Ok, so here it goes. I just wanted to make sure i'm not missing anything, hopefully you guys can help me out.

I'm wiring all new speakers(front components/rear coaxial), 2 amps (4 channel, 1 channel), 1 12" sub, capacitor and headunit. So far this is what I have on my list:

14 or 16G Speaker wire -- 100ft (for safe measure...redoing all speaker wire)
4G Power wire -- 30ft. (starter to capacitor)
8G Power wire -- 3-4ft (cap to amps)
4G Ground wire -- 3-4ft.
RCA cables -- 3 sets (front/rear speakers, sub)
Fuse Holder (yet to find out what size fuse I will need)
18G Remote turn-on wire -- 30ft.

4G 8mm Ring Terminals -- 3 pair
8G 8mm Ring Terminals -- 3 pair
16G female speaker connectors -- 4 pair (does anybody know if they make 14G of this?)

Well, am I missing anything? Both JL amps (300/4, 500/1) accepts wire directly so no need for connectors. I've been told to get standard speaker wire by the loom at Home Depot to save some $$..also, to forget about spending tons of money on RCA cables, and get standard ones (even home theater ones?)

 

one question abit off-topic

why do you have a capacitor? JL Amps are stiffly regualted, so no need for one.

 

to make your life easier, just buy a wiring kit - unless you already got all of that. I got the Stinger one with 4 guage wire and I only needed a few more feet of ground wire because I have 2 amps. Also, you need to keep 4 guage wire throughout - whatever you take to your amps, the ground wire needs to be the same guage, you can use 8 guage to the amps, but I would use 4 guage for all of it. You are right on the speaker wire - the regular Home Depot stuff is just fine (16 guage). Dont skimp on the RCAs though, I recommend the ones I have, they arent to expensive but keep very good sound
Be sure to run your RCAs and power wires on the opposite sides of the car, and keep them away from eachother as much as possible (this will keep noise out of the system).

another thing, for the power wire, just take 4 guage to the capacitor, (you need to get a power/ground distribution block, also in the kit I told you about), then take the power wire to the distibution block and from there to your amps. For the grounds, you want the amps and capacitor to be grounded at 1 point (also to keep noise out of the system). I did this by taking the grounds from the amps to the distribution block (the + and - is isolated on the same unit) then 1 wire out of that to the - on the capacitor and then run 1 solid ground from the capacitor.

here is a link to the kit I have - that includes everything but the capacitor and you will need a few more feet of ground wire. - but like DA said, you dont need a capacitor for JL amps (wont help at all), only if the amps have unregulated or loosely regulated power supplies does a capacitor help.

http://www.cardomain.com/item/STISWKH4

 

I would second the idea of keeping 4-Gauge wire throughout the installation. I previously had 8-gauge and then switched to 4-gauge, and it made a difference.

As far as the wiring kit, i got the same one Ou Sig has and haven't had a problem with it

 

18ft total of power wire was enough? Also, what brand of RCA cables do people recommend? I'm seeing over $50 each for some brands...talk about expensive. I'm thinking high-end home audio RCA cables are just as shielded as car stereo ones and about 1/4 of the price.

I'm looking into the Stinger 4G multi-amp wiring kit....but it comes with 4G power wire and 8G ground wire. What gives?

 

i noticed w/the multi-power kits, they skimp on the thickness of the wire, so just get more power wire. Im not too knowlegeable on RCA's, some say they dont make a difference, others say they make all the difference. Im im the middle, i think if you get a decent set probably aroudn 20 buckz or so, that shoudl be alright.

 

First off, home high-end RCA's cost WAY more than car high-end RCA's. I think you mean home mid-fi RCA's. I'm pretty sure my MIT Terminators are more than you're talking about : )

Secondly, shielding in a car doesn't do a damned bit of good in my experience. You need twisted pair (and not the low-end street wires or any other lightly-twisted-but-not-enough-to-matter RCA.) You can take bell wire and twist it with a Makita and you can make twisted pair with more noise rejection than ANY shielded RCA. Noise rejection is more critical than SQ... but SQ in a car is hard to test for.

The Stinger kit comes with a power distribution block and 8 ga from the block to the amp. Ground the 8 ga gnd straight to the chassis with no block.

I dont care much about Power wire, speaker wire I'm iffy about, but signal RCA, I've had good SQ luck with the Monster XLN Micro and the old ZeroNoise 3.5 orange cables. I hear great things about IXOS RCA for SQ, but I've never heard any of it.

 

You know I'm down with IXOS

 

When your roomy works at Bose, RCA wires ARE 1/4 the price of car stereo RCA's

All i'm saying is the difference between decent home-theater RCA's and car stereo RCA's is that car stereo ones are overpriced for what they are.

Anyways, thanks for the input everyone. Hopefully i'll decide on the wires by this week. And is the capacitor really not necessary at all? I have one already...waste of time to hook up?

 

the capacitor isnt necessary with the amps you have, but it wont hurt anything - you could sell it or hook it up - whatever you want.