RCA cables and power wire
 

I'm still putting my stereo together, finances have slowed me down for the moment, any way, when shopping for RCA cables and power cable the prices are all over the place, what would be your recomendations for what to get?

Thanks Bob

Go to someplace like monoprice.com for RCA cables and get (appropriate gauge) power wires from radio shack. :) Buy more than you think you need too.

Never any sense in throwing away money on monster cables or something similarly high priced.

I agree to an extent, monster cable is way overpriced but car audio is different than home audio in the sense that you need to run shielded rca cables in your car. Theres always the risk of EMI if you dont use shielded rca's and nothing sounds worse than alternator whine. Theres plenty of solid brands that can be had cheap. Check out knukonceptz.com for budget friendly wiring. Im personally runnig kicker hyperflex and JL premium rca cables. ( thats only because I got them at wholesale)
Another thing to remember is to always run rca's and power wire on opposite sides of your vehicle to avoid any interference. Granted with most decent quality shielded rca's you wont have an issue but it doesnt hurt.

I second kicker hyperflex, been using it for a while and love it very flexible. Also for rca's look at streetwire or stinger but buy them off amazon to get a better price.

Got to love that hum. :) Good point. Monoprice doesn't necessarily mean low quality though!

I'm using Memphis wire for mine ultra high strand counts (their 8guage has more wires in it then most 4guage) meaning it's safer for higher amp loads and it's super flexible blows that crappy scoshe or streetwires stuff out of the water. actually just pick up a memphis wire kit Memphis Amplifier Wiring Kits | Car Amplifier Installation & Accessories | Car Audio/Video Installation & Accessories | Car Audio, Video, & GPS Navigation at Sonic Electronix

or, do wat i do and get the professional audio cables for musical instruments by proco.
pretty economical (not the cheapest), yet very reliable. also cut it to length, etc if too long for your app.

Pro Co DKRR5 | Sweetwater.com

Do not wast your money on over priced cables. They all do the same thing send the signal to the amp. I have had the expensive cables before with "zero noise" still had noise had to find a new ground and such to get rid of it. Just buy some good cables but do not go over bored.

With cables check out ebay. I have a box full of various high end rca cables from Monster, Phoenix Gold, Streetwires, JL Audio, ect. I bought them all very cheaply on ebay. I like using the 4 channel cables from the head to the amp. You will pay half to a quarter what you would from a dealer. For example I bought a JL Audio 1000 watt amp install kit for 50 bucks. This was $150 at a dealer. I bought a 4 channel set of JL Audio cables for $25.00 they sell for $75 at a dealer. They were in the genuine packaging and everything. These kinds of items are hugely marked up for dealers.

I'm about to hook up a Rockford Fosgate amp and Kicker sub this week to the base stock radio. I already replaced the stock speakers with some alpine components, which made a big difference in sound quality. Question; Where do I hook in to for the remote turn on for the amp on the stock radio? :confused:

Simple rules for preventing noise in a car audio system:

- Power and RCAs 18" apart
- If you have to cross paths, dry to make it at a 90deg angle (as little contact as possible)
- GOOD GROUND!!!!!!!!!!!
- Return ground. Run another 18-22awg wire with the remote turn on wire to connect the radio ground to the amp ground.

I've done plenty of installs with shitty RCAs and been fine. Just make sure your power cables are big enough. Bigger is always better. I've installed a lot of 100-200 watt amps with 4awg wire.

Accessory or Ignition (typically accessory for a radio)

Radio Ground | (chassis)
Radio Ignition | blue | white 20 pin plug, pin 7
Factory Amp Turn-on | purple | white 20 pin plug, pin 1

knukonceptz.com ftw.. I've used them in my last 4 cars and their stuff is very nice

What's the use in using oversized power wires? for 100-200 watts especially given how short our cars are, 4awg sounds ridiculous.

4 gauge is sort of the standard for most audio system. I think 0 gauge is overkill though.