Streetwires Distribution/Fuse Blocks Review

The guys at Mitek sent over a couple of their distribution blocks for me to take a look at. I've found in my experience that while some products might look good in a picture, up close they might look much cheaper. Not all finishes are the same when it comes to distribution blocks, so I was lucky to be able to check out some of the Steettwires stuff up close and personal.

First I'll start out with what all of these have in common (packaging, fit and finish, etc.).

I'm a big fan of Costco, but I hate all those blister package items and how difficult they are to remove from the package. The other day I actually broke a pair of scissors trying to liberate a thumbdrive from its packaging. Luckily, the guys at Mitek decided this year to update their packaging and get rid of the plastic rivets the previous packaging was held together with that made the stuff nearly impossible to open without flexing some muscles. Even better, the new stuff is perforated on the back so its incredibly easy to pull out without having to get a box cutter or pair of scissors. I definately wish more manufacturers would use this type of packaging, but I'm afraid they might be afraid of theft.

Fit and finish
I'm actually a fan of their brushed/billet look over gold plating and the finish actually looks pretty good up close. The polycarbonate (also called Lexan as in bullet proof glass you see at banks) base and covers on the models I was reviewing fit well, and the hardware is also of similar quality and build.

Design
The more ways you can configure product, the better in my book. I'm a big fan of the AFS (also called Midi, Mini ANL, and KF depending on who is selling it) fuses. They are small, handle just as much power as most bigger ANL fuses and allow for products that you normally couldn't see with a ANL fuse (like a battery terminal with a built in fuse holder).

Streetwires FBX0024
Up first is the Streetwires FBXS0024 AFS Fuse Block up to 3 1/0 ga in, 1 1/0 gauge out and 2 4 gauge out. This fuse block is geared toward the guy that has one large monoblock amplifier (like a MTX TE1501D and two smaller amps like MTX Xthunder 502X for example (a fairly commmon configuration from my experience).

The larger 1/0 output has the option of running 1 or 2 AFS fuses (which come in a number of sizes up to 125 amps). They are attached in an unusual (apparently patent pending) way called the UltraLok, where you tighten the fuse onto the fuse holder by driving the V shaped wedge into the V shaped opening to hold down the fuses. It also allows for a smaller fuseblock compared to other forms of claming. This means that when you want to replace a fuse, you don't have to back out the bolts almost all the way out to be able to remove the bad fuse. The smaller 4 guage outputs clamp down the fuses with allen bolts (which I guess are little more invovled replacing). One small pet peeve is the fact that you will have to have two different sized allen keys to tighten or losen the bolts becasue they used two different sizes. I hope that if MTX uses allen bolts in their amplifiers they match at least one of these sizes so you don't have to reach for a third different size key to do an amplifier install.

It is fairly common to in these types of products to have the potential to run way too much juice through one of these fuse blocks (it can technically take 4 125 amp fuses, but I don't believe this was designed to take 500 amps of juice, even if you do run 3 1/0 gauge wires into it.)

Streetwires FBXS20
Next up is the FBXS20, which seems to be cousin the model above. Also a AFS fuseholder, it takes one or two 1/0 guage wire inputs (or you can parallel one of these to a stiffening capacitor for example) and 2 outputs. It also supports 1 or 2 AFS fuses per output. It also uses Ultra_Lok fuse clamping. I'm running a larger monoblock and larger 4 channel system in my own car so this would work well, but I could see where someone with a large and small amplifier might have wanted to be able to run a 4 guage wire into one of the outputs (they do not included any kind of reducer at this point). Not many amplifiers can take a 1/0 guage input (which unfortunately many of these amps with 4 guage inputs draw so much current they should only have very short lengths of 4 guage off a fuse block like this one). Outside of that, this is a very good product that was built for a fairly common application (which is good).

Streetwires CBXSO24
Next up is the CBXSO24 fuse/distribution block. It is a fuse block that has 1 1/0 gauge positive and 1 1/0 gauge ground inputs and 2 4 fused outputs (using the AFS fuse) as well as two ground outputs. What makes this item great is the fact all the large wire comes in on one side and the smaller wires come out the other side. Similar technology applies to this item as the other items above (Ultra-Lok, polycarbonate base/cover and brass construction). This item stands out a little more than some of the items above just for the simple fact its geared towards some of the smaller amps (which are some of the most popular sellers by volume).

Streetwires FBXM68
I saved the best for last (at least in my book). Finding something that will take really large wire and then fuse and ditribute it to your amps and capacitors is pretty easy and there are a ton of companies that make product to do this. Taking a smaller wire and then figuring out how to get your accesories, neon and signal processors to get the same fusing is another story alltogether. It seems very few guys make stuff designed specifically to do this. When Sean and I opened the box with all the products we were to review, we both looked over each item and said "that's cool" and "oh, that's kind of neat" until we got to the FBXM68 fuse block. At that point we both kind of looked at each other and said "damn, that's pretty cool". It takes 2 4 gauge inputs and gives you 6 8 guage outputs using mini ATC fuses (which are becoming more and more popular in cars). As mentioned with some of the other items, you can easily pass way more juice through this than the designers intended so I would keep this primarily as an item you would use to fuse some of the smaller stuff. This is the item that I wish someone made years ago, but never did so we had to search through the boating and motor home catalogs to find something that would do the job.