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Old 07-25-2011, 09:04 AM   #1
tbone587
 
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Worth running wire directly to speakers

I was wondering what you guys think on running speaker wire directly to all speakers after upgrading the Boston Acoustics amp? Is the factory wiring sufficient for a nice set of components up front with an amp pushing 100w rms? All my previous cars I have run directly, but I havent torn this car apart yet to see what the factory wiring looks like.
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Old 07-25-2011, 09:09 AM   #2
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I am torn on this. Part of me thinks running the wire would be worth it and part of me think running speakers with a 4 ohm rating would be the way to go. My thought is that with the 4ohm rating is would decrease the resistance of the load thereby keeping the heat down which is, I believe the issue at hand.

Could be wrong, so I am curious as to the thoughts on this too.
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Old 07-25-2011, 09:59 AM   #3
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Typically, the stock wiring is going to be more than sufficient to handle the increased voltage you are running from the new amp. You see some pretty big home receivers/amps/etc that have regular power cords- they are pulling 120v (wall outlet power) which is waaaaay more voltage than your amp will be doing; and pull more current than your amp is putting out as well.
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Old 07-25-2011, 10:50 AM   #4
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Out of curiosity what is the gauge of wire used for the speakers in the car?
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Old 07-25-2011, 11:21 AM   #5
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I don't think it should be a problem using stock speaker wire. I'm no expert, but the same wires are used on either end of a 20A fuse. I wouldn't think anywhere near that would be going through to the speakers.
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Old 07-25-2011, 11:26 AM   #6
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Chances are its a very small gauge. Probably best to run your own wiring of course but probably not necessary for the hassle especially considering the ease of using those adapter harnesses. Will you really tell a diff? Probably not. I use the same gauge wiring 14 or so? On my subs in my truck taking 900+ wats at 1ohm as I do I'm my door speakers. So I'm sure if that gauge can handle that, a smaller guage such as the factory wiring can handle whatever power you are gonna send to your components.
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Old 07-25-2011, 12:03 PM   #7
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Some simple math here: Power = Current^2 x Resistance. So 100 watts = current^2 x 4 ohm. Solve for Current and you get 5 amps. I know speakers are a dynamic load so those numbers might always not be exact but it should be close enough.

There are two questions:
1) Can the stock wiring support 5 amps safely?
2) How much power will be lost getting to the speaker.

I don't know the answer to question 1 but I would guess it is around 20 gauge wire. I'll be the length is anywhere from 5 feet to 20 feet depending on which speaker you are connecting to. Probably not enough to melt the stock wiring I would guess.

To answer question 2, it probably wouldn't be noticeable enough to make it worth the trouble of upgrading the wiring.

I have upgraded wiring in other cars but I'm not going to bother in the Camaro. I plan to run 100 watts to the speakers.

Here is some great info on wiring:
http://www.bcae1.com/wire.htm
http://www.bcae1.com/images/swfs/spe...rassistant.swf
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Old 07-25-2011, 07:18 PM   #8
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I believe the stock wire is 24 ga going to the speakers. I just ran new wiring going into the doors over the weekend. I guess it all depends on how far you want to go. I spent a good amount of money on Hat components and a nice 4 channel Sundown amp, so in my case theres no way Im running that off of 24ga low strand count factory wire.

Would it work? Probably

Would it burn? Probably not

Will it sound better? Dont know

But I know that I have piece of mind that theres quality speaker wire supplying power to my components.

If you are interested in running new wire check out this post from Topdown cause it helped me dramatically and hes a cool dude for being one of the first (that I know of) with information on running wire into our doors.

Its time consuming but not difficult if youre at all used to running wire and removing interior panels.

