Im gona go ahead and drill my subs to my box so when I get my amp installed all they have to do is install the amp.

what gauge wire should I use to connect the subs to the box? (I hope you know what I'm talking about, wire from the subs to the inside of the box, and then wire from the outside of the box to the amp). red is positive and black is negative, but what is the one that has the line running down the wire?

would 14 gauge speaker wire work?

 

for subs? you're kidding... that's like the remote wire... i'd go with 10gauge, depending on what kind of wattage you're running to them. 10 gauge is normally sufficient.

a third wire? where's it connected and what color is it, and what color is the stripe. more info.

 

the line down the wire is usually to help distinguish the two, depending on how you wired them. Also 14 gauge is a bit to small... get a bigger wire like Littlehag said

 

ok I dont mean theres a third wire... Im asking of the 2 wires (positive and negative) which one has the line running down it? the positive or the negative?

and 10 gauge should be fine for connecting subs to the box? what about from the box to amp then?

btw, i have 2 12" sony p5's 1300 watts each, 380 rms each, and a 2000 watt profile ap2000 amp.

 

The speaker wire used should be the same from teh sub all the way to the amp...so if its 10 inside the box keep using 10 outside. I've always used 12ga. and never had a problem.

Remote wires are usually 16-18ga...(at least most of the prepackaged wiring kits I've seen)

 

the wire with the line can be whichever you want to make it, + or -
I'd go with positive, just preference.

 

ok i called circuit city and he told me they would use between 12-16 gauge wire, so I told him the specs of my system and said 14 would be fine

 

14 will be fine, but 10 will be better...

 

Ok...well because this is still being somewhat debated...I dug into it a little further...though keep in mind this info may not be 100% accurate because there are things to factor in...and I'm not sure that the rating was for a multistrand copper wire...but this should get you pretty close.

Your amp (Profile ap2000) is rated:
ยป 960 W x 1 RMS bridged @ 4 ohms
ยป 480 Wx 2 RMS @ 2 ohms
ยป 320 W x 2 RMS @ 4 ohms

Your subs (Sony xplode 12" P5) have a 4ohm SVC.

The wire size you need is determined by the amperage being drawn through it. So you gotta get to that number... the calculation being Amp= the square root of watts/ohms.

So in your case...(and this is assuming you'll wire up the subs in stereo at a 4ohm load...I say that because your amp is rated 2ohm stereo/4ohm bridged and with those subs the only way not to draw too big of a load is to wire it up stereo) ....so your 320 watts rms/4ohm = 80....the square root of that is ~8.9 amps.

a 14ga wire is rated at ~32amp max load...so you should be just fine.

(on a side note...with that calculation even if you had 1000watts per sub at a 2ohm load you'd be at 22.36 amps...still fine for a 14ga wire)

Now could you go with 10ga sure...but once you already exceed the amperage requirements there is absolutely no benefit...why waste the money?

If I am wrong someone please correct me...was trying to take a stab and figuring this out mathematically...but it's been several years since I got outta college and this isn't the type of stuff I do everyday for a living..

 

i think your over thinking this guys. the important wires will be the power and groung wires going from the battery to the amp. the wires coming from the subs to the box can be anything from 12ga. (preferably) to 16ga. because of it only having to travel such a short distance 14 or 16 ga. will be fine. but 12 ga. is just an added bonus. its what i use.