Car sound .... speaker wire gauge, butt connectors, and crimping tools ... help?

Question

I will be replacing my car stereo and speakers soon. I want to replace the speaker wire too, but I am unsure if one gauge us better than another or which to use at all. Also, I prefer not to use electrical tape, and from the bit of useful info I have found online it seems I should use butt connectors and a crimping tool. But is the crimping tool necessary? I don't want to spend money on it if I don't have to and I can't find a complete enough description that says I definitely need it or that I don't. Would a makeshift 'tool' that applies pressure unevenly suffice?

And if speaker gauge needs are dependent on the music played in any way, I don't plan on playing it too loud and the speakers I'm looking at support up to 140w & 260w.

Any and all thoughts on the subject are welcome.

Answer 1

If your car is a newer model the wiring the factory has put in is quite capable of handling your door speakers and rear deck speakers. If you still want to replace your wiring a good multistrand 16 ga speaker wire is very good choice for your door speakers. don't use butt connectors it is better to solder the connections. If you are going to install Amps larger wire will have to be used. again soldering the connections is far better than butt connectors. try to mount the amp as close to the sub as possible to make your wire run short use at least 10ga wire for power source and install the proper size fuses.

Reason I choose to solder is a proper solder joint with heat shink tubing over it , is as strong as the wire , it does not come loose and there is no loss of voltage across the joint. In this case signal to the speakers.