So right now I've got a Kicker Comp 10 hooked up to some crappy Visonik amp I bought off a friend dirt cheap. It's simply not enough power anymore. I wanted to upgrade both to something more powerful (and better quality, 'cause the damned amp keeps going into protection mode), but I figured while I was at it I could get a multi-channel amp and amp up my speakers, too.

I was looking at the RE Audio SRx 10" sub (single) and it seems like a good buy. I was going to pair it with the Kicker ZX700.5 since that can run 420W to the sub and 85W into each speaker I've got. So I've got a few questions...

• Is 8AWG wiring enough for this much power?
• How easy would it be to amp my speakers without ripping them out and re-doing the whole thing?
• Is it even worth it to amp my speakers (Alpine SPS-17C2)?
• Has anybody used RE subs? I've not heard much about them...
• Would I be better off with a single five-channel amp or a separate 4-channel amp for the speakers and a monoblock/2-channel for the sub? Cost is fairly important; I'm not about to go spend $1,000 just for two new components. At least not yet

Thanks in advance guys and gals

 

I'll say this first. Search. Please.

Now to answer your questions:
1. As long as you keep your wires under 12 feet for the speakers, and under 8 feet for your subwoofer, you'll be fine. (http://www.canadiancaraudio.com/cableinfo.html)
2. It probably will be easy. You may need to get a distribution block, IF you get two amps, to split the single run of power into two.
3. Speakers will ALWAYS benefit from more power, but make sure those speakers can handle it.
4. RE subs are really nice. They were good about a year/ 2 years ago, so I'm sure they'll still be good today.
5. A five channel is a smart idea to save space and money. Two amps mean that you need a distrib. block for power.

Hope I helped.

 

4 awg for anything over 500 watts upto about 1000w.

 

From what I can tell you can't go wrong with 4 awg. Usually a good idea to go one step up from what you currently need.