Audio Systems: amp trouble, old speaker wire, amp fuse

Question
I have just bought a visonik kit at Walmart($50 for 300watt amp and 10'' sub). I wanted to test everything before i started tearing my car apart because most of the time you do get what you pay for. So first i tested the sub by just plugging it into my stereo inside. It works great and is very loud. Then i decided to test the amp. i had some 10 gauge wire laying around so i decided to use it. I know for a fact that i hooked the wires up to the amp properly.When i connected the positive to the battery and grounded the wire, nothing happened.I have also installed extra driving lights on my car and the only way i could get them to work was to connect the ground to the negative post on the battery. So i tried that with the amp and still nothing, then i tried it with plain old speaker wire and still nothing so what should i do? Do i need different wire?

P.S. my battery is charged and the amp fuse is fine and the wires do conduct electricity

Answer
there is a 3rd wire on car amps called "remote"  when the power and ground wires are connected the amp wont turn on until the remote wire gets posative juice on it as well.
this is the wire that triggers the amp to turn on and off.  without this the amp would be on all the time and drain your battery.

if this isnt it, let me know.