owdi, did you check what's the weight of the Slimline 10 ? I think it's a better woofer than the Peerless CSX.
Someone correct me if I butcher the math or the reasoning. I didn't read this in a book, I just figured it out.
The reason car audio applications require large power wire is because of the large amounts of current the amplifiers draw.
For an amplifier to draw 3300 watts:
At 110 volts AC, the impedance at the amplifier needs to be 3.667 ohms. This will cause 30 amperes of current to flow. 100 feet of 14 awg wire has a resistance of .25 ohms, and this causes about 200 watts of power to be lost as heat.
At 12.5 volts DC, the input resistance of the amplifier needs to be .047 ohms. This will cause 264 amperes of current to flow. 20 feet of 10 awg wire has a resistance of .02 ohms, and this causes about 1300 watts of power to be lost as heat.
The 20 feet of 10 awg has half the mass of 100 feet of 14 awg, but it needs to dissipate over 1000 watts more in heat. I don't think that would be enough to melt the copper, but it would certainly start a fire in your car.
Dan
The reason car audio applications require large power wire is because of the large amounts of current the amplifiers draw.
For an amplifier to draw 3300 watts:
At 110 volts AC, the impedance at the amplifier needs to be 3.667 ohms. This will cause 30 amperes of current to flow. 100 feet of 14 awg wire has a resistance of .25 ohms, and this causes about 200 watts of power to be lost as heat.
At 12.5 volts DC, the input resistance of the amplifier needs to be .047 ohms. This will cause 264 amperes of current to flow. 20 feet of 10 awg wire has a resistance of .02 ohms, and this causes about 1300 watts of power to be lost as heat.
The 20 feet of 10 awg has half the mass of 100 feet of 14 awg, but it needs to dissipate over 1000 watts more in heat. I don't think that would be enough to melt the copper, but it would certainly start a fire in your car.
Dan
Owdi,
OK ok, so you got me... it does make sense to use a higher guage wire for the same power/length requirements, BUT what marketers would have you believe(everything should be 4 guage or larger) is a total lie. I've used solid 12 guage wire to hook up amps ranging from 100-1000watts and never have had a problem. The wire length is small, the power drawn is little, the wire doesnt need to be extreme!
OK ok, so you got me... it does make sense to use a higher guage wire for the same power/length requirements, BUT what marketers would have you believe(everything should be 4 guage or larger) is a total lie. I've used solid 12 guage wire to hook up amps ranging from 100-1000watts and never have had a problem. The wire length is small, the power drawn is little, the wire doesnt need to be extreme!
i have 2 runs of 2/0 wire to each of my 2 amps in my car and planning on upping that to at least 4 by the end of the season if i seem to need it, and i think i will
i am also using 8 awg for speaker wire right now but planning on running at least 4 awg
oh i am not just street beating this setup i am comepting in db drag and have 2 of earthquakes biggest amps i have measured the amp draw at 14.2 volts with the engine at idle a 60 amp alt and a 1100 cca battery to draw 154 amps each i am not sure of the voltage drop but i am guessig there was at least 2 volt
on the speaker leads i measured a 150 volt and 25 amp reading well at least that is the fastest i could look at both meters and get a good reading befor the voltage drop started to change the numbers drasticly
and that was at a load of 1.4 ohm to a pair of strapped amps when i get done testing and add my other 10" sub and drop the impedance to .7 ohm thats a .35 ohm load to tha amps there should be some serious current draw
right now with 1 10 " sub in a 3 cube ported box tuned to about 40 hz i am hovering arround the 140-145db mark not exactaly sure havent had time to get the termlab out yet
i am also using 8 awg for speaker wire right now but planning on running at least 4 awg
oh i am not just street beating this setup i am comepting in db drag and have 2 of earthquakes biggest amps i have measured the amp draw at 14.2 volts with the engine at idle a 60 amp alt and a 1100 cca battery to draw 154 amps each i am not sure of the voltage drop but i am guessig there was at least 2 volt
on the speaker leads i measured a 150 volt and 25 amp reading well at least that is the fastest i could look at both meters and get a good reading befor the voltage drop started to change the numbers drasticly
and that was at a load of 1.4 ohm to a pair of strapped amps when i get done testing and add my other 10" sub and drop the impedance to .7 ohm thats a .35 ohm load to tha amps there should be some serious current draw
right now with 1 10 " sub in a 3 cube ported box tuned to about 40 hz i am hovering arround the 140-145db mark not exactaly sure havent had time to get the termlab out yet
BassAwdyO said:
Oh I agree. It's funny to see 300 watt class D amplifiers with 4 awg power connectors, but that is what customers respond to. Stupid marketing needs stupid customers to be effective.
Saftey standards for wire guage requirements have to cover a very broad operating range. For you, running 12 awg power wire to a 1000 watt amplifier may have been fine. Now what if you were in Arizona, in August, and it was 110*F outside? While driving around you roll your windows down and crank the volume until your amplifier is clipping. The resistance of copper wire increases by about 2% per 10*F. Would you still be comfortable with 12 awg power wire?
Dan
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