Question on speaker wiring

[chitowndad]

Ok, so I've got the door skins removed on my Boxster and I also removed the Bose speakers from the doors.

I have a silly question regarding the wiring that goes to the speakers. The 2 wires are black and black with a green stripe. Is the all black wire + and the wire with the stripe - ? Is it as simple as the thicker wire is + and the thinner wire is -? I know this sounds silly but I want to make sure. I'm replacing the doors with JL subs and eventually the main amp and head unit.

Where can I buy a wiring kit for the amp, head unit and speakers w/o buying the components from Crutchfield.

Any insight is appreciated.

Steve

[Burg Boxster]

it's been a while since I upgraded the door speakers in my Boxster so unfortunately I don't recall specifically which was which. However, IIRC the OEM plug has them marked + / - . Give a look. Otherwise, you check the Bentley manual as it will be marked in there.

[schoir]

Generally speaking, the striped wire will be the positive.

Regards, Maurice.

[chitowndad]

Is there a tool that I can use to test the polarity? Will it hurt the speaker if I connect it and switch the polarity multiple times to see what makes it work?

Thanks for the tip on the stripe = +

I got two 6 inch subs for the doors and I'm thinking of connecting the old wires to my new sub and a second pair of wires to the subs for when I run an amp. So when I get an amp I simply disconnect the old amp wires and connect the amp and the new wires to the amp and it switches me over to the new amp or would it cause a drain on the system.

Perhaps I'll just wire up the subs with new wiring and wait until I get an amp in a few months...

-Steve

[CT986S]

My 2 cents...
Bose head units and speakers are designed to go together - and the wiring they use is a small gauge(bigger number-smaller gauge). Therefore I am assuming you are changing head units as well.

You kind of imply you are replacing the wiring and asked about the polarity of the wires. Any decent new wires will be marked, even bulk wire.
However, from the question it seems you may try using the Bose wires. Everything I have read says it is HIGHLY recommended you install new wires if not using Bose speakers. Thicker, heavier gauge wires will allow much better bass especially if you add a big amp. It would seem that adding more copper (meaning thicker - not longer) would add more resistance, but that is not the case. Extremely thin wires will constrict the sound.

But to get back to the other question:
Generally speaking the switching of the + and - wires won't hurt the system or your speakers. It will imact the sound in that the speaker with the incorrect wiring will be out of phase. That may not be an issue in a convertible sports car, but would most certainly be audible in a good home system.

Like I said, just my 2 cents from years in the Miata community where people have been discussing the pros and cons of the Bose system. YRMV.

Kevin

[angman]

Here's a very useful site that has all the wiring colors for most cars. Unfortunately it looks like it only has it up to the 99 boxsters though. Not sure if the later models or Bose equiped systems are the same.

http://www.the12volt.com/installbay/vehiclewiring/1/yeard/Porsche.html