Quick question I can't seem to find a quick answer on... Is there a downside to using the stock speaker wires when adding an amp?

Quick summary: Originally had a Lexus and paid for sound advice to do the install. It was a leased car so when I returned it they pulled everything out for me.

Flash back to today: I refuse to be a newb and pay someone else to do my install! However, I noticed that the speaker wires they used are kinda odd in that there are only 2 of them! 1 'wire' actually holds 4 wires inside (red/black/white/green) and is a good quality one, however since these 4 wires are bundled together I'm GUESSING they just ran both of these back to the head unit and tapped into the stock wiring there... otherwise, I would expect to find 4 individual speaker wires.

SO... rather than cutting and re-running everything, I was hoping the sound would not be negatively affected by just doing what I think they did... any input?

 

you can probably get better sound out of new wire. probably run you another 50-100 and a couple hours. If you want to replace the wiring, replace as much as possible.

What kind of speakers are you running in the doors?

and btw im still using stock speaker wires

 

Right on... I'm using Boston SL95's in the rear and forget the model for the fronts as I havent even messed with those yet...been working on building an adapter as all of my speakers came outta an IS300 and none fit this truck...haha

I think for now I'm just going to tap into the existing lines... I realize there will probably be a portion of sound quality lost but I also believe in degrees of quality. I'm cool with settling on mediocre for now and will look to re-wire the entire thing later.

I'll tell ya though - for what I paid to have sound advice install the first set, it's like a slap in the face knowing they use the lexus stock wires... bastards!

 

How many watts are you going to be running through it? (RMS, per channel)


Speaker wire is pretty much speaker wire, if you know what I mean, as long as its a large enough gauge to handle the amount of power you are running through it.

 

Runnin a JBL 300 to em... and another omni-channel for the sub, which I'll install at a later date once I actually build an enclosure. I intend to run new speaker wires at that point, pull out all the seats and tidy things up a bit, etc....

At least the install is finally complete! Took all freak'n day but I'm very pleased with the sound. Far from 'competition' quality, but insanely better than the stock crap that was in there!

Now it's time to troll the city with it... haha

 

I'd say if your pushing over 50w I'd run new wire. While you have eveything apart lay down some sound deadening as well.

 

if you happened to have bought the speakers from sound advice they will reinstall into your new car for free....

 

Would it be a noticable difference from stock wires if changed to other wires?

 

If you were pushing the limits of the stock speaker wires then yes, maybe...

If your only running a set of coaxials off an aftermarket HU say, then there is really no reason to change the stock speaker wires unless you just want to ditch all the factory wiring.