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amp kits?

Nope. As long as the wire meets the thickness needed to handle your power output and has decent shielding over it, you're good. Some cheaper wires can be less flexible and make installing a bit more troublesome, but not that bad.
 
Agree with fbrd, it's just a conductor. Gauge is what is important.
I have used the cheapest kits I could find, vs (when I was dumber about this stuff) more expensive kits, zero difference aside from maybe aesthetics.
 
hanoverphist said:
my friends shop sells most amp wiring kits for 50ish bucks, id go local and talk to them.
Click to expand...
That still has a good bit of markup.

Here's an advert I got from a wholesaler near me. They sell & ship via the internet too, although their website is HORRIBLE.

New
Pirate Audio
"What's in your Trunk"

Economy Amplifier Installation Kit

2000w 4ga $18.95
1200w 8ga $10.95

17ft Red Power Cable
3 ft Black Power Cable
17 ft 18 ga Blue Remote Wire
20 ft of 16 gauge Oxy Free Speaker Wire
17 ft Deluxe RCA Cable
40 amp (8ga) or 60 amp (4 ga)
Gold Plated AGU Fuse
Inline Bullet Style AGU Fuse Holder
Terminal Kit
Click to expand...

4ga kit
8ga kit

Their main website is here

I bought some other electrical parts for my headlight wiring and it was all good quality. They wholesale stuff for auto, marine & building wiring work, so I'd say this kit would be just fine.

That amp is pretty low on the power side, so I think the 8ga kit would work fine, but you should lookup the power calculations to double check.
 
fbrdphreak said:
That still has a good bit of markup.

Here's an advert I got from a wholesaler near me. They sell & ship via the internet too, although their website is HORRIBLE.



4ga kit
8ga kit

Their main website is here


That amp is pretty low on the power side, so I think the 8ga kit would work fine, but you should lookup the power calculations to double check.
Click to expand...

spanish to me brudda. how do i go about doing that?
 
fbrdphreak said:
That still has a good bit of markup.

Here's an advert I got from a wholesaler near me. They sell & ship via the internet too, although their website is HORRIBLE.



4ga kit
8ga kit

Their main website is here

I bought some other electrical parts for my headlight wiring and it was all good quality. They wholesale stuff for auto, marine & building wiring work, so I'd say this kit would be just fine.

That amp is pretty low on the power side, so I think the 8ga kit would work fine, but you should lookup the power calculations to double check.
Click to expand...

holy crap they are cheap. they are underselling pretty much every local shop ive talked to here. if they truly are a wholesaler, they shouldnt be selling to the gp in any case.
 
fbrdphreak said:
That still has a good bit of markup.

Here's an advert I got from a wholesaler near me. They sell & ship via the internet too, although their website is HORRIBLE.



4ga kit
8ga kit

Their main website is here

I bought some other electrical parts for my headlight wiring and it was all good quality. They wholesale stuff for auto, marine & building wiring work, so I'd say this kit would be just fine.

That amp is pretty low on the power side, so I think the 8ga kit would work fine, but you should lookup the power calculations to double check.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the links!
 
ecom said:
How long is your power wire? For 15 ft wire 300W RMS class AB or 500W class D is the highest I'd go with 8AWG. If longer than 15 ft, I'd go 4 AWG.
Click to expand...

4awg with 500 watts? You're kidding right? That's complete overkill.

Since the amp the OP is looking at is rated 300x1@2ohms you can get away with 10awg power wire, though depending on the length 8awg is acceptable, which would also leave you a bit of wiggle room to add another amp without needing to run the cable again.

Which brings me to my next point, you might not think so now, but plan for the possibility of adding more goodies later. I ran 0awg in my car the first time, even though I was only using one amp, because I didn't want to do it again. Now I'm running three amps, and I'm glad I made that decision.

Also, don't buy cheap power wire. The adage "you get what you pay for" applies here as well. I've seen wires labeled as "4awg" but the sheathe was so thick the actual wire size is closer to 10awg.
 
basslover1 said:
Also, don't buy cheap power wire. The adage "you get what you pay for" applies here as well. I've seen wires labeled as "4awg" but the sheathe was so thick the actual wire size is closer to 10awg.
Click to expand...


This is the most important part.
There's no way you're going to get a *REAL* 4g kit for $20.

Also, IMO, anything more rthan 300 watts of Class A/B power should be running 4g.
 
Yep, when I went around looking for 4g cables at the local stereo shops all they carried were cheap no name brands. The 4g they carried had the strand count of quality 8g cables. You wouldn't know if you havent' seen quality power cables before. Finally found a shop that carried some by Kicker. These are some awesome cables, super flexible with high strand count. Partsexpress carries some quality generic power cables too for a great price.
 
Viperoni said:
This is the most important part.
There's no way you're going to get a *REAL* 4g kit for $20.

Also, IMO, anything more rthan 300 watts of Class A/B power should be running 4g.
Click to expand...

4awg is still overkill for a single 300 watt amp. 10awg will suffice for the OP, a 300 watt class D amp is not going to draw a lot of current. That is unless, like I mentioned in my previous post, he plans to add more down the line, then I would plan accordingly.

jtvang125 said:
Yep, when I went around looking for 4g cables at the local stereo shops all they carried were cheap no name brands. The 4g they carried had the strand count of quality 8g cables. You wouldn't know if you havent' seen quality power cables before. Finally found a shop that carried some by Kicker. These are some awesome cables, super flexible with high strand count. Partsexpress carries some quality generic power cables too for a great price.
Click to expand...

