minimum distance between power & rca wires

**michaelrj9** · 08-23-2005, 08:09 PM

hi all thanks for looking...

I have the power & rca cables seperated running down the length of the car..
my question is what is the minimum distance to insure no interference from them? 1ft,2ft etc...
why am I asking? read below..

I am trying to move my amps to the drivers side of the car in the trunk running parallel with the length of the car.The rca cables are running down the drivers side.The power cable is on the passenger side of the car.
The rca input on the amps is twords the rear of the car.
I am having trouble keeping the wires seperated (in the trunk area)unless I swap sides the power and rca cables are running down the car which then I will need new power cable because it will be too short then a very long rca cable to go down the side of the car to the end of the trunk then move it over to the driver side where the amp is.(big pain to do)
Is there anything else I can do?
right now it seems the farthest I can get them apart is about 1 foot or a little less and that is only in 1 spot then they get farther apart ..
would putting a 1" thick board between help?
any ideas out there?
or using stinger expert or dream rca cables or something similar help?
right now I am using stinger HELIX SERIES cables..
Thanks Michael

**fonseca** · 08-24-2005, 05:29 AM

It's generally not a problem to cross them if that would help, try to cross at a right angle. It's when you run them alongside each other that you run into trouble.

**sharpy39** · 08-24-2005, 09:40 AM

i agree with the above post.
yu could also, if it would help, run yure rca cables down the middle of yure car.

**sdashiki** · 08-24-2005, 10:02 AM

Its been my experience that unless you are getting noise in your music etc, dont worry about it. Once you have some noise to deal with, you can move wires while the noise is present and see where to move them.

Also, power usually runs on the drivers side, cuz its the easiest place thru the firewall. Your setup is different.

**Spyder1331** · 08-24-2005, 11:01 PM

As a MECP certified tech, the best way to run signal and power is seprately. Power on one side, signal on the other. As for which side the power should be installed it is totally dependant on the car manufacturer. If you do need to cross/intersect the wires it should be done at a 90 degree angle.

**w143r** · 08-25-2005, 01:19 PM

If you only detect minimal noise, try better cables. They have shielding that would help in this situation.

**WhiteRabbit** · 08-26-2005, 02:22 AM

Id worry more about ground loops than induced noise.

bottleneck theory. take care of the biggest noise factors first. they can be miles apart, if you have ground loops, you are in trouble.

chances are, youll never have a problem with induced noise. fully seperated or not.

**Spyder1331** · 08-27-2005, 12:24 AM

Yeah ground loops SUUUUUUCK, and chasing them sucks even more.

**NiN^_^NiN** · 08-28-2005, 08:18 PM

I have my power wire and RCA wires cable tied to each other without problems.

I did get quality power cable and oxy free RCA (cost around $70 but i might aswell go for the best for the audio) i also have the VGA cable next to the power aswell and i have no problem at all

Also got usb cable tied to the rest of the cables so i've got no problems with quality cables.

**Jcarere** · 08-28-2005, 08:28 PM

12 inches is the minimum but not many people experience problems. Like others have said Its best to usegood quality cables and check for ground loops.