help me wire my first sub

[mimcgl]

I've got a Kicker Comp 12" sub that i'm installing into a box and i'm stumped on how to wire it. Its got a 2-pronged connection for positive and negative (one for each on opposite sides of the sub). What kind of connector do i use for those (no soldering)? Also, once i have those wired how do i wire it to the box (a positive and negative "male" connector)? Thanks for any help.

Also on an rca cable what am i supposed to do with the extra little wire that comes between the two thicker wires that have the rca connections on them?

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[Brock 5,000+ posts]

what kind of amp do you have? ...sub wiring depends on this.

get some speaker wire terminals to wire the subs into the box.

the average slide-on connector should work for those subs...

the wire between your RCA's is probably used for nothing, although I've seen some people use it as a remote wire.

 

[natem33 10+ year member]

The small extra bare wire that hangs out from the end of the RCA cable is an additional ground wire to help eliminate ground noise. Your sub is a Dual Voice Coil (DVC). A DVC sub allows for more wiring options. How you would wire it would depend on what amp you have and how many channels it is.

 

[tommyk90 5,000+ posts]

Originally posted by natem33 The small extra bare wire that hangs out from the end of the RCA cable is an additional ground wire to help eliminate ground noise. Your sub is a Dual Voice Coil (DVC). A DVC sub allows for more wiring options. How you would wire it would depend on what amp you have and how many channels it is.

Comps are SVC, not DVC. And that wire in between the RCA's is used as a remote wire. How are you supposed to ground that? It's just a wire, it doesn't serve any purpose to the RCA's. It's just there as a remote wire for convenience and for less wires.

 

[mimcgl]

Tommy was right, it is a single voice coil. Anyways, i figured out that i have to connect wire using two "female" connectors from the two-pronged thing on the sub to the connector on the box. Now my question is what do i use to go from the speaker wire to the single "male" connector on the box? Can i splice the two wires to go into a single connector which would slip onto the one on the box? Sorry for any confusion, i tried to explain it as clearly as i could. Thanks.

 

[ShaunMac 10+ year member]

You only need to run one wire from the + and one wire from the - of the sub.

Then, use female connectors to slide those two onto the + and - terminals on

the box. Then run to your amp.

 

[mimcgl]

Sorry for my overwhelming newbieness, but do you mean i basically only need a single wire running from the sub to the box? If so, do i only need to connect to one "prong" on the plus and one on the negative terminals on the sub? Thanks again.

 

[tommyk90 5,000+ posts]

Originally posted by mimcgl Sorry for my overwhelming newbieness, but do you mean i basically only need a single wire running from the sub to the box? If so, do i only need to connect to one "prong" on the plus and one on the negative terminals on the sub? Thanks again.

What you essentially need to do is connect one of the + prongs on the sub with the + terminal of one the channels on the amp. Do the same for the - prong and - on the same channel on the amp. Here's a rough mock-up of what it should look like.

 

[tommyk90 5,000+ posts]

Here's the parts you'll need for a clean install

connectors to attach the subs to the wire terminals:

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&User_ID=12927649&St=9689&St2=68544948&St3=-73250982&DS_ID=3&Product_ID=2138&DID=7

Terminal cup: Any of the last 6 will be fine

http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?webpage_id=3&SO=2&&DID=7&CATID=48&ObjectGroup_ID=417

That's all i can think of right now.