Yes, the Kicker Hyperflex is amazing stuff, ridiculously flexible and a high strand count. It's some of the best power wire out there, though it tends to be a bit on the pricier side because of the Brand.
 
basslover1 said:
4awg is still overkill for a single 300 watt amp. 10awg will suffice for the OP, a 300 watt class D amp is not going to draw a lot of current. That is unless, like I mentioned in my previous post, he plans to add more down the line, then I would plan accordingly.



Yes, the Kicker Hyperflex is amazing stuff, ridiculously flexible and a high strand count. It's some of the best power wire out there, though it tends to be a bit on the pricier side because of the Brand.
Click to expand...

my friend who owns an install shop told me to run 4awg kicker for mine, but he knew i was going to add another amp later on. he told me either run two 8awg or one 4awg, depending on if i wanted separate fusing. this guy does quality work, so i trust him. i dont think id use anything less than 8awg for a 300W amp. the choice for mine was due to the length of wire too, we are mounting the amps under the back seat in my dodge truck. should be about 17ft or cable.
 
kicker makes really nice kits, the quality of the stuff is great and easy to work with
i have cheap shit in my car and 0 gauge (overkill)
 
hanoverphist said:
my friend who owns an install shop told me to run 4awg kicker for mine, but he knew i was going to add another amp later on. he told me either run two 8awg or one 4awg, depending on if i wanted separate fusing. this guy does quality work, so i trust him. i dont think id use anything less than 8awg for a 300W amp. the choice for mine was due to the length of wire too, we are mounting the amps under the back seat in my dodge truck. should be about 17ft or cable.
Click to expand...

4 awg because you planned to add more later on, which I completely agree with. If you're going to do the work, might as well only have to do it once and make sure it's right.

4awg for a single 300 watt amp is overkill. I did forget about the potential length, my mistake. 8awg for the OP is enough for his amp.
 
hanoverphist said:
holy crap they are cheap. they are underselling pretty much every local shop ive talked to here. if they truly are a wholesaler, they shouldnt be selling to the gp in any case.
Click to expand...
I guess they buy at wholesale volumes to sell to local businesses and put up a (really crappy) website to move some extra product. For instance, I needed some 12ga ring terminals and the smallest pack they had (I wanted the weather insulated ones, but they were out of those) was a 100 pack. Anyone want some ring terminals? 🙄

I can't speak to the quality of that amp kit. You can't browse their shelves or anything, I e-mailed my order and picked it up.

If there's enough interest, I would be willing to ask them if I can see the amp kit in hand and take photos for everyone to see the quality.
 
basslover1 said:
4 awg because you planned to add more later on, which I completely agree with. If you're going to do the work, might as well only have to do it once and make sure it's right.

4awg for a single 300 watt amp is overkill. I did forget about the potential length, my mistake. 8awg for the OP is enough for his amp.
Click to expand...

yup, that would be overkill. i went with 2 8awg and 1 4awg, 2 fused power and a common ground. i didnt want to use the cab ground. im ok with overkill. the 4 is for a larger sub amp ill likely drop in later on. i like separate fusing, its a side effect of my job.
 
Fmr12B said:
www.knukonceptz.com

They are great quality and are very reasonably priced.
Click to expand...

QTF, I had Monster 4GA cable in my car before Knukonceptz, the Monster was a bit more flexible which made my install a freaking breeze. It also had much thicker rubber around it than cheap shit, which meant I didn't have to worry about nicks and it shorting out. The stuff from Knukonceptz is AWESOME, and the prices are great. I'd say it's just below the Monster quality wise, but it was about 1/2 the price. I recommend getting a good fuse holder, don't skimp here. KK.com has some nice ones for cheap. Might have been overkill but I also sprung on their battery terminals too. The strand count is great, I'll never work with cheap wire again, I don't care how cheap I could find it.
 
basslover1 said:
4awg with 500 watts? You're kidding right? That's complete overkill.

Since the amp the OP is looking at is rated 300x1@2ohms you can get away with 10awg power wire, though depending on the length 8awg is acceptable, which would also leave you a bit of wiggle room to add another amp without needing to run the cable again.
Click to expand...

Ok, I'm a bit off. It for class AB it should be up to 350W for 8AWG up to 15 ft. Class D is still 500W though.

For longer wires, you need to increase the wiring gauge due to the resistance of the wire. You cannot run 8AWG to the back of a 20ft vehicle and expect a class AB amp, even if it is only 300W, to work well due to the voltage drop on the wire. For class D it should be ok though. Yea, sure it works, but you won't get 300W out of a class AB.

A 350W amp could easily draw 700W from the charging system if it's a class AB amp. Class D amps can go higher because they are more efficient. In both these setups, there is potential of drawing around 700W from the charging system or about 50 amps. For 15 ft run of 8AWG, the recommended fuse is 50amps. A voltage drop greater than .5V is undesirable and above these power ratings or lengths, that is exactly what you get.

Now all this is assuming that the amp actually puts out its rated power. Those 300W amps with the 20A fuse on them...they don't really put out 300W RMS...just a hint.
 
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