Hoping to get started getting the Mustang interior back together.
Going to go ahead and run all my wires while everything is ripped out.
So need good speaker wire to run from the hatch to the doors and RCAs from the hatch to the dash.

The dash has some small 3.5” speakers and thought about just keeping those powered by the head unit as they don’t really need much power and just leave the rears, doors, and sub powered by the amp.

Guess I’ll need a good power wire as well.

Metra Electronics has some good products.

Any decent main line cable and wire will be fine. I sell JL Audio, and their basic wire/cables are fine. Just make sure that any wire you use is 100% copper- look for the designation "OFC", for "oxygen free copper". There is nothing wrong with premium brands, ie. Monster Wire, but in my opinion that is totally unnecessary. 16 gauge should be good for speaker wire.

Also, I understand the thought of running wire while the car is apart, but think about future serviceability. We generally don't have any issues running wires in cars, so unless you have something that is normally unaccessable, I'd think hard about doing that.

I'd suggest amplifiying the dash speakers as well as the others-otherwise you'll barely hear them, if at all, over the amplified door speakers. Maybe use a component set in the front, with the tweeters in the dash and midrange in the door. A good 5 channel amp will make life easy.

I'll be happy to answer any questions or suggest product if you want.

Thank you.
The OFC designation was what I was mainly looking for.
Everything is stripped currently so I am going to run everything as one would normally do but also do it as I put everything back together so I don’t have to pull panels and trim pieces again.
Everything will he ran even if I don’t have the component yet.

I sent you an email honestlou.

I was in the Audio Biz (car and home) before computers.
I agree with everything honestlou says (we also had a store in BR back in the 80's too).
You don't have to buy a name brand cable but just look at the specifications and get the proper thickness for the job and use good connectors.
One of the biggest issues can be with the flexibility of the cable ~ if it gets too thick or stiff it can be hard to run.
I always used thicker for power and ground and less for speaker connections ~ usually 16 awg on average.
Not the issue at hand but on home audio I always insist on units with banana plugs whenever possible - running thicker gauge wires with push pin connectors is almost impossible and unreliable.
Just have fun!

Email replied to.

smschulz, were you in Baton Rouge, or just your company had a store here? I've owned the business since 1986, but worked for my brother before then.

I sold 8 track decks and put in alarms before they had remotes. We drilled holes in the fender for a key switch, covered by a reflector.

quote:

Originally posted by honestlou:
Email replied to.

smschulz, were you in Baton Rouge, or just your company had a store here? I've owned the business since 1986, but worked for my brother before then.

I sold 8 track decks and put in alarms before they had remotes. We drilled holes in the fender for a key switch, covered by a reflector.

I managed all the Houston Stores and another guy managed the LA stores (it included Beaumont).
I did come in for some sales on occasion.
All Star Audio - we were on Florida BLVD.
I left in 1985 and I don't recall exactly when we exited the market but sometime in that time frame.
New Gen was too much for us to handle.

Just recently I used this wiring kit for my grandson car. We got the 2ga. kit, good fuse, good wires. Link below.
.
https://www.amazon.com/Rockvil...Copper/dp/B019Z3RB7C

quote:

Originally posted by Greymann:
Just recently I used this wiring kit for my grandson car. We got the 2ga. kit, good fuse, good wires. Link below.
.
https://www.amazon.com/Rockvil...Copper/dp/B019Z3RB7C

I hate to tell you, but that is NOT good wire, and it's not copper. It's most likely CCA, copper clad aluminum. And it poses a fire hazard. It may work fine, but make damn sure you have it isolated and protected everywhere. Did you run it through a plastic or rubber grommet through the firewall?

quote:

Originally posted by honestlou:

quote:

Originally posted by Greymann:
Just recently I used this wiring kit for my grandson car. We got the 2ga. kit, good fuse, good wires. Link below.
.
https://www.amazon.com/Rockvil...Copper/dp/B019Z3RB7C

I hate to tell you, but that is NOT good wire, and it's not copper. It's most likely CCA, copper clad aluminum. And it poses a fire hazard. It may work fine, but make damn sure you have it isolated and protected everywhere. Did you run it through a plastic or rubber grommet through the firewall?

