Hey gang - I bought a Kenwood X600F amplifer that I will be connecting to four interior speakers (100 W RMS each at 4 Ohms). Before I got the amp I bought 16 gauge speaker wire from a local auto store and already ran it throughout the car. However, the instructions say to use between 8 and 12 gauge speaker wire.

I'm ALL for doing things the right away and wouldn't hesitate getting the recommended wire if I really need to. but that's my question - do I really NEED to? Will I notice any difference in sound quality (or is there a potential hazard), if I kept the 16 gauge wire installed?

Appreciate your insights. Thanks everyone.

 

Ignore this, thought you said power wire, I'm stupid sometimes 16 gauge wire is fine, for speakers.


Where's the foot in mouth smiley?

I'll quote myself, to make it clear, I'm stupid sometimes.

 

Oh, and, to clarify, what is your power wire gauge? Since I brought that up anyway.

 

Thanks. I plan on getting a 4 gauge wire kit (with 80amp inline fuse) from amazon. Yes - my question was for just the speaker wire. So if your comfortable saying i shouldnt have any potential hazard with the 16 gauge, them i will stick with it.

While I got you, I plan on connectig the remote power on/off wire to a 10A illuminated push button (r. Shack part 275-0012). (I won't be usig the remote wire from the radio.) Should I use an inline fuse and/or a relay for the REMOTE wire between the amp and the button, or will I be ok connecting the wire directly to the push button? Thanks again for the advice!

 

You won't need a fuse on the signal wire, personally I'd just wire it too the radio, but too each is own.


Again, 16 gauge wire is plenty, personally I use 12, but, 16 is fine. Better than the 18-20 gauge they use stock

I usually go a bit overkill on wiring, I'd rather have an electrical system that will far exceed the need of whatever it's feeding than one that won't feed it properly.

What is the brand of the wiring kit? Be careful, cheap wiring can be bad news. Street Wires is a good brand, Kicker too, think Kenwood and MTX make some good stuff aswell.

 

awesome - thanks for all your help.

 

factory speaker wires are tiny, probably 18GA or so. You will be fine with 16

 

Yeah, that's why I'm ripping it out, and replacing it, I'm gonna put different color wire for all four sides if I can though. Easier to figure it out

Otherwise, I know I'll get to the dash and be like "Uh... Four blue wires... Great...". I don't want to have to use the battery test.

 

16ga is super overkill for 100 watts rms. You will have no issues.

I run 12ga on my home theater sub, 1200 watt rms on a 12 foot wire run.

 

873 that's what I thought too. But the instructions called for 8 - 12 AWG wire for the speaker connections...which is why I was second guessing my purchase of the 16 AWG wire. Wonder why they would recommend something that seems to be severe overkill.

 

with the switch i always run it off the fuse box with an inline fuse. there is an empty slot with just one terminal that only gets power with the ignition on. i just cant remeber what it is labeled. if you need me to i can look at mine tomorrow.

 

I think people are getting confused with the rms and max wattage. However I only have 8 gauge wire for my subs with 300 watts rms and 1000 watts plus max. The normal small wire in this case would have been 12 gauge. For your case the 16 should work fine. A heavier wire would allow slightly better sound because of a lower resistance to pushing that amount of power through. However much to big is just a waste also. I do all my regular speaker wiring with 14 or 16 gauge and amplified speakers with 12 except for subs. I would rather be slightly heavier than I need to be.
Is it worth it to buy new and start over? I do not think so. The 16 will not overheat with that power.

 

I don't see any confusion here. The loses are so low it would be totally inaudible. Now if you put some 24 gauge on there, sure you might hear it. But not 16ga.