will an 8 gauge power wire be enough?

[devonlada 10+ year member]

Hi, im upgrading my system from an audiobahn aw1051t and a boss r-sumthin (lame) to a kicker l5 12" and a profile CL600m. Its a 95 jetta, and the distance from the battery to the amp is about 11 feet. right now there is an 8 gauge power wire from my trunk to my battery. Do you guys think this will be low enough gauge to fully run 450watts on the amp? and also.. the sub is about 3 feet from the amp.. will i need 12 gauge speaker wire? or could i go with a higher gauge. Help would be greatly appreciated -dev

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[Radar 10+ year member]

Yeah, 8 ga should be enough. If youre really concerned go with 4ga, but 8 should do nicely.

 

[sumone 10+ year member]

what's the fuse on the amp? I think 50 amps is the (recommended) max fuse for 8ga (from bcae1.com).

 

[devonlada 10+ year member]

its a 60A fuse.. thats what came with the kit. so u guys think 8 gauge power should be fine? what about speaker wire? 12ga? 14 ga?

also when im adjusting the gain, should the sub volume on my alpine deck be @ 15 (max) ? and also what about the bass boost (0-18) on the amp?

 

[maylar 10+ year member]

I wouldn't fuse 8 gage with anything more than 40 amps. If that blows, you need bigger wire.

For 3 ft of speaker wire, 14 gage is adequate.

 

[da12b 10+ year member]

A lot of people make the mistake of using the gain on the amp as a vol. control. This is the "BEST" way to listen to blown speakers. The "gain" on an amp is adjust the voltage output to match your deck.

To adjust the gain:

1. Turn all gains down

2. Turn the vol on the deck 3/4 up

3. Slowly turn the gain up until distortion is heard

4. Turn the gain back just a bit

Repeat process for all gains. Yor amp is now set to your deck.

I strongly suggest you look at http://www.bcae1.com. It has a lot of usefull info about car audio. As for me, I have this site saved to my "Favorites." It is a good reference for my car audio needs.

I hope this helps.

 

[supa_c 5,000+ posts]

http://www.the12volt.com/info/recwirsz.asp wiring guide. this site is eaiser to comprehend than bcae1.com

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

yeah, for a 60A current draw I'd go 4awg, but you'd be well within those limits.

60A is fine for AGU fuses, it's only when you get above 80 or so things get interesting.