I should have known better than to expect the low priced Ebay stuff to be of comparable quality, but I figured hey, it's just wire.

So, I bought a 4 AWG wiring kit for my Corvette on Ebay. It was about $13 plus another $13 for shipping, for a total of around $26, or roughly half of what it would cost at a local store.

Everything came in a box, not in any sort of blister pack. This was apparently an "assembled" kit that some guy put together from bulk products, but that's fine. It came with a decent looking set of cheap RCAs, a good fuse holder with an 80 amp fuse, and all of the crimp connectors and grommets you could ask for. It even came with a few feet of black split loom tubing for under the hood. Nice touch.

So then I examine the wire. To start with, the ground wire is purple. PURPLE! I'm not putting purple anything into my Corvette.

After I get over the initial shock of having purple ground wire, I examine the red power wire more closely. The outer diameter of the cable is the same size as all 4 AWG, but when I looked closely, I discovered that the actual copper wire is much smaller than a normal 4 AWG wire. I'm going to grab some of my 8 AWG wire and some of my other 4 AWG and compare them with pictures to show you guys what I mean.

But in the meantime, just take my warning that even with something as basic as wire, you get what you pay for. Now I've got to spend another $25 for real 4 AWG, bringing my total cost above what it would have been if I just bought the more expensive kit to begin with.

 

That's why when I get the sound and power wiring for my interior, I'm going to just buy it at a professional electronics wholesaler in the area. That way I know I'm getting good cable (the entertainment industry doesn't settle for crap) and I'm not paying for an overinflated brand name like Monster.

 

I'll be ordering my new 4 gauge wire from Parts Express. At $1.09/foot, it's about the best I'll do for a good quality wire.

 

If there are less strands it will be smaller in diameter. Compare the difference from solid to stranded. Solid is smaller. The 2 AWG I've used to run in housed for electric water heaters looks way smaller than the 4 AWG in my car but it only has like 20-30 seperate strands in it. Carrie the same amount of current though.

 

Both of these are multi-strand bundles, with individual strands of approximately the same size. This stuff is a fraud no matter how you slice it.

I have pics.

Amp King 4 AWG from Parts Express is on the top. Some 8 AWG I had laying arouhd is on the right, and the "4 AWG" that came in this kit is on the left. It's obviously misrepresented. This is 8 AWG at best.

 

Oh yeah, the speaker wire isn't much better.

On the top is the "12 AWG" That came with the kit. On the bottom is some 16 AWG Monster cable that I had laying around.