..........................
Yes for a grommet and power wire was all copper, all lugs got soldered.

.

quote:

Originally posted by Greymann:

quote:

Originally posted by honestlou:

quote:

Originally posted by Greymann:
Just recently I used this wiring kit for my grandson car. We got the 2ga. kit, good fuse, good wires. Link below.
.
https://www.amazon.com/Rockvil...Copper/dp/B019Z3RB7C

I hate to tell you, but that is NOT good wire, and it's not copper. It's most likely CCA, copper clad aluminum. And it poses a fire hazard. It may work fine, but make damn sure you have it isolated and protected everywhere. Did you run it through a plastic or rubber grommet through the firewall?

..........................
Yes for a grommet and power wire was all copper, all lugs got soldered.

.

I'm glad that you used a grommet. That is absolutely NOT copper power wire. Both the Amazon listing and the manufacturer's website state that the RCAs use 100% copper, but do not include the power wire in that statement. The manufacturer's website says "Rockville wires are made with around 3 times as much copper as any other wire at this price point". I don't know if that's true, but I do know that they contain very little copper.

Using Amazon's specs, the JL Audio basic 4 gauge kit, which is not true 4 gauge, weighs more than that Rockville 2 gauge kit. If you ever see, or more importantly feel, 100% copper next to aluminum wire, the difference is very obvious.

Again, I'm not saying that wire won't work, but I want to educate people about the differences. I have seen vehicle fires started with badly routed aluminum wire. That's not to say that copper wire can't start a fire if used incorrectly. But aluminum wire has a lower melting point, and can't carry the same current as like sized copper wire.

Lou, all I know is when I cut the cable it most certainly looked like pure copper not coated aluminum. I do know the difference between aluminum and copper. But I did not get a lab analysis nor did I weigh the cable, but it did have weight to it.

I do appreciate your insight.

In the past I've used 0ga from local welding supply for battery relocations. This was our first choice but the price has gone crazy.

Car amp was a 1500 watt mono block with two 10 inch subs. Works great nothing gets hot. Used copper lugs because the kit came with thin plated lugs. Our only issue was mounting the fuse block close enough to the battery.

.

quote:

Originally posted by Greymann:
Lou, all I know is when I cut the cable it most certainly looked like pure copper not coated aluminum. I do know the difference between aluminum and copper. But I did not get a lab analysis nor did I weigh the cable, but it did have weight to it.

I do appreciate your insight.

In the past I've used 0ga from local welding supply for battery relocations. This was our first choice but the price has gone crazy.

Car amp was a 1500 watt mono block with two 10 inch subs. Works great nothing gets hot. Used copper lugs because the kit came with thin plated lugs. Our only issue was mounting the fuse block close enough to the battery.

.

Looks like alot of the Amazon reviews give it a low rating because of them not being so truthful about their copper claims.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:

quote:

Originally posted by honestlou:
Email replied to.

smschulz, were you in Baton Rouge, or just your company had a store here? I've owned the business since 1986, but worked for my brother before then.

I sold 8 track decks and put in alarms before they had remotes. We drilled holes in the fender for a key switch, covered by a reflector.

I managed all the Houston Stores and another guy managed the LA stores (it included Beaumont).
I did come in for some sales on occasion.
All Star Audio - we were on Florida BLVD.
I left in 1985 and I don't recall exactly when we exited the market but sometime in that time frame.
New Gen was too much for us to handle.

I shopped at All Star Audio on Florida back then. And you're right abtou New Gen they were blowing and going back then. I have a good friend that worked for them and then moved to Lafayette to work that store. He's had his own store in Lafayette for years now it's Audio Video Innovators. My go to store in BR is honestlou's store he put my radio in my truck a couple years ago.