Help Haugy with an item checklist.

Alright, I'm not the best stereo guru out there. But I understand the general concept, very basic wiring of them.

I'll be getting some Wetsounds hardware (hopefully soon), speakers, amp, sub, and a ws-420 (eq).

What all do I need to have on hand to wire this thing up? Mounting is no problem, and getting the lines hooked up, I think I can handle. But I need to make sure I've got the right stuff, wire (with correct gauge), fuses, attachement points, etc.

Here's what I figure, please edit for accuracy:

-Wire 2-4 gauge power wire for amp
-Fuse 30 amp?
-Fuse block near battery
-RCA's for stereo to amp
-12 gauge speaker wire for sub
-12-16 gauge for component speakers


Thoughts?

Without knowing how much power or speakers you'll be running, it's hard to say. I'd run 0-gauge for the main positive and grounds, though -- if nothing else it will give you room to grow and make sure that you never run into issues in the future.

You'll want to size your main fuse block to aproximately 10% of the size of your total max wattage. Example... if you have 2000 total watts, use a 200amp master fuse. Use the same math for the amp fuses (if you're going to fuse them individually, too.)

You'll also want to get some heavy duty battery terminals that can accomodate 0-gauge wire. Keep adding additional terminals if you're using multiple batteries, perk switch or isolator/combiner.

I'd use 12 gauge for the sub. I'd use 12 - 14 gauge for the rest of the speakers.... again.... I'm sure you'd like to leave room for the future. ;)

Sorry bout that.

I'm gettting a Syn-6 amp. Running 4 XS-650 boat speakers and an XS-12 sub.

And yeah, I'll be upgading over winter to tower speakers, and a XXX sub.

I just talked to JonyB our stereo expert. I know what I need to run, and hopefully know where to get it. So this may be an epic hilarity or may work out. I'm hoping the latter.

Just in case you don't already have them on the mental list, don't forget...

wire ties
any type of end or butt connectors you would need
tie downs (if you want to route wires somewhere and tie them to a wall or panel)
wire loom

When you said fuse block, were you thinking like a distribution block? That's another thing to consider.

You might look into one of the automotive stereo amp install packages. Cheaper than buying individual components if you can find one that has all (or most) of what you need. To figure out the wiring, I found it helpful to first both sketch and physically layout all the components of your system.

I'm going cheap (well, not too expensive but it all does still add up) on the stereo - Clarion hu, Pyle A/B amps, Polk cabin/sub/towers. I ebay'd a Tsunami dual amp kit with tinned power wires, fuse blocks, dist blocks, rca's, terminals, ties, etc. Think I'll be able to use most of it except the included speaker wire (ran 12 ga everywhere when the cap was off) and the 4 ga ground wire (too short for my needs). Just dropped 3 bills at genuinedealz.com (thanks for the link Salty87) on just the rest of the cables needed (I hope) for the relocated and added batteries, vsr, batt switch, starter cables, added helm bus, etc. See, it does add up quickly. Good luck & let us know what you come up with.

genuinedealz.com is where I got all my battery and amp power cabling.

haugy, you might look into genuinedealz.com too for wiring, but I'm sure jonyb will take good care of ya.

check out http://knuconcepts.com for speaker wire - this is what I bought (but haven't used yet):

http://www.knukonceptz.com/productDe...ID=KAR12SS-100

100 feet of 12 gauge wire (double wire in a single coating - easier to run)

http://www.knukonceptz.com/assets/pr...Wire-KAR-2.JPG

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tg0824SSVGG

check out http://knuconcepts.com for speaker wire - this is what I bought (but haven't used yet):

http://www.knukonceptz.com/productDe...ID=KAR12SS-100

100 feet of 12 gauge wire (double wire in a single coating - easier to run)

http://www.knukonceptz.com/assets/pr...Wire-KAR-2.JPG

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Thanks for that link tg0824SSVGG, that's the last item I need for my install and I was having a hard time finding a reliable source online to pick up 12 gauge speaker wire. Woohoo, can't wait to do this install!