with a ported box for $99. It's a 12" 4ohm DVC rated up to 400rms. Trying to add bigger sound but stay low key on the streets!

I'm looking many amps but all that I have looked at so far are good down to 2 ohms. I've checked a Blaupunkt 5 ch (can't remember the model but it's got a PnP adapter), Profile HA1040 4 ch, Kicker zx350.4 4 ch, among others. I just thought of those off the top of my head.

 

[rocgalant 10+ year member]

Thx! I think I'm good to go! On a side note- I'm probably going to add the Kicker CVR122 for the sub. It's on Ebay with a ported box for $99. It's a 12" 4ohm DVC rated up to 400rms. Trying to add bigger sound but stay low key on the streets!

I'm looking many amps but all that I have looked at so far are good down to 2 ohms. I've checked a Blaupunkt 5 ch (can't remember the model but it's got a PnP adapter), Profile HA1040 4 ch, Kicker zx350.4 4 ch, among others. I just thought of those off the top of my head.