calling all speaker specialists!

[morbidsanity]

so i am installing a set of infinity reference 6030cs's this weekend, and well i was hopeing to run 14 gauge wire to the radio anybody else do this? or is it better to just use the stock wires? anybody have any pics of them installed?

 

[dgoll75]

I used stock wiring on all my speakers and they sound great. I have about 50-60 watts going to each door.

 

[the great him]

if you going to upgrade it makes no sense to leave the wires stock... they will be your limiting factor. i chose to let my components be my limiting factor... ie either my speakers or the head unit or amp. i am running 14awg to all my speakers and -alpine type s components, via a JL audio amp and i have no complaints other than my speakers are not up to the rest of the system... but with the stock wiring my sound was crap. so i eliminated that quickly with heavy good quality speaker wire.

 

[nor_cal51501]

if you going to upgrade it makes no sense to leave the wires stock... they will be your limiting factor. i chose to let my components be my limiting factor... ie either my speakers or the head unit or amp. i am running 14awg to all my speakers and -alpine type s components, via a JL audio amp and i have no complaints other than my speakers are not up to the rest of the system... but with the stock wiring my sound was crap. so i eliminated that quickly with heavy good quality speaker wire.

Couldn't agree more, why replace your speakers and leave inferior wires? Seems silly and "limiting". Rule of thumb, never do speakers with stock wiring. 14gauge is the industry standard when replacing speakers, anything less and you will be limiting how clean your signal is and how many watts your system can handle safely. Of course this is if you are installing an amp, if you are just running new speakers and a stock deck or speakers and an aftermarket deck, you can get away with it because most decks don't push to much more than stock. If you are doing an amp, deck and speakers 110% do 14 gauge wires.

 

[Skidmarcx]

The factory wire is sufficient enough to handle the power needed for most midrange and tweeters... Unless you're running crazy power to some midrange or mid bass I see no need to upgrade the wiring through the doors... Diverting resources to ensure your charging system and ground circuits are flawless is more important.

 

[morbidsanity]

Couldn't agree more, why replace your speakers and leave inferior wires? Seems silly and "limiting". Rule of thumb, never do speakers with stock wiring. 14gauge is the industry standard when replacing speakers, anything less and you will be limiting how clean your signal is and how many watts your system can handle safely. Of course this is if you are installing an amp, if you are just running new speakers and a stock deck or speakers and an aftermarket deck, you can get away with it because most decks don't push to much more than stock. If you are doing an amp, deck and speakers 110% do 14 gauge wires.

if you going to upgrade it makes no sense to leave the wires stock... they will be your limiting factor. i chose to let my components be my limiting factor... ie either my speakers or the head unit or amp. i am running 14awg to all my speakers and -alpine type s components, via a JL audio amp and i have no complaints other than my speakers are not up to the rest of the system... but with the stock wiring my sound was crap. so i eliminated that quickly with heavy good quality speaker wire.

ok thats what i thought....so now on the wireing, how do i wire the speakers? i know theres like some kind of special connector connecting the tweeter to the stock speaker to the stereo, how does this work when replaceing the stock wireing to the 14 gauge wireing?

 

[dgoll75]

Am I missing out? I have some JL Audio components rated 15-100 watts and they sound so much better than the OEM speakers. I have never heard of late model factory wiring being an issue with mids and highs unless you push a TON of power to them. I would think most factory automotive speaker wiring at 18-16 gauge could handle 100 watts easily.

