HOME DEPOT speaker wire

[Thump4006]

Is the speaker wire from home depot any good in cars ? I'm not doing anything special, just setting up a couple of 6.5 and a cheap 10.. they bulk wire there is pretty cheap and I'm wondering if its good for power wire or speaker wire ? what gauge do I need

Click to read more...

 

[Rich B 5,000+ posts]

It would be fine.

14 or even 16 guage would be okay for a moderately powered system.

 

[Colt9699 10+ year member]

I like to use 14 ga speaker wire and 12 ga for subs.

I think wire is wire if its a good price and looks decent I would go for it.

 

[Thump4006]

thanks guys. I'm 34 years old, the last time I fooled around with amps and speakers was 17 years ago.

here is a good one for a laugh , I have a 2 channel amp, I'm going to try and power 3 or 5 speakers off it... recommended ?

 

[fwb_1234 10+ year member]

Why the odd number?

 

[knukonceptz 10+ year member]

Most 2 channel amps will power a 3 channel set up (two fronts and a sub) Wire the "fronts" in stereo and bridge the sub - you'll need some passive crossovers though and be sure to check the impedance on the speakers to make sure the amp can handle that load.

 

[bdawson72 5,000+ posts]

Lowes sells speaker wire

 

[audiobahnuser18 5,000+ posts]

I can vouch for HD speaker wire i have actually used it when i was in a really tight situation and needing wire fast and cheap and worked fine . Just like any normal wire.

 

[sdmtnbiker420 10+ year member]

HD is teh bomb!

 

[Thump4006]

There should be a thread entitled "Things you can get at home depot for your car" . I bought a ton of stuff for my cars, clamps, screws, materials, nuts and bolts, wire, fluids, cleaning products, mech gloves, tools etc.. The best part is the prices are like $0.46 for screws and clamps where ford wants $8.99-$20/ea .

The reason for the 3 or 5 speakers is I have a ford explorer and only one side of the rear cargo panel can be used. The other side has the gas filler wall , so 2 in the doors, 2 in the back seat panels, and 1 in the passgr side rear cargo area , or 2 less if the amp can't handle 5 speakers.

I bought 12g wire for $1.45 CAD per meter. About 50 cents a foot and it worked great. I did a dry run in the back with a test box and I had no problems. I am doing a simple improvement over the factory base strereo , nothing special but it must not have a box .

 

[mlstrass 5,000+ posts]

I've used the HD 12g for all my HT stuff with no problems.

Usually Target or Walmart have 50' spools of 16g for under $10.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

Running all those speakers are going to require some serious attention be paid to the passive crossovers to make it all work without smoking the amp. I'm not saying or implying that it can't be done, but it might actually be cheaper to just buy another inexpensive amp for the sub or the speakers and dedicate and amp to each.

 

[donpisto 5,000+ posts]

I have a rockford punch 500a2 (older RF 2 channel amp). I have my entire stock system off it and it gets pretty darn loud (2 tweeters, 2 6.5" mids, and 2 6x9's). I haven't had any problems running it that way for about 2 months, but I got me a 4 channel so no more worries about that.

 

[Thump4006]

What about power wire ? what is the specs for a good power wire. I went to home depot and the guy there said the wire will not work in a car but I have a feeling he didn't know what I was talking about. My test run was with power wire that was toothpick thing , obviously I want a thicker wire but what type should it be ? copper ? steel?

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

Steel has about 10x the resistance of copper. Don't even think about using it for power wire. There really isn't any wire at HD that will work well for power wire. Tons of threads on this site talking about where to get cheap wire that works well though.