Rewiring my system after the shop butchered just about the whole thing.

[Beast1284 10+ year member]

**You can skip this story if you just want to get to my wiring questions*** Ok, heres my story. In June of 2000 I decided that my new Beretta Z26 needed a system in it, so I took it to a local mobile audio shop that I had heard great stuff about. The shops name is Benchmark Audio and is located in upstate NY. The first time I went, I decided on a Clarion drx5675 HU, 2 MTX 6x9's for the back, and 2 eclipse speakers up front. I was happy with this system for about 3 months, along with the service I got from Benchmark, so I went back when I wanted to upgrade my system. So, When I went back a couple months later, I decided on a 12" Comp VR and a Kicker IX404 amp. Until a couple months ago, I thought they did a good job on the install, but it was not so. I was under my hood, and noticed that there was about a full inch of copper bare underneath the hood. Seeing this, I nearly had a heart attack, and ran and got the electrical tape and fixed it up. Being curious, I then decided to look at my 6x9 install, and when I popped the trunk and looked, each of the 6x9's were hanging by a single screw, yes you heard me right a single screw. The others were scattered throughout my trunk. On to the deck, it slowly worked its way out of it's harness, so one day I went to pull it out and redo it to make it tighter, and when I pulled it out, the screws fell out into my hands. Come to find out they put a ridiculous amount of styrofoam underneath the harness to keep it from rattling, and I came to the conclusion that this is what made the deck work loose. So, fast forward a couple months. The 12" VR blew, and I asked a friend about what might have happened. So he took a look at it and said that they were very careless when they installed it into the box. So I said screw it, and had this friend upgrade my system once again.

** My current system consists of a Clarion DRX5675 HU, powering 2 MTX 6x9's in the back, and an MTX Thunder4202 amp powering 2 Eclipse speakers up front. Also a Kicker IX404 is powering 2 MTX Thunder 4000 12" subs... Basically, the wiring at this point looks terrible, and I would like to clean it up from scratch. Pulling up carpet, the whole shabang. So I am wondering, what am I getting myself into? Also, I am using 12 gauge wire from Radio Shack for power, and to the subs. What types of connectors, wire etc. am I going to need to reqire the entire system. Length in feet would be extremely helpful. Also, both of the amps are mounted to the back of my rear seats, which fold down.

Thanks guys, I have learned a ton from you already, and I hope you can come through with some help now. Thanks again.

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[Frraksurred 10+ year member]

Man that's hard to believe. That shop wasn't too concerned about return custumers huh? Sorry to hear about your subs.

Anyway, on to the wiring. I prefer Monster Wires's Interlink XLN for signal wires. I use their wires to power my amps and H/U as well. I'm guessing with a car of that length that you're going to need a good 10-12 ft of 4g to your amps, then about 4-5 ft of 8g from your dist block or cap to your amps. Ditto for your ground (8g), unless you want to ground your H/u with your amps then get about 6 ft more. The 12g you have from RS should suffice for your spkrs if it's good quality. If it's average, then go get some MW. I'd guess about 30 ft. (extra never hurts). Just for giggles I'd go with 10g for your subs; about 12 ft. You need lots of yellow butt conector from your local hardware store unless you wanna get fancy and solder all your connections then cover them w/ shrink tubing. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif Also you'll need loop connectoers for you power and ground cables, and spade connectoers (open loop) for your spkr to amp connections. Most spkrs have slide connectoers (male) so you'll need equally sized female ones.

By the time you get done crimping all that you'll need a band-aid for your blister as well. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Did I forget anything guys? Maybe some zip ties and wire loom?

Have fun, and God bless you.