 

[morbidsanity]

Am I missing out? I have some JL Audio components rated 15-100 watts and they sound so much better than the OEM speakers. I have never heard of late model factory wiring being an issue with mids and highs unless you push a TON of power to them. I would think most factory automotive speaker wiring at 18-16 gauge could handle 100 watts easily.

yea but if your in there hooking new equipment up might as well ungrade the wireing...i too believe in letting your componets do the work....+ i have a feeling im if i were to install with stock wires, id regret it later and keep imagining what they could have been....i really wannt see some picture of what others have done, im better with visuals lol

 

[1blink]

ok thats what i thought....so now on the wireing, how do i wire the speakers? i know theres like some kind of special connector connecting the tweeter to the stock speaker to the stereo, how does this work when replaceing the stock wireing to the 14 gauge wireing?

your component speakers will not use the stock connectors at all. You replace the tweeters and mids with your new hardware. Speaker wires go from your head unit or amp, on to the crossover included in the kit, then one set of speaker wires goes to both the tweeter and the mid range woofer from the crossover. The factory wiring connectors will not be compatible.

My key question here is are you running off a head unit, the factory amp, or a new amp? If it's the factory amp, or just an aftermarket head unit, I probably would not bother with running new cables all the way back to the source. Just clip the speaker wires, tie in to the crossover, then out from the crossover with new wire to the component speakers.

If it's going to run off an aftermarket amplifier, run new speaker cable all the way back to the amp, bypassing the factory speaker wiring altogether

 

[BrianSD_42]

Did it as well. Originally ran Reference and now years later have Kappas.

Details on the first page of my build thread.

 

[nor_cal51501]

Am I missing out? I have some JL Audio components rated 15-100 watts and they sound so much better than the OEM speakers. I have never heard of late model factory wiring being an issue with mids and highs unless you push a TON of power to them. I would think most factory automotive speaker wiring at 18-16 gauge could handle 100 watts easily.

They may be able to "handle" the amount of wattage but it's not recommended to handle that amount of power constantly(rms). Thinner the wire with more power passing through = possibility of overheating(melting) the insulator. Also, just because your speakers can handle 100 wats, doesn't mean the wires can. It will work, but not sound as well as they can, nor will it be as safe. I also have JL audio components and yes you can run the factory wiring but it's not recommended. Why would you make your electric components work harder to pass a signal?

 

[BrianSD_42]

Dude The factory wiring is a joke.

It was designed for a stereo that puts out 10 W RMS.

Now you are talking about 7-10x that much power and you think keeping the same wire gauge is a good idea?

Will it work fine with 40W RMS quite possibly. But at 75-100W RMS I'd really suggest upgrading to true 14 g.

Also you do realize right that with smaller wire your speakers may not be seeing the wattage you think they are. The factory wiring will be a limiting factor.

Think of the wire as the diameter of the pipe and the amp (with its power specifications) as the pump pushing water through the pipe. At some point you need a bigger pipe.

 

[rideexileex]

Lol try the factory wire, then change the wire, and tell me if you can hear a difference. I'll bet you 100 bucks you wouldn't be able to tell the difference side by side.

No need to change unless using an amp, and that's only because of location. You could even run the wires to the stock location at the factory head unit. Unless you're pushing extreme db competitions where every last fraction of a volt counts, it doesn't matter. Speakers are running off AC waveforms and the wire can handle current much better than pure DC current

 

[Android_02]

I totally agree with 1blink. If you're just putting in components with the factory head unit or an aftermarket head unit the stock wiring is completely fine...just use the wires that come in the component kit with the crossover. You wouldn't notice a difference if it's just the speakers you're changing since you're not upgrading the power output. BrianSD's analogy of a water pump is a great way to look at it. If you're not upgrading the "pump" (amp), then there's no reason to upgrade the "pipes" (speaker wires).

If you're installing an amp, then definitely upgrade the wiring since you need to run new wires from the amp anyway. Simple as that.

No amp = stock wiring is sufficient. With amp(an aftermarket one, not the crappy stock one that you bypass anyway when you get a new head unit)=upgrade wiring

 

[BrianSD_42]

The other reason I say to run new speaker wire (which isn't really very difficult) and new power (+) and (-) from the battery to the head unit is because it is a great way to prevent the dreaded RPM speaker whine some people get upgrading their stereos.