I set up an automatic reply to any email sent to diyaudioguy@gmail.com with the word wire in the subject line. If you don't get an automatic reply please let me know in the comments!
Hey diyguy I got a question for you in winisd under filters what does static gain refer to is it referring to the signal output from the preouts via a receiver or is it referring to the gain knobs on the amp my crown xls 1502 full output with the gain knob full up is supposed to be 30 plus db so half is about 15 db but I apply this in winisd for my sub build it says I'll have some nasty ass cone Excursion I'm I doing something wrong sub has a max rms of 800watts it's a duel 4 ohm voice coil with each one rated for 400 watts I'm wiring it in parallel down to 2 ohm an feeding it 775 watts from my crown xls 1502
@@kennethreber7176 If you send an email to the address that I listed above with the word wire in the subjectI have an auto reply setup. You should get the spreadsheet in a couple minutes.
Glad to help. OFC 4 Gauge works fine for most daily drivers. It can carry a lot more current than CCA of the same size. If you ever watch five star car stereo you'll notice that about 90% of their installs use OFC 4 gauge wire. Make sure you put an appropriate fuse close to the battery.
DIY Audio Guy Do you believe compasitors* are worth installing. I have one but I’ve read 50:50 that they help or dont. I know I need to upgrade my alternator. My light dim and the bass doesn’t hit hard all the time, almost as if it’s clipping but the bass just cuts out.
@@sirryan2891 The ones that are the size of a 24-oz beer can are nothing but a gimmick. I'm honestly not sure why these things are still on the market. They just don't have enough capacity to do what they claim that they do. Supercapacitors are a different story. The right thing to do is to upgrade your alternator, but that is an expensive upgrade. Most people will just add a second battery, which will actually make your stock alternator work harder leading to a premature failure.
Yes. I don't really know that much about alternators or batteries so I don't really have any advice on how big of an alternator you need or what kind of battery capacity you need. As soon as I figure it out though I will post a video on it. 👍
I swear im not trying to be funny or anything but did anyone else hear how he said aluminum did he say it right and i been saying it wrong my whole life and like i said u can already tell this guy is very intelligent so maybe it was just me but love the videos learned a lot from watching them 👍🏽👍🏽
one of your best vids yet, i would have liked you to quote mecp specs imo the standard... also no reason not to include as many gauges of wire as you can. a idea for new vids talk about how important prorper termination is. overall great vid keep it up!
@@DIYAudioGuy at least yours will listen to you. Mine rolls her eyes and always has the following comment " so how much is that going to cost" I'm finding its easier to just do it which gives me time to come up with the best excuse. For instance, "well I don't want the car to catch fire from using too small of wire bae, guess I shouldnt have gotten a bigger amp but well too late now,,," ;-) the things we do for amazing sounding music! Have a great week n keep up the videos
Yes, I covered that in the updated video. The current ratings are at room temperature, more current causes more heat which causes more resistance which causes more heat...
@@DIYAudioGuy reason why I'm aski g becaus I recently got my first sound system and spent 1400. Sounds great first few weeks then found they used cheap (stinger) CCA and RCA wiring. Basically now I have to get everything re-wired, a capacitor, big 3
@@ajjax89 sounds like a shop is trying to sell you some upgrades for no good reason. capacitors don't do a darn thing and you can download the calculator to determine if your a power wire is thick enough to get the job done. The real question is can your stock alternator handle 1400 watts. Check out RU-vidr exocontralto, he just did a test proving that those capacitors that look like 24 oz beer cans don't do a damn thing. You're better off buying an extra battery. That is just my opinion, I say you should keep doing some research before you start handing a shop more money.
Just always use 0 gauge wire if you can, simple. Even if you don't REALLY need it. It will always simply do better than the others, even if the other can handle the voltage fine. And to me, the cleaner I can make my energy to my systems, I've found the better the speakers perform, and last.
I don't disagree with you. I'm running zero gauge in my setup, and I can get by with 4 gauge. But not everybody's going to want to spend the extra money for the larger wire.
@@DIYAudioGuy I did not send for one. I used 1/0 welding cable to a distribution then audio 1/0 so it was more pliable for the bends I need to make. Thank you though, I don't really do installs any more.
I was using 0G, but found it has been causing issues with connections!~ Plus when I try to conform with everyone else, it always seem to cause problems, go back to the way it was I had it, and works!~
I don't feel like I know enough about batteries to make a video, I've been having a very difficult time trying to sort out the facts from the marketing hype.
@@DIYAudioGuy i know the feeling...its very difficult to sort all the bs and get down to what matters in order to decide what and how much battery and alternator it takes to run the system correctly
@@DIYAudioGuy there are only a handful (3 maybe?) companies that makes batteries in the US, and they all get re-branded from there. Johnson Controls and Exide make the overwhelming majority of them. There are differences (lead-acid, AGM, gel, deep cycle, etc), but there's not necessarily one brand or make that's better than another. The best thing to do is look at the CCA value and the warranty term.
I wish all of this stuff was more affordable, although buying things lightly used these days, and buying certain things with this type of knowledge under my belt plus being able to wheel and deal with some great friends that I have turned on to the world of Hi-Fi stereo systems.
@@BabyCharlotteschannel It is not a cheap hobby that is for sure! But I don't personally believe you have to buy the most expensive stuff in order to get quality sound. Back in the '80s and '90s Richard Clark proved that all watts sound the same. Google Richard Clark $10,000 amplifier challenge. It will really change your perspective. Plus there are a lot of ways that you can find those good deals, those diamonds in the rough. That is one reason why I like Knukonzepz, you'll be hard pressed to find wire and fuse blocks that provide more bang for the buck.
