The next restriction in the system is the wires, right? Will I hear the difference if I were to wire everything together with 12GA audio wire?

 

Depends where the 12 gauge is going. It may be too much - specially if its going straight from the HU to the speakers.
I think 16 should be enough.
Jay

 

yes, I'd be running new wires for the speakers....

 

Nope.

 

heh, thanks.

 

unless you are running a high power amp, the factory wires should be alright

 

well, actually a thicker gauge wire will help your bass response. and if you get Monster or similar high-performance wires, they block out a lot of RF interference and push a much clearer signal. upgrading speaker wires is always a good thing to do

 

upgrading speaker wire is definatly a good thing for high powered systems, but 12guage wire is really not needed unless you are wiring subs, its usually more expensive and just bigger so its more difficult to fit in the tight spaces....

 

Unless you have a problem with the factory speaker wires I woudn't bother upgrading them. Given the ambient noise level of a running car (even stitting still) I can basically guarentee that you will not hear any audible difference. (Also, keep in mind the run legths in a car are very short.) Your time and money would be best spent on other things.

One the other hand, if you already had the complete interior of the car removed (such as to install sound deadening) then why not upgrade the speaker wires. It would be cheap, easy, and provide some piece of mind that no small details were overlooked in the installation.