Legacy LAMP4 1600 watt 4 gauge Amp Kit

Kit Includes:

20′ Clear Red 4 Gauge bare copper clad aluminum power wire

4′ Clear Black 4 Gauge bare copper clad aluminum ground wire

20′ Clear Blue RCA Cable

20′ Blue 16 Gauge speaker wire

60A AGU Fuse, fuse holder, ring and spade terminals, wire loom and wire ties.

Diving into the Legacy amp kit was a breeze, the packaging was the easiest to open of the 7 amp kits tested. The flip top gift box design was compact and listed the full contents of the kit. The Legacy LAMP4 was the least expensive of all the kits yet also included the longest length power and ground wire, 20ft and 4ft respectively. The outer diameter of the Legacy amp kit was the smallest of the group at 9mm and no surprise, the copper clad aluminum conductor followed suit with a measurement of 8.66mm^2. As indicated by our graph below, the Legacy LAMP4 amp installation kit barely reached the American Wire Gauge standard for 8 gauge! If one were to need 8 gauge wire, this would be a good kit because it gives ample length. Connecting this longer cable to an amplifier with a larger demand will only creates higher resistance and increased voltage loss at the amplifier. After all, reducing the cable length by 2 feet would cut cable resistance by 10%.

Legacy includes a 60A fuse and rates this kit for 1600 watts. To put this into perspective, KnuKonceptz includes an 80A AGU fuse with the KLM-K4 amp kit. The KLM 4 gauge is 340% larger then the Legacy 4 gauge. Based on voltage drop calculators, using a 20′ length of 8 gauge CCA, with a 60A load on a 12vDC system there is a 25% voltage drop at the amplifier due to the cables internal resistance and load. That means 3+ volts are being lost in just the transmission of current with this kit!

Speaker wire from the Legacy amplifier installation kit is listed as 12 gauge. No mention by Legacy whether its OFC or CCA, it is clearly CCA. Photos below show the Bullz Audio and Legacy, 12 gauge wires flanking Lanzar 16 gauge speaker wire. While hard to tell due to the angle, the Legacy speaker wire, based on area, was the third largest out of the 6 amp kits with speaker wire (The XXX amp kit did not include speaker wire) On the down side, it was 18 gauge even though Legacy labels the box to the buyer that the contents include 12 gauge speaker wire!

After gathering all the data from the power wire and speaker wire, I assumed Legacy would skimp on the RCA cable just as the other manufactures before it and use copper clad aluminum. I was in for a surprise! The RCA cable was made up of Oxygen Free Copper! Weighing the cable confirmed it was not CCA, the small number of fine strands make it difficult to see the coloring of the cables core, but I could not discern any silver appearance within the strand. Overall conductor sizing of the ground shield was similar to the KnuKonceptz eKo RCA, missing was the mylar foil shield and the signal path was a tad over one half the size of the KnuKonceptz RCA Cable inside the Legacy RCA. I must note Legacy indicated the RCA cable to have right angle ends (at least one side), the RCA Cable included with our purchase had the standard straight molded RCA ends.

Conclusion – If marketed as an 8 gauge kit, the Legacy LAMP4 would make it an excellent value. Ample amount of power and ground wire. When comparing the RCA and speaker wire to the rest of the seven kits, I would consider the Legacy kit in the top 3. However, my review is of 4 gauge amp kits and because this amp installation kit lacks metal where it is most important, it ranks 6th. Bullz Audio has a slight advantage in conductor area, but using the LAMP4 wiring kit on a lower powered system, its a better value due to copper RCA cable and larger speaker wire.

Specifications – Power/Ground wire

Core Material: 34 Gauge Copper Clad Aluminum (0.15mm)
Rope Configuration: 70 strands x 7 ropes(490 Strands total)
Dielectric: PVC
Outer Diameter: 9mm
Core Diameter: 3.9mm
Total Conductor Area: 8.66mm^2
Net American Wire Gauge: 8 Gauge

Specifications – RCA Cable

Signal Core Construction: 0.10 CCA strand x 12 – 26 Gauge core
Ground Core Constructionl: 0.12 CCA strand x 29 – 22 Gauge core
Shield: Ground Shield
Outer Diameter: 4mm x 9.5mm
Weight: 0.220kg

Specifications – Speaker wire

Core Material: 34 Gauge Bare Oxygne Free Copper
Rope Configuration: 48 strands
Dielectric: PVC
Outer Diameter: 3.5mm x 7mm
Total Conductor Area: 0.848mm^2
Net American Wire Gauge: 18 Gauge