Factory speaker wiring rating?

[Type550]

Hi guys,
Anyone know how many watts the factory premium speaker system wiring can handle?
Would it support 70w-100w RMS? Or do I need to run all new speaker wires?
Also, does the factory amp send full range signal to the rear deck speakers?
Thanks in advance!

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[MegaG]

Some info to consider

Factory Wiring is 18 gauge the same as 9 conductor Speed Wire cable. Some people including car audio shops use Speed wire to run amp speaker outputs back to the factory harness and have had no issues, some only use it on the imput signal side from the factory radio to the amps high level inputs.

Remember music is dynamic so even though an amp is capable of 70-100 Watts RMS you would have to be continuously playing a sine wave to acheive that power over the wire and at the speaker for any length of time so this is why you can get away with 18 gauge in many installs. The dynamic nature of the music keeps you from overheating the wire.

Many would prefer to run something larger then 18 gauge to the speakers but the factory door connectors (the Mustang in particular is worse then other) makes it difficult to get larger wiring to the speakers in the door (watch this for fun )

If you are installing a new amp in the trunk, I recommend running something larger than 18 gauge from the trunk to the where you plan on tying into the speaker doors (likely the kick panel). 16 should be plenty but if you tend to be OCD about things you could go with 14. Some run 12 but, IMHO, not really necessary.

You can get all new wiring to all of the other speakers. Tweeters will never need the size of the larger wire. The higher frequencies just don't draw the full power available at the amp. The lower frequencies are the power hogs. But this also depends on whether you will be running an active set-up or using a passive crossover. In the factory system, the door midrange (call tweeter by Ford) and the A-pillar tweeter are wired in parallel. So what you do will depend on whether you are running 2 or 3 channels per side for the front left/right

Here's some info I refer to from time to time

https://www.the12volt.com/wiring/recommended-car-stereo-wire-sizes.asp

I sometimes run a size larger then I think I need for reliability reasons (i.e. holding up to wear better over time) then a load reason but you have to be able to fit all the wires in the space you have. I recommend using a twisted pair for your speaker wiring to cut down on the potential for noise. I see you're in Australia so I don't know what you have access to locally. Also, you vehicle year isn't listed.

I am using this on my current build:

http://www.knukonceptz.com/mobile-a...aker-kable/sp/karma-ss-16-gauge-speaker-wire/

Note I have a base radio so I will tap into the wiring harness (using a T-harness) in the dash not the left kick panel where the premium systems have their amp.

I am running the 16 to the front tweeters (I am running my speakers active) and then 12 gauge to the front wiring harness and the rear deck but that was a mistake. I should have run 14 or even stayed with the 16 for the front wiring harness for the front channels. Since I can go directly to the rear deck from the amp which makes it a short run bypassing the factory harness, 16 would have been more then enough here but since I have used up some of my 16 on my shop system and a system for my daugther I will use what I have.

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/the-rating-of-factory-speaker-wires.125242/

 

[Type550]

Great, thanks for your detailed reply and feedback

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