0 or 4 gauge wire?

Question

Here is my setup

MTX Audio Thunder 1501D Amp

Sledge Hammer box with 3 MTX Audio Thunder 5500 10" subwoofers

On the back of the amp it says to use 1/0 gauge wire only. My installer said that i could go with good 4 gauge instead, and that he used 4 gauge wire on these types of amps before is this a good or bad idea?

Answer 1

go with 1/0 gauge wire from the beginning dude. might as well drop the money on some good quality cable and not have to take it out later on to upgrade to the thicker one.

let me give u a site that ive bought all my cable for the builds ive done

http://www.knukonceptz.com/productMaster...

price is a bit lower than the competitors, but the quality is very very good. the KLM series works wonders and its true 1/0. both of the Kolossus series are much better but their 1/0 cable is actually a bit thicker and very flexible. but imo thats just for looks.

i would also recommend you doing the big3 wiring upgrade. this will help u have a better current flow.

Answer 2

go with 0 in case you decided to upgrade or something

Answer 3

Stay with the 0g, might be diffrent if you werent runnin 3-10's but since you are i wouldnt skimp on power. Why not buy a cell and optima battery and 0g wire?

Answer 4

The MTX 1501D has connections made for the 1/0 gauge wire.

Your amp, depending on impedence, is going to give off a little over 1000 watts.  So stick with the 1/0.

I have two 8500's with that same amp, it measured at 1262watts.  I stuck with high composite Kicker1/0 wiring kit.  Its a really nice kit.

Answer 5

your installer is a jack, but if youre okay with losing around 30% of your power, go ahead and do it "good enough".

Answer 6

Honestly, I would not even have the system put in by this installer if they are even suggesting to you to use 4 gauge wire, regardless of how "good" the 4 gauge is.

You really only want to have to wire once, so do it right the first time.  If MTX says use 1/0 gauge wire, use 1/0 gauge wire.  It's essential to use the right gauge wire, particularly in a long run (e.g. amp installed all the way back to the trunk) to avoid voltage drops so that you don't starve your amp of the power it needs to operate at its best.  If you price the kits, you'll see there isn't much price difference between the two.