why was i told that the 4 gauge wire that i am using for my sub is not only overkill but bad for it due to too much resistance?

I have not heard of this theory before, is there something that would support this train of thought?

thanks

chop

That makes no sense.

why was i told that the 4 gauge wire that i am using for my sub is not only overkill but bad for it due to too much resistance?

I have not heard of this theory before, is there something that would support this train of thought?

thanks

chop

so someone told you that 4 gauge wire is over kill for speaker wiring= this is correct!

and they also told you that is bad b/c of too much resistance=WRONG

think about it they are telling you that bigger gauge wire has MORE resistance then smaller wire....so why do we use 1/0 wire then, well we use it for the current flow and LOW resistance! as you can see in this table the resistance is listed per 1000ft!!

http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

as you can see 4 gauge is 0.248/1000ft and 8 gauge is 0.628. so 8 gauge has double the resistance then 4gauge does at 1000ft!!

as for 4gauge being WAY overkill look at it like this!

8gauge can handle 90amps (on the above link) which is about 8krms at 1ohm load (depending on the length but generally speaking)

4 gauge can handle 135amps (on the above link) which is about 18000rms at 1ohm load again! (and depending on length)

so unless you are tossing around 18krms at your sub then 4gauge is the way for you! and yes it never hurts to have over kill!!

why was i told that the 4 gauge wire that i am using for my sub is not only overkill but bad for it due to too much resistance?

I have not heard of this theory before, is there something that would support this train of thought?

thanks

chop

There is nothing wrong with doing that Chop.

Nothing to support that train of thought. Having more strands is kinda like having more lanes on the freeway for a car (or electron) to drive on. If you add up the resistance of every strand of wire in the cable, sure there's more in a 4 gauge than 12 gauge. However that doesn't matter. All that matters is each individual strand, and that will be the same whether in 4 or 12 gauge. The difference is that there's just more strands in the 4 gauge, so it won't get overloaded with current as quickly as 12 gauge. Once the current carrying capacity of the wire is matched with the load, traffic congestion begins, which heats up the wire, and heat causes more resistance. So in high current carrying applications, smaller wire will actually have more resistance.

i thought 8awg typically only handled around 67A

i thought 8awg typically only handled around 67A

ya same here but 90amps based off of that website! maybe those are old stats or something!

so is there a standard size wire usually used for amp to sub wire? i dont think mine is even 8 gauge and its seeing like 700 watts. should i upgrade? sorry if im thread jacking

so is there a standard size wire usually used for amp to sub wire? i dont think mine is even 8 gauge and its seeing like 700 watts. should i upgrade? sorry if im thread jacking

I personally dont see the need to go bigger than 8 gauge to be honest with ya, your fine with what you have now.

so is there a standard size wire usually used for amp to sub wire? i dont think mine is even 8 gauge and its seeing like 700 watts. should i upgrade? sorry if im thread jacking

I personally dont see the need to go bigger than 8 gauge to be honest with ya, your fine with what you have now.

X2 on that! for MOST application hell 12gauge or 10 is big enough! lol!!

Edited November 20, 200915 yr by CrazyKenKid

i think mine might be 12 i cant remember im gonna need to look and maybe upgrade. thanks

i think mine might be 12 i cant remember im gonna need to look and maybe upgrade. thanks

well 12gauge can support 40amps and at 1ohm that is like 1600wrms and at 2ohm that is 3200wrms so do you really think you need to upgrade it?

now that u put it that way no not even the new system will call for that. hmmm thats good.

Thanks for the input fellas.

Ol' chop had 4 gauge laying around and had given all the 8 gauge away for other installs, use what you got, as long as it is correct for the application, you know?

I was on this side of things, however it is always better to learn the absolute answer when possible.

thanks for the link, that helps me alot.

chop

Had a similar question in my post. Thanks for helpin' me on that one chop.

Had a similar question in my post. Thanks for helpin' me on that one chop.

NP....