Speaker wire to the enclosure

[SesameCreeps]

At what wattage should the wire from the amp to the sub enclosure be bigger than 8ga? Seeing big amps, 4000watts+, have 8ga speaker wire inputs. Why cant I use 4ga? Seems like a lot of power for 8ga. Thanx for any advice 

[Carrotslayer]

I mean i use 12ga for 1200 watts so id think  8 gauge would be ok for 4k rms. If you want to uses 4 gauge use a reducer brother and make your dreams a reality. XD. Best of luck my fellow bass head! 

 

[audiofanaticz]

Even 8 gauge is boarder line overkill for 4000 watts, unless the wires are extremely long which is usually not the case.

Nothing is saying you cant use 4 gauge, but its not needed.

Car amps run off DC (direct current) which means low voltage high amperage draw.
Your amp turns that DC into AC (alternating current) which means high voltage low amperage.
So you can switch your speaker wires (pos and neg) around and it will play just fine (as long as you do it to all the subs if you have more than one) because the signal alternates. 
This is just like your electrical wiring in your house which uses rather small electrical wires even for larger appliances. 
High current is what needs larger wire, but the current that amps put out to your speakers is still rather low.
Using 4 gauge on 5000-8000 watts will give you no benefit except a lighter weight wallet.
 

[MG88]

You could check http://www.bcae1.com/ 

It can explain thoroughly why. It's been a great resource for me in fine-tuning my system and giving me ideas on how to improve it.