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showth...highlight=wire

Thats my .02 cents, hope it helps!
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Old 07-25-2011, 11:26 PM   #9
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I dont think I am going to run wires into the door knowing how it needs to be done now.. I dont like how you can still see a piece of wire and how it could leak water and corrode the plug. Also, if you trade in the car and rip out the wiring, you have a hole left..
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Old 07-26-2011, 10:30 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tbone587 View Post
I dont think I am going to run wires into the door knowing how it needs to be done now.. I dont like how you can still see a piece of wire and how it could leak water and corrode the plug. Also, if you trade in the car and rip out the wiring, you have a hole left..
Its totally up to you. FYI it rained today and I had the same concern as you but I noticed it really doesnt get that wet in that location. I dont foresee it being a problem. There was no water anywhere near the hole in the boot.

I consider myself pretty anal when it comes to my cars and if I though this was hack I wouldnt of done it. You can see the wires if youre looking for them but its not like theyre an eyesore. Also you only cut a small slit in the rubber for the wires to come through, less than 1/2", if you were to remove the wires you would be able to glue the boot back together and no one would be the wiser.

If you wanted to look into other options check out the thread Moriartii started about running wires the "old fashioned way". While I do think the pics in that thread look more professional you have to drill a hole in the door and I didnt want to do that. But it does look pimp.

Good Luck with whatever you decide.
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Old 07-27-2011, 12:56 PM   #11
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one thing that is over looked here that is a bigger problem then the size of the wire, you said you have the BA system, if I do remember correctly, the BA uses the bridged center channel from your front speakers, and not very many aftermarket 4 channel amps like doing that. I could be wrong on it being like that but I think it is.
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Old 07-27-2011, 01:59 PM   #12
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Peter as far as I know it is on a seprate channel on the amp. Sweet Synergy, I'm more worried about drilling a hole in the plastic piece above the molex plug. I dont generally like to do anything that leaves permanent damage. Unless someone here has a part number to replace the harness for later on. I also considered wrapping the hole thing in fabric tape to blend everything. LOL all this trouble and thought to run new speaker line when the factory wiring is probably more than adequate.
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Old 07-27-2011, 03:03 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter View Post
one thing that is over looked here that is a bigger problem then the size of the wire, you said you have the BA system, if I do remember correctly, the BA uses the bridged center channel from your front speakers, and not very many aftermarket 4 channel amps like doing that. I could be wrong on it being like that but I think it is.
Ditch the center. It's a tiny speaker running both channels summed, versus using Dolby ProLogicII or Harman Logic7 or a similar method of extracting the mono part of the signal from the left and right channels and directing it to the center. And versus running something closer to the left and right fronts in capability. It'll sound better without the center! I've even noticed several posts here from members who've come to that conclusion and disconnected it.
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Old 07-27-2011, 06:49 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tbone587 View Post
Peter as far as I know it is on a seprate channel on the amp. Sweet Synergy, I'm more worried about drilling a hole in the plastic piece above the molex plug. I dont generally like to do anything that leaves permanent damage. Unless someone here has a part number to replace the harness for later on. I also considered wrapping the hole thing in fabric tape to blend everything. LOL all this trouble and thought to run new speaker line when the factory wiring is probably more than adequate.
I should of taken detailed pictures... Im not sure on a number for the harness but the hole thats drilled in the connector is where theres extra "blank" space in the connector and once the boot is back on you cant see it. Inside the connector where the actual harness wires are is a gasket so all the pins and connections are sealed. Were you would be making a hole is seperate from that area.

by the way, thank you for clearing up the signals in the other thread. I didnt realize it was a low level signal coming out of the radio, I thought it was both. hi and lo level out of the radio to the amp.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zach@ExtremePerformance View Post
Ditch the center. It's a tiny speaker running both channels summed, versus using Dolby ProLogicII or Harman Logic7 or a similar method of extracting the mono part of the signal from the left and right channels and directing it to the center. And versus running something closer to the left and right fronts in capability. It'll sound better without the center! I've even noticed several posts here from members who've come to that conclusion and disconnected it.
Zach you are correct its a tiny center channel. Since we are running the ms8 we could use a center and they say it really shines using a center and rears along with your fronts. But the center should be as adequate as your front components and we cant fit a 6.5" coaxial up there without serious modification to the dash. So Im omitting mine.
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