Alpine 9815

JDOGG

If i were to get an Alpine CDA-9815,would i need the 10 gauge kit for power if i am using external amps?

sntnsupermen131

your wiring for amps has nothing to do with your head unit
it depends on how many watts rms you amp is
-Cody

JDOGG

at crutchfield they said the head unit needs a 10 gauge kit for power.

sntnsupermen131

crutchfield is whack...
you need a wiring harness for your radio to integrate it with your factory wiring
im 100000% sure you do not get your wiring kit for an amp based on your head unit
the wiring doesnt even touch the head unit
if your amp is 100 watts or smaller...10awg
100-400watts...8awg
400-1000...4awg
1000-1500...1/0awg
somewhere along those lines
-Cody

C-Man

Crutchfield says that if you are purchasing this deck you'd have to get the 10 guage amp kit if you are going to be running the internal amp in the head unit because of the high output of the
V-Drive amp built into it. If you are using separate amps it seems like there would be no need to get the kit, unless the deck doesn't have built in power and ground wires. You might want to just call Crutchfield and ask how that works. It doesn't make a lot of sense though to need a kit for 27 watts rms, when the Blaupunkt San Francisco puts out 33 watts rms and doesn't need a kit...

JDOGG

Alright thanks guys

sntnsupermen131

well i looked at it...why you need a kit...i dunno...crutchfield isnt whack...alpine is...but anyways i doubt you need a whole kit as crutchfield says...it says it needs a fused line that runs to the battery
i would suggest going to a place that sells 10awg wire...buy enough to run to the battery (or fuse relay) and enough for a ground if it needs it
i wouldnt call crutchfield either...id call alpine...im 99% sure you dont need a whole kit which consists of rcas, speaker wire, etc...
i think you just need a fuse/fuse holder/10awg wire
call alpine...crutchfield will probably try to sell you the whole kit
-Cody

Mike

I was looking into buying an Alpine 9813 and read the same thing on Crutchfield. Doesn't really make sense to me. Are they telling you to splice a 10awg to the existing wire from the head unit? If so what good is splicing a 10 awg wire to a 18 or 16 awg wire from the head unit? I think, (but maybe I'm wrong) won't it only draw as much current that the smaller wire will handle?

sntnsupermen131

I think, but im not sure, that its just like an amp, where you screw the power wire into the back of it
so if you dont have the power wire...the internal amp inside the head unit isnt going to work
again id call alpine on that one
that or go with pioneer...
-Cody

PoweredByDodge

regarding the 60+ x 4 Vdrive alpine headunits... (not all alpines, just those)


if you hook your speakers up to the 4 channels on the head unit and use the head's internal amp, it's going to suck a bit more current than normal... but i found that 14 gauge was plenty... 12 if u were nitpicky... best idea is to measure your length to the under the hood fuse box (or battery - or distor block) and buy half that length in 12 gauge speaker wire, rip down teh middle, splice and go.

if you just run the head for the preouts and not hte internal amp, then your OEM wiring behind the dash is plenty.


as far as "but wouldn't it not matter anyway because the head only has 18 gauge comin out the back?".

resistivity is also determinied by distance as much as it is by face area of the wire... in short... if you've gotta suck air through a straw that's 6 inches long, its not the easiest thing to do when you're out of breath, but you can do it... try doing it on a 30 foot long piece of straw -- you'd prolly die.

you can "smoosh" (for lack of a better way of saying this - and i'm frickin tired too) more current through a 6 inch piece of 18 gauge wire than through a 10 foot piece. the longer the wire run, the larger the gauge wire needed.

this is why you can take 1000 - 1500 watt class D amps, run a single 0 gauge line to a distrubution block (a 15 foot run from battery to block) and then split at the block into two 4 gauge 3 foot lines (one to each amp). you can run 100 amps through 4 gauge for a few feet, but not over a long distance... normally that amp would call for 2 gauge, but in this case, you got away with 4 for the very short run. if you want a full proof of this... buy a book... i've been forced to sit through it in pieces at one point or another, but to be honest i remember just about none of the "why" it is the way it is, but just that it is. i'm pretty sure its the resistivity of the material (wire) over long lengths versus short lengths... but there's gotta be more than that to it -- anybody have any thoughts?

Systems

well, just like you said PBD, if you try to suck on a short straw you can do it. But a longer straw is harder to suck through. Same for wire. Current can run OK for a short disence on smaller wire without problem, but the longer the wire the more resistence it poses and the less current it can move...I think. It's been a while since physics class...I swear current flow is somehow related to wire diameter...must remember...aw, **** it.

MTXMAN

I agree about buying a pioneer or eclipse instead ;D
JK though alpine's a good brand, just not my style