If so which one did you buy and how do you like them? I know some of these kits claim a certain gauge wire....only to be a smaller gauge.

What about these?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...3AIT&viewitem=

http://cgi.ebay.com/POWER-4-GAUGE-CA...3A1%7C294%3A50

I'm actually leaning towards this one, even if it isn't actually 0 gauge, it has be to be more than 4 and closer to 2 gauge.

http://cgi.ebay.com/0-GAUGE-2000W-AM...3A1%7C294%3A50

I'm trying to find something inexpensive and will still get the job done for my two kicker amps. KX120.2 and KX200.2.

I may add another KX120.2, but not sure yet.

I was looking at 0 Gauge, but that would be somewhat overkill for my needs, at I'm leaning towards 4 gauge, but that may be a little too thin...2 gauge would be perfect.

I used to buy wire from Parts express and they went up quite a bit, anybody know of any "discount" sites?

 

dont be cheap when it comes to your audio. it can sound like **** or cause a fire. save your money and get the quality stuff

 

I appreciate the suggestions; honestly I have been installing car audio for over 20 years so I’m not worried about a fire…… Feel free to check out my car domain link in my profile. I'm pretty good at this stuff

Not really cheaping out, just trying to find out if there are good deals out there before I buy.

There is no need to pay just for a name if you don't have to, I've been using the amp king brand of wire from parts express for years and never had a problem....it's just they almost doubled their prices in the last few years.

 

I have dealt with ebay amps before and got a set of Hiphonics amps and they work perfectly. And there is nothing wrong with cheap amps, My pyramid amps are under rated and do damn good for the price I paid for them 3 years ago and still kickin with no problems.

 

Any audio kit thats under 50$ is cheap. Dont go cheap on RCA cables or you will hear whines, make sure you put bass blockers on all speakers you dont want bass to come from, ie the fronts and the rears.

2 guage is fine for anything up to 1000 watts

 

I guess I should have clarified, I don't plan on using any of the rca included with the kits....I have some really nice stinger triple shielded rca's left over from previous installs.

I'm looking at the kits mostly for 17 foot or so of power and ground wire.

 

Again, I have 20+ years of audio experience. Most of your whines come from improper installations....including poor grounds or running power and rca cable side by side.

As far as "bass blockers" most if not all amplifers these days come with built in crossovers. Even aftermarket head units have some sort of crossover capabilities.

So there really isn't a reason to use bass blockers anymore unless your running just factory head unit.

 

Rather than just bash you for this, I'll try to offer some positive feedback, with real results.

All the kits are pretty much the same things. I got 3 of them, ran the wiring, and have yet to have issues. They all looked the same as those auctions pretty much.
I ran 3 amps in that car for a bit ( I know, a distribution block would've been better, but I was cheaping out :P).

I think that the wiring is one of the most overpriced things on sites like crutchfield.

And my components aren't crap, I put 600ish into just speaker parts minus the installation stuff (mdf box, etc).

EDIT: and i was going to say the same thing about the crossovers. my headunit and my amps have them built in.

 

Your coming at this thread asking a question you should know the answer to if you have 20+ years of audio experience and bought 3 of these. You get what you pay for, sure you can cheap up and get the 20$ kit, your not buying quality copper wire, your buying a mix of metal wire, which might contain only 25% copper.

just the cost of no brand name 25ft copper 2 gauge cable will run you 25$ easy. I wouldn't buy a whole kit for less then the power and ground cable should cost.

Bass blockers are a good safety net, keeps you from going oops, i forgot to turn off the bass on my fronts, now their popped.

I don't know about you, but I listen to my system loud, but its gotta be perfect. Cheap **** dont sound perfect.




For you clickclick,

What kind of speakers ?

 

yeah bro not to add fuel to the fire but if you know it all with 20+ years why waste thread space and our time use it if you want and see how far the cheap **** takes you

 

I've got infiniti 6x9s and 4x6s and then a couple of Pioneer 12" Subs (with amazing sensitivity).
I then ran on an alpine amp and some no brand 2 channel for my front and rear and a blaupunkt amp for the subs.

I gave up on the no name amp though after I rma'd it and they sent it back with a bad channel (i checked all wiring, borrowed an amp, etc). It'll work for a cheap mono amp though.

I since went to the power acoustik 840watt 4 channel. Has served me well.

I'm not claiming to be an expert by any means, and my system isn't that great, I know. I just have some experience with those kits and I'm glad i saved the money instead of getting the $60 kits from crutchfield (where I got a lot of my other components).
oh and the 600ish is with headunit, which is just a decent JVC hd radio with an aux in add on.
has served me well though, as I just really need the aux in for my mp3 player :P.

but back to the issue, I've had no problems with the kits. Well, that is, except for like the butt connectors and whatnot that they provide. They're kinda cheap for my liking. I used some that i've had (you know, general electric tool box with a billion connectors).
other than that issue (which is a $2 at a hardware store) it's well worth the money.

 

i'm curious what the strand count is on the cheaper wire vs. the "better" brands. that may be where they are cutting costs.. same gauge and length, but far fewer strands creating more resistance, heat, etc.

For the sake of curiousity, purchase one of the kits and compare it to a known good quality power/ground wire. if its identical, buy them... if not, you know why they are cheaper.


and for the people flaming him... don't be ignorant. he's asking a valid question and trying to save money on the primary lines. alot of name brands charge an extra 10 to 50% for their name on the package, and nothing more. if he confirms that those kits have good high strand count wires for that kind of money i bet a number of you will buy them. thirdgen.org is for helping, not giving people crap when you don't understand the question.

