How long should a speaker wire be to go from a head unit to rear speakers?

[techietam]

Just like the title says.

The car is 1998 Chrysler Sebring.
The wire that I want cost $1.50 per foot, so it does make a difference

Thanks a lot

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

why are you paying that much?


wire is wire, assuming its a big enough gauge to carry the amperage.

 

[MichaelD]

1. Always buy extra wire
2. I can buy 4-gauge cable for less than $1.50 a foot. You're getting ripped off.
3. Buy a 50 foot roll of 14 or 16-gauge speaker wire....you'll be fine.
4. See #1.

 

[chizow]

Some Head Units are further away than others.

Chiz

 

[MichaelD]

In addition, there's about three different directions you can run the wire from front to back...each way is longer/shorter than the others.....BUY EXTRA WIRE. Run the wires to the trunk and leave about two feet more on there than you need, then cut it. Trust me.

 

[Cyberian]

I guess that measuring from the head unit to the speakers is out of the question.

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: Cyberian
I guess that measuring from the head unit to the speakers is out of the question.

I was gonna do that....but said "nah...."

 

[stev0]

Originally posted by: yamahaXS
why are you paying that much?


wire is wire, assuming its a big enough gauge to carry the amperage.

he's right, the entire car is wired with a tiny gauge (i want to say something like 24 gauge). unless your running your speakers off of a 1000watt amp, there is no reason for wire that is 1.50/ft. go to a hardware store and pick up some 16 gauge speaker wire if you must have something bigger.

 

[techietam]

Thanks a lot, gus.
I am actually buying 16 gauge wire but it's "Rockford Fosgate Riot Gamma Geometry Speaker Wire"

I am getting Alpine 7894 head unit and 4 Infinity Kappa Speakers, so I am trying to make noise
cancelation as high as possible. It's @ Crutchfield.com, BTW.

 

[MichaelD]

The odds of picking up noise thru wires carry SPEAKER LEVEL current is slim to none.

Now, if you were running a HU/amps system and had to route RCA cables carry PREAMP level current thru the vehilce, that's another ball of wax completely.

Buy regular 16-ga speaker wire and be done with it. I know a little bit about this stuff. See?

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: MichaelD
The odds of picking up noise thru wires carry SPEAKER LEVEL current is slim to none.

Now, if you were running a HU/amps system and had to route RCA cables carry PREAMP level current thru the vehilce, that's another ball of wax completely.

Buy regular 16-ga speaker wire and be done with it. I know a little bit about this stuff. See?

Actually, it is pretty common to pick up interference through speaker wire. My roomate put new speakers in the rear of his car and used cheapo wire. When he revved the engine, you could hear a whine only in the rear speakers (front were stock). The car had an aftermarket tach installed (previous owner), so he might have run his speaker wire too close to the wiring for that, but my point is that it's not entirely uncommon.

That being said, $1.50/ft is still too expensive, even for good wire.

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: werk

Originally posted by: MichaelD
The odds of picking up noise thru wires carry SPEAKER LEVEL current is slim to none.

Now, if you were running a HU/amps system and had to route RCA cables carry PREAMP level current thru the vehilce, that's another ball of wax completely.

Buy regular 16-ga speaker wire and be done with it. I know a little bit about this stuff. See?

Actually, it is pretty common to pick up interference through speaker wire. My roomate put new speakers in the rear of his car and used cheapo wire. When he revved the engine, you could hear a whine only in the rear speakers (front were stock). The car had an aftermarket tach installed (previous owner), so he might have run his speaker wire too close to the wiring for that, but my point is that it's not entirely uncommon.

That being said, $1.50/ft is still too expensive, even for good wire.

It really depends on how close to wires carrying large amounts of current you place the speaker wires. All four wires that run from my trunk to the front of the truck are laid right on top of the wiring harness that runs from the front to the back of the truck (tail lights/brake lights/wiper/etc) and I get no noise.

 

[techietam]

Thanks
Nice slide show

Now, what about the sub? I have a box and the best Infinity 10" 350W RMS/1400W Max sub with RF Power 360.2 amp
that I haven't even tried yet . I've seen Stinger Dream series patch cables @ Ebay. Is it any
good? Or should I go with Monster Cable one?

BTW, the Alpine 7894 HU has 27Wx4 RMS. Is it good enough? I don't need my windows
to shake from mids and highs, as long as it's loud enough for me to hear

 

[GroundZero]

o.k. here is what you do. measure the distance that the wire will have to be routed, from the head unit to the speakers.
now subtract 3 feet from this total for being a dumb@ss.
i figure if you are so damn lazy as to not be able to run a tape measure that you will never install the wires to begin with.
so save your money and don't buy any wire...

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

picking up static from other electrical circuits/motors is an insulation problem, not a gauge problem.


unless that superduper geometric superconductor wire has extra insulation i don't think it will help you. I doubt if it will help you at all.


If you have static, try changing the position of hte cable, and then try changing the length of the wire used.

 

[techietam]

Originally posted by: GroundZero
o.k. here is what you do. measure the distance that the wire will have to be routed, from the head unit to the speakers.
now subtract 3 feet from this total for being a dumb@ss.
i figure if you are so damn lazy as to not be able to run a tape measure that you will never install the wires to begin with.
so save your money and don't buy any wire...

How about the fact that I won't have that car for another 3 weeks but
want to have all the wires ready when I do get it. The only reason I didn't
mention it is bacause I asked to get advise not to check how polite "some"
people are.

 

[Ornery]

Rockford Fosgate Riot Gamma Geometry Speaker Wire

Man, I GOTTA buy stock in these wire/cable companys!

 

[techietam]

Originally posted by: Ornery
Rockford Fosgate Riot Gamma Geometry Speaker Wire

Man, I GOTTA buy stock in these wire/cable companys!

LOL!!!

 

[techietam]

What the heck!!!
I just checked sounddomain.com and they have same wire for $.75/foot

 

[techietam]

Is anyone using Monster Cable Interlink MicroXLN 2 Ch 5 Meter interconnect
by any chance? I found a good price on it but not sure if it'll do the job.
It would be used for a sub

 

[BatmanNate]

When I did my Supra, I snagged a spool of lamp cord wire from the depot, estimated the length by laying it, then threw in a few extra feet for good measure, ran it, and snipped the excess. Super expensive wire won't help you much, especially in a vehicle where there is road noise competely with your music. Mine sounds great and I have a relatively quite cabin in my car.

(I'm using a Rockford Fosgate RX-9000 MP3 CD Player and a pair of Pioneer 180 watt 3 way 6x9's in boxes. Nothing special, but not as likely to get stolen)