New Speaker Wires - BIG Difference!

**Mrbmw99** · 01-22-2005, 12:35 AM

Hello! I have a '96 Ford Ranger with an aftermarket HU made by Aiwa (i think). I orriginally hooked it up to the same wires the previous radio was wired into. These go into the stock amp that is somewhere in the truck. The audio was not too decent when I even thought about turning it up. I decided to put in new wires from the HU right to the speakers. I ran them from the glovebox where the main deck is (see pix of that below), through the running 'strips' on the doorjambs to the rears. Fronts went through the rubber flexible gasket to the door. It is simple 16ga speaker wire. I also ran a wire back from the sub out on the deck to the rear, so I can put in a sub/amp soon.. I was really impressed with the difference I got with this setup. It came out really clean so far (not done hiding the wires). Just thought I'd throw this out as a tip for anyone else who may need it. -BW

**big_cali_dave** · 01-22-2005, 05:57 AM

Of course it did! The stock wires are 18 ga and run in bundles with a bunch of power wires. They ask for interference at every point. Even just running new wires is placing them further away from the magnetic field of the other wires, and the lower resistance of the new wires will help the system get more power to the speakers. (human ear perceives loudness as quality)...
Dave

**Scouse Monkey** · 01-22-2005, 06:54 AM

Anyone recomend some decent but cheap wire? was thinking baout rewiring my car ASAP. Will home stereo speaker wire work? Got a Richer sounds up the road which has good home speaker wire pretty cheap.

**jcdillin** · 01-22-2005, 08:06 AM

my last car I used home speaker wire, and it worked fine for me.

**David88vert** · 01-22-2005, 02:07 PM

You need wire that is resistant to oil and water. Not all wire insulation is. Stick to quality brands if you can afford it. Sometime you can go to a local wholesaler and get a roll of wire fairly cheap.

**hotponyshoes** · 01-22-2005, 04:49 PM

might be wrong but it sounds like you are now running your speakers off the deck not the stock amp in the boot, is this the case?

**Mrbmw99** · 01-23-2005, 03:34 AM

Right - I bypassed the stock amp...

**hotponyshoes** · 01-23-2005, 04:14 AM

maybe that harm more to do with the better sound than the cable itself. most stock amps are designed to fit in a space at a cost. sound is a must but the quality of it is not normaly up to much. i only mention it as i told 2 mates that i had changed the standard cables in my car for some that cost about $25/m and they both said the highs were cleaner and there was more bass. when i actually did change the cable the weekend after neither of them said anything!

**Mrbmw99** · 01-23-2005, 04:19 AM

Ohh yeah I figure it was because I bypassed the amp that the sound is sooo much better. I was driving the stock amp with the speaker outs on the deck, 45w or whatever they are. I dont know, but maybe it was over-deviating the inputs on the amp too... In any case - much better now!

I threw a (HUGE!) subwoofer from my house (its an old crappy one, but 12" and in a box about 15x18x36) into the back of the cab today and hooked up a 70x4 amp (only using 1 ch). WOW! The bass brings out soo much of the music! It's SWEEETT!! I can't wait until Monday when I get the new CarNetix so I can install it all! -BW

**RedGTiVR6** · 01-23-2005, 09:06 AM

bypassing ANYTHING from the factory for sound will improve the quality 99% of the time...lol

the size and quality of the wire makes a big differenece as well...

a good brand to look into is Stinger. You can get their twisted pair (ideal for insulation and noise rejection) but it's a little more expensive. But, in the grand scheme of things speaker wire isn't all that expensive at this level. If you can't find the stinger stuff, just hit up your local audio/video store and buy some speaker wire from them, just don't get the stuff that creases really easily. You will run into the chance of breaking the strands while installing it, that's the CHEAP stuff. Still with anything from 16 to 12gua and you should be fine!