Power cable & distribution

[ShayneF 10+ year member]

Hi guys.

I have been researching installation info on here, and am uncertain as to what to chose for cable. Much of the info on here is related to SPL audio set-ups, where high current is required. In my case I have limited power needs for my SQ system, so cabling may not need to be so large. Lots of choices, so I need some of your experience.

I have two amps to power, both of which will be mounted about 17ft (cable length) from the main battery. Alt and battery cables are all upgraded.

Amps are as follows:

Alpine MRD-M501. 550 watts RMS at 2 ohms. Fused at 60 amps.

Boston GT-4100. 400 watts RMS at 4 ohms. Fused at 80 amps.

I have two 4 ohm SVC subs (Alpine 6081 8" subs) to run off the Alpine, so from what I can see the amp will run at 2 ohms. Please correct me if this is wrong.

As I am only interested in sound quality, and do not drive the subs very hard, I doubt either of these amps will ever run at full output.

Wiring guides for both amps state 4 gauge wire is suitable, however the Boston has two terminals for power and earth. I am guessing what they want you to do is two runs of 4 gauge, rather than one or two runs of 8 gauge, but this is only a guess. The Alpine only has one power and earth terminal.

My plan was to run a single cable from the battery to a distribution block, and then one run of 4 gauge to the Alpine and two runs of 4 gauge to the Boston. Earths will be run direct from the amps to the chassis, possibly via another distribution block.

What size does the main cable to the distribution block need to be? Do I need 0 gauge to help with voltage drop at that cable length or can I use smaller cable?

What brand of cable and distribution blocks do you guys recommend?

Thanks for the help.

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[ShayneF 10+ year member]

Nobody?????? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

 

[thatguy12 10+ year member]

you are correct you can wire to 2 ohms. i would either get 4 gauge OFC or 0 gauge cca wire for main run. run that to a distro block ( wanna make it simple get Knukonceptz product detail for KONFUSED 2/3/4 WAY DISTRIBUTION POWER & GROUND BLOCK). from that distro block run 4-8 gauge cca or ofc to your amps postive. if you dont get the fancy power and ground distro use a second one to run all your grounds to use the same size wire as your power wire and find an awesome ground for the distro. sorry if thats confusion.

 

[ShayneF 10+ year member]

Interesting. So you can go back to 4/8 (back from 0/4 gauge) gauge by using OFC cable. Is it that much better than the CCA? For simplicity then, I could just use the 4 gauge OFC for all wiring.

That Knukonceptz distro block looks interesting. The specs seem to indicate that you can either use it fused or unfused, is that right? I was not intending to run fuses other than at the battery and in the amps.

 

[thatguy12 10+ year member]

Interesting. So you can go back to 4/8 (back from 0/4 gauge) gauge by using OFC cable. Is it that much better than the CCA? For simplicity then, I could just use the 4 gauge OFC for all wiring.
That Knukstz distro block looks interesting. The specs seem to indicate that you can either ussome it fused or unfused, is that right? I was not intending to run fuses other than at the battery and in the amps.

you should be Good with one run of 4 gauge ofc. yeah ofc its better but more expensive. im still new at this but some say its not worth the money and some say it is. yes you can use that distro unfused. one of them you could use for your power and your grounds or get two cheap ones. for power get one that has one 4 gauge in and two four gauge out. and fo ground.get one thats one 4 gauge in and three 4 gauge out. id gwt thepower and ground distro block personally or get two distros. theres a few ways you.could do it though

 

[thatguy12 10+ year member]

4 Gauge Amplifier Installation Kit

Raptor R4DB14G 4-Position 24K Hard Gold Plated Ground Distribution Block:Amazon:Car Electronics

Knukonceptz product detail for BASSIK 2 WAY 4 GAUGE FUSE DISTRIBUTION BLOCK

you might need a little.more wire. also are both your amps mono or is one a four or two channel?

 

[azmcrae 10+ year member]

2nd what thatguy12 said... 4 Gauge is plenty big enough for main power wire.

 

[ShayneF 10+ year member]

Ok, I will have a look about and see what I can get. Got to go to work now, but I will check out those links you put up.

The Alpine is mono, but the Boston is a 4 channel.

Thanks for the help so far! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[thatguy12 10+ year member]

Ok, I will have a look about and see what I can get. Got to go to work now, but I will check out those links you put up.
The Alpine is mono, but the Boston is a 4 channel.

Thanks for the help so far! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

no problem. you will need about five to ten extra feet of wire and three rca's all together. any more questions just hit me up ill answer to the best of my limited knowledge lol

 

[Jepalan]

I always try to use manufacturer's recommended sizes, but you can calculate minimum wire sizes using this tool: http://www.bcae1.com/images/swfs/systemdesignassistant2.swf

Use the white entry boxes and set wire length to 17ft and amp power to 500w rms each (conservative) and it comes up with: 2awg to distro block and 6awg to each amp. (set two of the amps to 0 in the tool)

Assuming you don't run amps to max, set amps to 300w and it gives one 4awg to distro-block and 8awg to the amps. At least that gives you some confidence in ranges. As you can see the manufacturer recommendations are pretty conservative (esp the dual 4 awg connects on the GT amp).

Tool assumes true gauge copper wire - nothing fancy

 

[ShayneF 10+ year member]

I doubt I will run the amps near their maximum. I have been running the same speakers with much less power (old amps) for a long time without any problems.

Maybe some 4 gauge OFC will be sufficient for my needs.

 

[tommydh 10+ year member]

4 gauge ofc sould be sufficient. I have found tat if you do decide to go larger its generally cheaper to go 1/0 than say 2 awg. I found the shops near me carry the 1/0 kits in stock #2 is usually a special order so they cant deal as easy

 

[tommydh 10+ year member]

I would stick with any brand that is known to you. I picked up some cheapo wire off ebay that was "0" gauge its the junkiest wire i use it for non essential connections. Knu, Tsunami, Streetwires etc are all safe bets in my opinion

 

[ShayneF 10+ year member]

In the end I went for the 4 gauge Rockford kit. It is comprehensive - speaker wire & distro blocks that other kits don't have, and the shipping cost was better than KnuKonceptz to Australia, so I saved there too. Total cost delivered to me was the same as the Knu kit, with the extra gear in it for a bonus.