coolcat467 Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Today I got some new speaker wire for my subs and I wired them up and everytime I turn them on now, they make like a cracking sound. After that they start going but they arent as loud and dont hit as hard as before. I was wondering if anyone had an idea as to what was wrong. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xer0 Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 did u wire it the same way u had it before? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mycarsux Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 The only thing you changed is the connections and the wire...what do you think is wrong with it?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xer0 Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 some metals when mated = bad ie tin and gold ges what allot of audio stuff uses? gess what expensive wires use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airjordan223 Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 its probably your connetions to the subs. like mycarsux said, you just changed the wire, thats the only thing you can check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xer0 Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Avoid Mating Gold With Tin Avoid mating connectors with different material for the pins. Mate tin-to-tin pins or gold-to-gold pins, but not tin to gold. The reason for this is oxidation, wear at the connection surface, and the transfer of metal from one contact to the other, are all caused by a phenomenon called "fretting." A connection is subject to very small motions (fretting) caused by vibration or by expansion and contraction as temperatures vary. Tin reacts with oxygen easily to form a tin oxide film on the contact surface with the result that the electrical connection at the contacts starts to deteriorate as the contact resistance increases. The effect is somewhat ameliorated when tin mates to tin. The mechanical action of making the connection forms cracks in the oxide allowing the softer tin to show through. But with tin and gold it's a different story. As the connection is made, tin tends to transfer to the gold pins, and eventually form a tin oxide layer on the gold. Because the gold surface is harder than tin, the oxide coating is less likely to crack or rub off, and can build up fairly quickly. So, if you are having problems with audio or control connections, check the metallic makeup of the pins in the connectors. If you have tin mated with gold, try changing the connector with the gold pins to tin. It will at least be an improvement over tin to gold. Better yet, change both to connectors with gold pins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick B. Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 how much power are you running through the speaker wires? maybe you dont have the right gauge wire and youre frying them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolcat467 Posted January 19, 2007 Author Share Posted January 19, 2007 how much power are you running through the speaker wires?maybe you dont have the right gauge wire and youre frying them. I am running the same guage wire as before. The only gold connectors that I can find are too wide to fit inside the terminals or whatever. Would it be alright if I just ground them down? Is it bad that I went with speaker wire that is the next guage bigger? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick B. Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 well, if you go with a gauge wire that is larger than its supposed to be, then it will underpower the speakers and give you the effects that youre describing. also, you dont want to grind anything down to ghetto rig it. you always want to do it right the first time. where are you buying your audio supplies? circut city, best buy, even walmart has a decent selection of wires to buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolcat467 Posted January 19, 2007 Author Share Posted January 19, 2007 I am getting them at a local store dedicated to audio. I found some smaller ones today. However, even when I hook up the old wire, they still do the same thing. Is it possible that I damaged them by underpowering them one time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shags Posted March 6, 2007 Share Posted March 6, 2007 I am no expert but I have never heard of having too big a wire gauge. The wire is just a passage a tunnel for the power to run through. Think of it if your a fat man going through a small door, the man being the power, the door being the gauge of the wire, now the man has a hard time fitting through the door, and it can only put half of himself through the door (lol walk sideways). If you say made the door bigger, the man would walk through fine. All of him would go through at once. If you made the door super big... same effect as having the right size door. I think the actual power loss of a bigger cable would be very minimal. I do not see any damage being done to the subs at all, just does not make logical sense to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
93b18c5FERIO Posted March 6, 2007 Share Posted March 6, 2007 i have to agree i dont think that there is to big of guage, why dont you just take it to a stereo shop and say hey what do you think this sound is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Pisto Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 Having thicker wire is not the problem...especially if its only the next gauge thicker. Now if you start going with thinner gauge wires then that creates a problem. As long as you dont try using excessive gauge wiring, for example 1/0 for speaker wiring, you should be fine. For speakers 12 gauge is all you need, for subs, 8 gauge, for your power and ground wire it all depends on how much power you're giving. I was using 1/0..still am, but I have used a couple runs of 1/0...too bad i blew a voice coil on my DD....6500w amp with stock 90A alt FTL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.