@diy Audio Guy i need your expertise sir, please. I am attempting to run a 3,000 watt class D amplifier on a stock 110 amp alternator Here's what i have done. Big 4 upgrade with 1/0 high quality OFC 2 runs of high quality 4 AWG OFC (roughly 9 feet) X/S ioxus 12v 325F ultra capacitor 3k Stetsom ex3000 black edition. What i need your expertise for is this. If i am basically pulling the bulk of the amperage from the ultra capacitor then what would be drawn through the power wire running from main battery to ultra capacitor? Would that still be expected to handle between 150-300 amps? I'm confused. Thank you very much for all of your content. Ive enjoyed and learned from every video i have watched so far.
I've got a 1000w amp 70-80% efficiency I was going to get a 4AWG of wire that was 50$ 25ft. But decided to get a 0AWG for 45$ and 50ft and according to the spec it can handle 150amps. But no distance scail so that's concerning. But I'm also wiring it up alongside a 8AWG ofc I believe so I shouldn't have any issues I believe but 🤷 who knows. I also wanted to run ground all the way to the rear. While still using the chassie. Yes yea ground loop and complete over kill for 1000w but I'd rather be safe than sorry. I like to learn as I go
4 gauge will probably work, unless you have a very long run of wire and a very inefficient amplifier. Send an e-mail with the word wire in the subject line and you can have a copy of the spreadsheet and tinker with it yourself.
I did a little research on skin effect as I was researching this video. skin effect only happens with AC current and as the frequency increases the depth that the current penetrates decreases. If you think people would watch the video then I would be glad to put together a skin effect video for speaker wires.
@@DIYAudioGuy I think they would, so what your saying is if someone used cca for tweeters it wouldnt be so bad but using it for subs and mids not a good idea. I dont have any cca in my car i would never use it but it's a very interesting subject. I wonder how much cca wire if any is used in factory automotive wiring.
It's really kind of an odd phenomenon. After reading a bit more about it I am uncomfortable speculating about how it works. As the frequency gets higher the effective cross-section of the wire is smaller. Which would mean you need a bigger wire for a higher frequency. But it's probably a moot point because there's just not that much signal at twenty thousand Hertz going to your tweeters.
To keep it simple and not have to make this more complicated, if we have more than one run, can we just sub in half the length? Or a bigger gauge, is there a simple way to change another number without having to complicate the spreadsheet formulas?
I’ve used knu kca for years no issues. I did have 4 runs of 1/0. I now have 2 runs of GP 1/0 OFC we’ll see how much of a difference when I get it installed.
I have recently tried NVX and I like it just as well as Knu. Plus they set up a discount code for my viewers (diyaudio10 on NVX.com). The JP wire (lddy.no/1c0tx) also looks solid but I have not tried it yet.
When I first started putting the video together my goal was to prove that CCA was junk and you should never use it. I still think it's vastly inferior to OFC, and I would not recommend it. But, math is math. There is a place for CCA wire.
@@DIYAudioGuy so true. Cca should only be used in short runs inside where weather will not effect it that bad. in my opinion. There is a place for it but your right its not something I would recommend.
Still got a HUGE run of CCA going to the amp and the longer the run the BIGGER the voltage drop so technically it would be pointless to do that just run everything OFC
I have a question that I’m sure you probably have covered in a video that I haven’t seen yet so it might be a stupid question. Actually 2 questions.. so if I was running a 1200 watt monoblock skar audio amp and a 360 watt 4 channel amp.. would I run a bigger gauged wire like a 0 gauge back to the splitter and then run a 4 gauge to the 1200 watt and a 8 gauge to the 360 watt amp? And would I need to have a fuse by the battery if there are fuses in the splitter? Or would I put a fuse between the splitter and the amp? I’m so stuck on these 2 questions please help me lol
That's exactly what you would do. Every time you reduce the size of the wire you need to add a fuse. I'm not sure if I cover that completely but I've got some of that in this fuse block video.ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tvcZgfmKiUw.html
Hey Justin! I tried using your wire chart, but when i get the email back, the document opens in "read only" mode. It won't allow me to input anything to the tables.
I'm pushing 2000 watts on 2 12 Skar EVLs, I have my car wired up with 4 gauge ofc currently. Would the 4 gauge ofc be able to handle 2000k watts are is it necessary for me to upgrade to 1/0 ofc?
What gauge wiring kit would you recommend for a 2ohm12” sub 500w RMS/1000w peak power my amp is 800watts and 600rms at 2ohm i have a 8 gauge 800w OFC wiring kit
That was my initial thought, and I still recommend that people use tinned oxygen-free copper wire for car audio installs. My goal was to make a video proving that you should only use OFC wire. When I did the math I learned that CCA was sometimes within the acceptable tolerance levels. I suppose that's the difference between tolerable and recommended. I don't recommend that you drop a hammer on your toe, but I'm sure you could tolerate it.
DIY Audio Guy I totally agree with everything you said in video but as we all know it’s just better to go with ofc even for someone poor and broke like me I will wait and save little more for it. But it will work of course I just seen it totally disintegrate inside out and you won’t even be able to see it on wire not that old and not getting slot of power.
Alternators aren't what they used to be. Toyota can charge as low 12.08 volts and still be fine. Other vehicles differ also. I've seen jeep be fine at 13 volts flat. It's all based on what the PCM desires and commands the alternator to produce.
