i was browsing the forums and i noticed that someone used what appeared to be regular steel nuts, bolts and washers as a wire terminal to pass wires from the sub through its enclosure (saw it in the pictures of the guy doing a review on a Fi Q 18" sub). i was wondering if anyone could confirm this as being a good method to pass wires through a sub enclosure, or should i just stop being lazy and cut out a small square in my box and put a factory made terminal to pass wires through. im guessing as long as it's a nice thick bolt with zero resistance there should be no drop in wattage. i was just hoping i could get some feedback on using this method.

thanks-phil

I'd probably use stainless hardware to resist corrosion, but it's a good technique if you're just using bare wire or spade terminals instead of banana plugs.

I used two bolts in my box and it seems to work fine.

i believe any kind of connector you add will add some sort of resistance. tho however little it may be. i used the bolts also on mine and they worked fine. make sure they're tight tho. one set kinda came loose on me

You will get a little resistance but nothing detrimental (you'll get resistance any time you break and make a connection, it may be small or big determining on how good the connection is). I use some brass bolts with wing nuts and ring terminals and have not noticed any ill effects.

It's all I use.

thanks for the input guys! i was kind of hesitant to use one of those premade plastic terminals cause they are all made pretty thin...and when you make a box with double mdf and then theres a small dinky plastic terminal, it kind of breaks the whole concept imo.

thanks for the input guys! i was kind of hesitant to use one of those premade plastic terminals cause they are all made pretty thin...and when you make a box with double mdf and then theres a small dinky plastic terminal, it kind of breaks the whole concept imo.

I use the screw type terminal cups, however, I build a little enclosure for them into the box so the terminal cup itself isn't responsible for sealing any part of the enclosure. No pressure is put on it at all.

I just pass the wires straight through the box then seal up the hole around them. then you don't have to dink with terminals.

I just pass the wires straight through the box then seal up the hole around them. then you don't have to dink with terminals.

then do you just use caulk to seal around the wires?

I just pass the wires straight through the box then seal up the hole around them. then you don't have to dink with terminals.

then do you just use caulk to seal around the wires?

x2. i was going to make a topic soon asking what people did when they just passed the wires straight through haha.

I usually silicone the inside of the box and use that on wires if I do it that way. I drill the hole just large enough, never had a problem. In fact I don't drill a hole I drill two about on top of each other, the wire seals that shape better. This IB I just did I used bolts between the subs. I used the size under 1/4 and broke one, was not impressed but short on room. So I'd recommend you don't use small ones. Then I ran the wires back through a hole at the amp but you can't see that hardly. So my trunk wiring for 4 subs goes from each sub's terminals to 1/4" from the edge of the sub. Then I wired the DVC together in by the VC, easy to do on these infinity and if it did rattle I will not hear it in the car. Wires are pulled tight. It is pretty clean wiring. If you don't want silicone then try something like that goop glue, it should do the trick. I like silicone so I can remove the wires if ever need be.

I just pass the wires straight through the box then seal up the hole around them. then you don't have to dink with terminals.

then do you just use caulk to seal around the wires?

yes.