What gauge to use??

[SRT8 10+ year member]

Hi, I recently purchased a Polk Audio pa d2000.2 class D amp. I intend to run it on a boat, only powering a sub, and it puts out 500W RMS at 4 ohm bridged.

The manual calls for 4 ga wire to be used. Is this a little excessive? It seems 4 ga is appropriate for up to 1000 W or so, and this is nowhere near that. Can anyone shed some light?

Also, the factory Clarion 4 ch amp on the boat that runs 4 Focal components only has 12 ga installed by the factory, which seems a little light. It also currently powers the sub off ch3 and 4 in mixed mode operation, so it works pretty hard. Comments?

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[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

4 gauge then spilt for 4 gauge for the sub amp and 8 for the 4 channel

 

[SuperSaeYoung]

4 gauge then spilt for 4 gauge for the sub amp and 8 for the 4 channel

Should it be split at the battery or amp?

 

[All_Logix 10+ year member]

get a distrobution block that will split it as close as possible to the amps. And to answer your question about why it calls for 4 AWG, it is because the current that must travel through a 4 ohm resistance is twice the amount of current that travels through a 2 ohm resistance. Thus, with 2 ohms you are looking at your 1000 watts