Car Stereos: system installation kit, gauge speaker wire, oldsmobile cutlass

Question
QUESTION: I need to know what i need to be looking for in an amp kit. I have an 4 channel 800 watt amp and 4 new speakers to install. What exactly do i need to be looking for in an amp kit? What gauge power wire should i use? What amperage fuse do i need? Are all turn on leads the same? Any information you can give me on what i need for installation for my headunit, amp, and speakers is appreciated, this is my first time attempting to instalation.

Also am i correct in my general thought process for speaker installation?

1.) run front and rear RCA cables from head unit to my amp
2.) run audio wires from amp to speakers

thanks for the help

ANSWER: Hi Drew,

To get a more complete answer, can you tell me the model of amplifier, and the year, make and model of your vehicle?

Thanks

Brian

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: sure, my car is a 1991 oldsmobile cutlass calais. My amp is an RCA RC200.4A What i think i need for installation of my amp and speakers is a 4 gauge power wire for the amp, a 60 amp fuse, an eight gauge ground wire, RCA wire sets for my front and rear speakers to run from my headunit to my amp, and speaker wires to run from the amp to the speakers. Is this correct? also what gauge speaker wire should i use?

p.s. my headunit is already installed so there is no need to instruct me on that, i just need to run the RCA cables from the back of it to the amp right?

thanks

Answer
Hi Drew,

From the look of the amplifier, 4-gauge is probably the right choice for wire size; but your ground wire should be the same size as the main power wire.  You can buy a 4-gauge amp kit, which will include at least the following:

- 4-gauge power and ground wire
- A fuse and fuse holder (usually 60, 80 or 100 amp)
- One set of RCA cables
- A remote wire

Some amp kits will also include speaker wire.  16-gauge wire should be the right size; I'd get around 40 feet.  Also, unless your amp kit is specifically designed for a 4-channel amp, you'll need a second set of RCA cables.

Your main power wire will need to be connected to the positive battery terminal.  GM vehicles like yours use a side-post battery terminal that won't accept a ring terminal.  The solution is to purchase a replacement side-post terminal with a spot to connect the wire.  Here's a link to one:  http://www.knukonceptz.com/productDetail.cfm?prodID=GMBT
You can find them at any car audio or auto parts store.

The ground wire won't connect to the battery; it will be attached to vehicle chassis metal near the amplifier location.  This is because the battery's negative terminal is also connected to the chassis, so the ground current will flow through chassis metal to the battery terminal.  However, in older GM's, the wire between the negative terminal and the vehicle chassis is very thin.  It's a good idea to upgrade that connection with 4-gauge wire.  If you choose to do this, you'll need a second battery post like the one I linked above, so you can connect a thicker wire to the negative terminal.  You should have enough extra wire with the amp kit so that you can cut off a foot or so to upgrade the negative terminal connection; but you may need to purchase a pair of 4-gauge ring terminals.

Your new speakers are probably designed to take a push-on "quick disconnect" terminal for the speaker wire connection.  You'll want to buy some of these terminals to attach the speaker wire to the speakers.  The positive connection at each speaker takes a .205 female quick-disconnect terminal; the negative connection takes a .110 female quick disconnect.  (The speakers may have come with their own speaker wire leads, already fitted with QD terminals; if you wish, you can just solder these to the ends of your new speaker wires).

It looks like the amplifier just uses bare wires for power and speaker connections, so you won't need to buy any special terminals to connect the wires to the amp.

So here's a list of wires and their various connections:

4-gauge power wire: connected to the amplifier's main power terminal, and routed to the (new) positive battery post.  It will connect to the battery post with a ring terminal.  A fuse and fuse holder should be installed on the wire as close as possible to the battery terminal.

4-gauge ground wire, connected to the amplifier's ground terminal, and routed to a nearby ground point.  This should be a clean, solid part of the vehicle chassis, with the paint scraped off, and the ground wire securely bolted down with a ring terminal.

A short 4-gauge wire running from the (new) negative battery post to the chassis ground connection.  Follow the same route as the existing wire, and just connect your new wire to the same bolt at the chassis; you don't need to remove the existing wire.

Two sets of RCA cables, from the front and rear outputs behind the head unit, to the input jacks on the amplifier.

A remote turn-on wire, from the blue/white remote output at the head unit, to the remote control terminal at the amp.  This is just a length of primary wire, usually around 18-gauge.

16-gauge speaker wire, connected to the amp's speaker outputs and routed to each speaker location.  They'll connect to the speakers with .205 and .110 quick disconnect terminals.

Hope this helps!

Brian