hey guys, im in the process of installing my system. my old amp had all the speaker wires and rcas in one bunch and run down the drivers side. i thought i read somewhere that this can cause clarity problems and the wires should be run at opposite sides of the car but i dont remember what it said. also what guage wires do i run? i have a directed 1100d amp running to 2 12s and im getting a rockford 800.4 for my infinity components and 6x9s. if you guys could help me out it'd be great. thanks

 

I ran my wires under the sills power wires down one side speaker wires down the other and i havnt had any clarity problems

------------------
1987 BLUE IROC
IT'S A DOG
BUT IT'S MY DOG
AND IT HAS A NASTY BITE......
CNYFBA MEMBER
http://cnyfba.cz28.com/

 

Definately run them on opposite sides. You can run the remote wire along with your RCA's because it has such a small amount of current it doesn't really matter. Usually running power on your driver side and RCA's on the passenger side works best because your battery is on the driver side. As far as gauge goes here's a link http://www.crutchfield.com/infolib/c...e-length-image
If you add up the current draw of all of your components (amps, x-over) that is the amperage you should use to calculate what gauge you need.

------------------
'91 RS 3.1
SSM SFC's
Energy Susp. Hyper-flex kit
GTA Sway bars
Clarion, Phoenix Gold, JL Audio, etc.
Quote "If you can't beat them, arrange to have them beaten."
- George Carlin

 

Those clarity problems are from the power wires generating an EMF field around them and that field enters the RCA's as noise. So yes, you want to run power wires on one side (most likely the battery side) and speaker wires on the opposite side.

As far as what wires to run, I'm not familiar with the amps you're running, but I'd say like 4-8 gauge should do fine from battery to amps, then no higher than 8 guage for the subs and you really don't need any higher than like 14-16 guage for your other speakers.

Just remember some other tips, your ground wire has to be the same guage as your power wire (before the amps), keep the main fuse no more than 18" from the battery, and make sure your ground wires are as short as possible. To get a good ground, find a part of the chassis and scrap off the paint for a solid connection. Good luck!

------------------
~Luke a.k.a. pianiy
'91 Firebird :: 305/TBI(L03)/700R4/T-tops ::
Mods: Catco cat - B&M Shift kit - TA tail lights - GTA rims - K&N - MacEwen guages
Stereo: Pioneer DEH-P8200R - Pioneer 6x9's - Kenwood 8" Tube
::R.I.P.::'87 Firebird
Firebird parts - Selling an '80 Firebird for a friend
Moderator of tranny board over at TransAmGTA.com

 

well I ran my power wire through the drivers side and ran the RCA's under the center console. To get them to the back I ran them under the console, under the carpet to the under side of the rear passenger seat then up the back of the seat to my amp and crossover. I have not heard any real interferance in the month that they have been like that. It was just a biatch to get it under all that carpet.