Infinity Basslink Instal/Settings on 04GT

[TElantra]

I am going to be getting the infinity Basslink for my 04 ElantraGT, I have a few questions I was hoping some of you may have answers to.
1. 8 or 10 gauge wire for the power? which is better?
2. How much is a fair price for an instal?
3. what additional wires are needed for the instal on a NIB unit? I would like to save some money by not buying the wires at a place like circuit city.
4. another member did not use the wired remote because his stereo had sub controls. I have the 04GT stock Kenwood system. should I use the high pass filter on the stereo, or the sub unit itself?
5. lastly, if one did use the remote, where did you mount it so it wouldnt be in the way.

I am trying to be as prepared as possible for this instal process. I have gotten 3 different prices on instals, but its the extra wires that jack up the price. Help.

[Kenshin]

If you're running an amplifier of any kind, whether it's built-in to the sub as in this one or external, never go smaller than 8ga wire. (the smaller the number, the bigger the wire.) The more surface area of wire the power has to flow over, the less resistance it will encounter, giving you cleaner, deeper bass. You'll need enough length of power cable to get from the positive terminal of your car's battery to wherever you're going to mount the sub, and enough length of ground wire (keep it the same size as the power wire) to reach a good ground point on the vehicle. You will also need a high-quality set of RCA cables to go from the deck to the sub. I believe the Basslink has a signal-sensing circuit, so you might not need a remote wire, but if you do, that will have to reach from the deck to the sub also. (remote wire can be pretty small, 18 to 20 ga should work fine.) The key thing to remember about stereo equipment and wire is this: The quailty of the wire has a direct impact on the quality of the sound coming through it. If you cheap out on the wire, you might as well cheap out on the rest of the system. As for your other questions, I will defer to the knowledge of some of the other members here, as it has been 5 years since I did any install work, and don't know what current rates are.

[southpawboston]

i can't speak as to labor rates these days since i haven't installed professionally in a long time either, but everything kenshin said is true. and yes to the 8-gauge wire, especially as you will be running it all the way back to the trunk. remember that not only the diameter of the wire is important, the length is as well. the longer the wire, the larger diameter it needs to be to keep resistance down to negligable levels. as for the head unit settings, you have to use the high-pass settings on the deck, since the deck is still going to be powering the speakers, only the sub will be getting it's own power. so set the kenwood to high-pass on the Front/Rear speakers, and low-pass to the sub. that should give decent results.