alt to gnd and battery to gnd are just as important

alright good, cause i got some 8 gauge.

tony

very few applications can stand up to 8awg, i use 4awg minimum on all my installs

hmm, well then looks like I'll have to run to the store. thanks for the help
tony

I always just say screw it and use 0-2awg wire.

Well I kind of Disagree with some of the responses here except for Pat'*. First of all, it takes power to make power and if your Alternator is not making the amperage that your stereo setup is pulling, then your going to continue to run into problems and possibly be stranded because your going to fry your current stock alt.

It happened to me with my 2500 Watt set up in my Eclipse and I ended up going with a 150 amp instead of the stock 65 amp. I still had some dimming, but only close to full volume.

If I were you, I would get the biggest amp alternator you can, under that hood of yours for starters, then upgrade the big three. Your going to end up spending a little bit of cash on the altenator, but in the end it will pay for itself saving you from towing fees as well as the cost of an alternator replacement.

Do some searching online for car audio help. Theres allot of great resources out there for the do it yourselfers.

right but if you dont upgrade the wiring you wont be able to take advantage of the extra power being made.

Upgrading all the wires may not solve his problem, especially if he is dimming so hard that the car is about to stall, but it may reduce it. As bad as he is describing the dimming I would think that he needs a 200+ amp alternator but he may find out it is not diming so bad after upgrading the wires. Maybe he only needs a 160a or 140a unit. I do not know for sure about the 00+ years, but I would imagine his alt is a 105a unit. He might ba able to get a 140a alternator off a SSEi for less money than a built-up unit. I think thats how they were in the 96-99 bonnevilles; 105a was standard and the SSEi'* got a 140a.
Slapping a 200 amp alternator in right now may be able to supply everything else with enough power, but it won't force more juice to the amplifier. If he only has 8ga wire the amp is probably being underpowered. Thats not good for the amp. Also, the wires may be overloaded trying to get all that juice back there, which can heat them up and potentially be a fire hazard.

Here is a guide for wire size, note this is based on RMS power and not peak power:

not only that, but If you dont upgrade the wiring after going big on the alt (depending on how much amperage the alt is putting out) There could be a fire risk involved.

What size are the Fuses on/in your Amp ?

Your Amp Cannot draw more power than what the Amplifer fuses are rated for, unless its a cheater amp (Fosgate, Orion etc. = no fuses, just more and more power).

Most big Amplifers will only eat a total of 60 Amps.

First thing I would do is upgrade your main ground & power wires from the, frame to the engine, engine to battery, battery to Alt.
Use 4 gauge wire or bigger. 4 gauge can handle 150 Amps. The whole electrical system of the car including the stereo should not draw more than that unless your entering SPL.

Also make sure that your Amp has a bigger ground wire than the power wire.
Make sure the ground point for your Amp & all main ground points are cleaned down to bare shiny metal, no paint. Do this with a grind stone and a wire wheel.

If this does not fix your problem with stalling and dimming lights, upgrade the Alt.

Upgrading the Battery will do nothing but waste money, cause once the car is running, its running off of the Alt, Not the Battery.

Dutch