Speaker/power connectors

**gothate** · 05-14-2006, 10:50 AM

I was looking at redoing the back of my car a little nicer and don't know crap about power connectors or electricity really, so I was wondering if anyone had suggestions...

The back of my car (RSX, hatchback) has had the spare tire removed, and the sub sits there and there is a false floor area which houses the amps and the computer. There are a LOT of wires. What I wanted to do was organize that a bit using plugs, and by 'prewiring' the back. So, is there any sort of plug/headphone type thing that will attach to a 4 gauge wire so I can just plug the power into the rear? Wanted to do the same with the speaker wires coming from the car speakers and just plugging into the back where they are prewired from the sockets to the amps. Is this a bad idea? Fire hazard? What kind of plugs would I need?

**furball69** · 05-14-2006, 01:17 PM

I used common extension cord plugs for my subs but they're not big enough for a 4ga wire. Have a look at a welding supply place, they may have some type of single conductor extension type thing for really long welding cable.

**xdjxklusivex** · 05-14-2006, 02:37 PM

ive tried it for power cable the plugs over heat lol

**furball69** · 05-14-2006, 05:01 PM

I can't see something made for welding cable being a problem or overheating, unless it was done improperly. A welder typically puts out 125 Amps at around 25 Volts; that's over 3000 Watts minimum capability. Welding cables are typically plugged into the welder so there are plugs available, you just have to find them.

**gothate** · 05-15-2006, 04:39 PM

Okay awesome, I think I found generally what I want for the power cable. It seems to be called a Pearson or Lenco cable connector (brands?).

They sound perfect, talk about never finding it without your help. Also, being solderless really helps me out as well.

What about the speaker wire? Are there any like headphone-jack/mono plug things I could use for that.

**BassBinDevil** · 05-15-2006, 08:35 PM

Neutrik Speakon connectors are (as you just might guess from the name) designed for speaker cables. They're used in pro audio because they're rugged, and there's no exposed contacts that can short when they're unplugged. They come in cable and chassis-mount versions.
http://www.mcminone.com/search.asp?keyword=speakon

There's a connector that's sometimes used for hooking up UPS battery packs, plugging in jumper cables on tow trucks and the like. An auto or truck part store should be able to help you. They'd be safer than the welding connectors since there's no exposed contacts, and you can't accidentally swap positive and negative.

http://www.warn.com/truck/accessorie...nect_all.shtml

**furball69** · 05-15-2006, 10:11 PM

http://www.doityourself.com/invt/4857702#

Those are what I used for my subs... not those exact ones but similar, they're hidden so only I know how ghetto they are.

**BassBinDevil** · 05-16-2006, 02:13 AM

Almost every autoparts store carries Grote stuff, so they should be able to get you these power connectors:
http://www.grote.com/cgi-bin/goc/goc...number=84-9551

These were suggested in another thread; they snap together to make custom connectors, and come in sizes up to 180A.
http://www.andersonpower.com/products/pp/pp.html

**scott_fx** · 05-16-2006, 04:48 AM

Neutrik connectors are some of the best in the industry. I'm actually making my own balance cables with them right now.

Originally Posted by BassBinDevil

Neutrik Speakon connectors are (as you just might guess from the name) designed for speaker cables. They're used in pro audio because they're rugged, and there's no exposed contacts that can short when they're unplugged. They come in cable and chassis-mount versions.
http://www.mcminone.com/search.asp?keyword=speakon

There's a connector that's sometimes used for hooking up UPS battery packs, plugging in jumper cables on tow trucks and the like. An auto or truck part store should be able to help you. They'd be safer than the welding connectors since there's no exposed contacts, and you can't accidentally swap positive and negative.

http://www.warn.com/truck/accessorie...nect_all.shtml

**gothate** · 05-17-2006, 01:12 AM

Those Neutrik ones look very nice. Probably too nice for what I need. Also I can't actually tell how it works...does 4 pole mean I put 2 speaker wires into it? Does it need solder? I would definitely want the 'chassis-mount' version.

Here's a quick sketch of what I'm trying to do, maybe it'll help:

Otherwise I guess I'd try something like this

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...lance&n=172282

with some sort of banana plug thingamajig. Pretty sure they only do half a speaker wire each though, which would suck pricewise since I'd still need the banana part after I bought 8x socket things.