Factory speaker wire

[toxin]

Anyone know what size the factory speaker wire is?

Who has run new speaker wires into their doors (properly, through the grommet, unlike the silly DIY on here)? How much of a pain in the ass was it?

[PrEgO CaNe]

Originally Posted by toxin

Anyone know what size the factory speaker wire is?

Who has run new speaker wires into their doors (properly, through the grommet, unlike the silly DIY on here)? How much of a pain in the ass was it?

not sure on the size of wire if i had to guess 12 gauge maybe, but i ran 8 gauge wire in through the grommet to both doors and it was a PITA. i was very close of just giving up, but i wanted it done properly and to look good. so in the end it was worth it. all i can say is have fun!

[toxin]

You're running EIGHT gauge speaker wire???

The factory wire is certainly not even close to 12-gauge. It is more like 18-22, but I was wondering if anyone knew for sure. If it were really 12-gauge, running new wires would be a complete waste of time. 12-gauge speaker wire is major overkill for just about anything.

[PrEgO CaNe]

shit man my bad i got that all wrong, i don't even know what i was thinking. i ran 12ga through the doors and the factory i think was 18. sorry for the mistake. if your not planning anything real big don't bother replacing.

[bikinpunk]

What kind of power are you looking to run?

18 gauge actually has it's place even with high powered setups. Remember, we're looking at AC voltage out of the amps, rather than DC.


If I had to guess, I'd say the factory wire is 18ga.

[ro.sniper]

Would it be ok to just splice the factory wires near the headunit, and run them to the amp on the sides of the car? Instead of replacing the whole wiring.

[bikinpunk]

In that case, you're practically running as much wire from the headunit to the amp as you would straight out of the amp to the speaker.

[toxin]

I'm planning to have 100w on tap for each door speaker.

If the factory is 18ga, that's probably good enough for me.

http://www.bcae1.com/images/swfs/spe...rassistant.swf :)

Thanks guys.

[ro.sniper]

Originally Posted by bikinpunk

In that case, you're practically running as much wire from the headunit to the amp as you would straight out of the amp to the speaker.

Is that a bad thing? I'm good at installing I just don't really know best practices.

[bsbabcock]

I don't think regardless the power I could ever be convinced of running anything larger than a good quality 16guage to any speaker.. Even a sub. I've heard 16 and 18 guage runs in good home systems which due to the quality of the cable and the better terminations, literally spank thick 12g lamp-chord. BUT, I do NOT condone spending silly money on it... Canare 4S11 at about a buck per foot is one of my favorites for 4-conductor biwire runs, for example.

Also, just running a single strand straight from amp to driver without any plug-terminals in any guage is going to be marginally to far better than having a bunch of harness-plug points between A and B... Even if you stay at 20 guage. That's probably your biggest benefit, I'd say.

Here ya go.. Kimber 16g 4-conductor.. good for two or four drivers..
Kimber Kable - KWIK-16 In-Wall 16-Guage Speaker Cable-Audio Advisor

[bikinpunk]

For only $12.38 each when QTY 50+ purchased - 16AWG Enhanced Loud Oxygen-Free Copper Speaker Wire Cable - 100ft | 16AWG Loud Speaker Cable

Game over.

[bsbabcock]

Liked your fake-trunk-floor amp install also dude.

[runeknight95]

Originally Posted by ro.sniper

Would it be ok to just splice the factory wires near the headunit, and run them to the amp on the sides of the car? Instead of replacing the whole wiring.

Is this Ok?? it was my plan, seems easier than running new wires.

Did we get an answer what gauge is the speaker wire, 07 civic here, I am also planing to run 100 RMS per channel x4

Using this AMP

Alpine Electronics of America, Inc. - MRP-F600

[twisted2corpse]

I ran all new wire and just didn't use any of the factory stuff. I used 12 gauge wire and 16 gauge for the lower powered stuff everything turned out great, the 12 gauge was tough getting in panels and through doors though.

[Toxis]

running all new 12awg Stinger speaker wire with 100w per driver. Overkill? Probably but why not?

[ImTheVoiceOfGod]

I dont know if you already did it, but if not, here is a little trick to make running to the doors easier:

Find the wire where it enters the grommet leaving the cabin, go back about 1 foot or so of wire, cut the olf wire, connect the old wire to your new with a butt connector
,
pop off the door panel (You can find someone else to tell you how to do that), find the wire where it attaches to the speaker, and pull.
Simple. I know some people are probably thinking Im an idiot for explaining this, but some people will try to just shove the wire through and make it harder than it really is.

[toxin]

VoiceOfGod, is that what you did? And it works? Did you have to pop off the grommet, or does it pull right through?

[ImTheVoiceOfGod]

I havent done it, But I was thinking about doing it for a while, but ended up getting lazy, I didnt see any reason why you would need to pull off the grommet, it looked pretty straight forward.

[Toxis]

Well good luck doing that on the driver's side. There's a molex plug that will not allow other wires to fit through. I had my installer cut a new run with some wire loom and had it sealed off. He needed to run some real thin wires for my window module of the alarm and it wouldn't fit through the OEM sleeve.

[runeknight95]

Is the wire 18 gauge already or??