 

i totally understand the question and i know when some one is being rude or a d1ck. we answered the quiestion for him plain and simple so there isnt a reason this thread should go on about who is wrong and right.

 

I wouldn't buy one of those kits because you just don't know what you're getting.

I've purchased from KnuKonceptz before, they have really good prices and ship quick.

http://www.knukonceptz.com/productMa...llation%20Kits

 

I don't think anyone in this thread understood my question, I simply asked WHO has purchased any of these kits and what they thought of them.

I don't need anyone that hasn't purchased any of these kits first hand to come in and give me grief or tell my that my car is going to burn up.

I have done quite a few car audio installs since 1989 and only "splurged" one time and bought stinger 1/0 gauge wire for my s10, I paid close to $100 just for the wire alone. This was around 2002.

But I showed and competed with it.

 

On my Blazer install I used amp king 2 gauge wire....it worked fine





On my Trans Am I just want to keep it simple, I have a pair of kicker comp 10's, two kicker amps and want to do bare minimum and get by.....I didn't see a need to pay $$$ for something you want see nor will I being doing a car audio comp anytime soon.

Sorry to anyone if I come off like an ***, but I have been doing this a long time and am VERY good at what I do. I have a right to be somewhat defensive...I've paid my dues.

So if anyone actually has an answer to my question (have you used these kits?) please reply

 

Actually you didn't answer my question...I asked who used these kits??? You told me not to cheap out or my car will catch fire or it won't sound good....that's wasn't a legitimate answer to my question.

 

nice installs.

 

WTF, all i have ever done is get some real good RCA's at rat shack or what not and some good gauge wire from a REAL auto parts store that has wire by the foot, its cheap same crap, just not that homo clear wire insulation so you can see your wire, it works its just as good if not better and you save alot, alot of the kits are over kill

 

yeah, like i said. Go for it. Just pick up a couple of connectors for each one you need. Other than those connectors, they're great.

 

Some clean looking installs! Has it caused your ears to bleed?

 

Thanks

Honestly, I was told by the ear doctor that I had the hearing of a 98 year old, and that's been about 5 years ago now

 

Thanks guys, I knew that. I even used 15 foot of 4 guage battery wire from the local auto parts store (they sold by the foot) in the early 90's.....worked just fine when it's installed correctly...ran my ground to the frame.

The only thing I was concerned about was the wire used in those kits, but since I'm not trying to do comps or impress anyone I figured for my personal needs it will be fine.

Heck, it's not like I was trying to buy a cheap 4 gauge kit to run four 1000 watt + amplifiers.......even I know better than that.

I specifically stated what amps I was going to use and what I needed, and I don't even need 0 gauge...that's way too much overkill for my tastes.

I seriously doubt I would burn my car up, I haven't fried an amp since 1990.

 

Thanks,

Here are some of the other things I've done over the years (That I have pictures of) for other people.

 

 

This was the box in my blazer

 

Some very nice work ! Thats the kinda fabrication you see on tv

I bet that truck was sickly loud.


I feel ya on the hearing, working with jets didn't help it.
I constantly get yelled at by the wife for having the TV to loud and such.

 

Thanks! I'm blessed to have accumulated quite a few tools and have a shop behind my house so I can pretty much build anything I like

I'm really picky with how I build and how it flows with the car I'm putting it in.

My wife encourages me to turn the TV up, that way she won't have to explain to me what's going on....she's used to it now.

FWIW I ended up ordering a power accoustic 2 ga amp kit off eBay for $47 shipped. I'll be doing my install next week, I'll post pictures then.

 

Your a lucky man to have a wife like that

Think I need to start harassing her and keep asking her what there saying.

For your boxes are you using 1" or 3/4"?

 

It's 3/4" mdf, I wished I access to 1" around here

I did a box one time that needed a thicker baffle so I just doubled up on the 3/4"....most time if it's braced correctly it's not a problem.

 

You a fond user of the liquid nails ? I hit every nook and cranny with that stuff. I just built me another box for the spare tire area on the camaro, I was gonna use 1 inch, but my old box was 1" mdf and the 10 busted it up pretty bad.

I went with 3/4 knowing they had both at the local home depot, only because i was building a 4x2x2 enclosure for my breaded dragons and it was left over.

Its not mdf, some kinda pressed sheet board, has a layer of foam in between the layers. Feels alot stronger then the mdf, "at 50$ a 4/8 sheet" so we will see

Just gotta get some carpet, and slap one more coat of stain on the box to protect it from water "the old box had mold damage on the bottom, but car does not leak".

 

Honestly I always used wood glue, 1-1/4" drywall screws, and clear silicone on all my enclosures. That's the way it was until a few years ago.

I was always told that liquid nails can crack under the pressure, but I bought a pre-fab box one time that was sealed with it...actually it was only stapled and sealed with liquid nails and it worked fine.

I never use caulk, especially tub and tile caulk, it CAN dry up and crack. That's the the beauty of clear silicone, it's pretty durable.

I started building jumpseat subwoofer enclosures for ex-cab s10's and I use liquid nails to seal the inside of the enclosures..never touched it with silicone....built around 22 of them so far since 2004 and never had any complaints.

I think on the well subwoofer enclosure for my 'bird I'm just going to stick to the old glue, screw, and silicone method. 3/4" mdf for me...it's heavy enough.

 

I use commercial adhesive caulk on mine and I never had a problem with seals breaking and its easier to clean up over liquid nail but a little more pricey. But of all the work posted above :Thumbs Up: that is nice stuff there and damn good quality. I built my camaro box using 1/2 marine plywood and spent a while with it running ported and hated it then went sealed and it is alot better for my subs and I have more room.