I ordered 18 ft RCA's which I think, in retrospect, will be a bit long. I have heard the 15-16 ft ones are perfect. Especially if you run them from the radio, under the center console and carpet to the back.

Just remember to get the right about. At least one pair for each amp, but some 4-channel amps use two sets.

I think you mentioned the Alpine F450, so that one might even have 3 sets. I have the 4 channel version, the F540, and it has two.

J.


2004 G35 Coupe 6MT
Volk GT-7's/ TEIN Basics
Falken 245/35/ZR19 & 285/35ZR19
Kinetix Racing Camber Rods/ K&N Typhoon CAI

 

I guess, if I'm not mistaken... all of my pre-outs will go to the 5-channel amp (yeah - the F450 from Alpine)... they'll start at the HU (3 sets of RCA's) and go to the Amp. One each for the fronts/rears/sub.

So for the fronts, you're saying instead of running the thicker wire through the door (what a pain), just connect the spkr wire to the existing wire that's already going into the door ... and then connect the wire that's connected to the factory spkrs to my new component set, right? I just want to make sure I don't have any "whine" in my system - that's my main concern. I plan on getting some shielded RCA's, but you can't do that with spkr wire if I'm not mistaken - you just have to get thicker wire to avoid signal loss...

Last thing - what's the best place to get some carpet/material to cover the box which matches the trunk material? I think I'm going to build a box in the middle area behind the back seat which fits snugly, and is a bit wide... but will have handles on each end in case I need to remove and unhook quickly. Ideas?... maybe I should have started a new post on that. lol

--Bamadog


Anywho, can't wait to get this crap done.

 

You can get the speaker box carpet from any stereo shop. For our cars, it is called Charcoal. And it is a near perfect match.

Different companies make the carpet so there might be an EXACT match out there. I wasn't that concerned since I am recovering everything in the trunk area.

I also got a good price. 3 square yards for $15. In Orlando, that about half price.

As for speaker wire, you get what you pay for. It all depends on what you are looking for. Some people swear by good wire, others think it is less important. It is hard to run the wires into the door, but can be done.

I guess the effort is worth it if you are putting in high end components. You don't want relatively inexpensive speaker cable being the "weakest link".

Also, if you use the stock speaker wires, you will have to cut and splice a section of wire to go back to your amp.

Jeremy


2004 G35 Coupe 6MT
Volk GT-7's/ TEIN Basics
Falken 245/35/ZR19 & 285/35ZR19
Kinetix Racing Camber Rods/ K&N Typhoon CAI

 

Is there a place online to get the charcoal carpet or is it cheaper/better to just get locally?

 

I don't see much of the Streetwires Zeronoise 3 at 16'.... but I do see the Version 2 at 20'. Do you think this would be good enough? The technology of the RCA cable itself looks very similar.... I see them on eBay for 16.50 + shipping. Does that look about right?

 

bama,

you can find ZN3's on sounddomain.com for relatively cheap. There have been some great reviews on the ZN3's. The ZN6's seemed good but more expensive and didn't seem to have any advantage over the ZN3's.