Speaker Interference

[aiixon]

When I put in a cd I can hear it loading, even when the volume is at 0. And if I turn the volume off I can hear static and some random pops when the CD is playing. Also I can hear a scratchy interference sound when I shift if the volume is low enough to hear it.

Also, there is constant interference in the tweeters, like kind of an electronic rattling sound. Could this be because I hooked up the wires wrong? I put the ground to the black wire with a white stripe, and the positive to the black wire.
(The tweeter interference is really quiet, you have to put your head by the speaker to hear it.)

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

[thormxkid]

are your speakers amped?
what kind of deck are you running?

[PhantomLover007]

You have a noise filter?

[oldinstaller]

Tweeter polarity will not make static sound like you mentioned. Has this problem always been there or just started recently? If you just started to experience this noise problem, you may either have a poor ground at the head unit (using your antenna for a ground is a bad bad idea if you did), you may have a wire of some sort generating noise close to the head unit, or you may have a shielding problem with your head unit.
Try this, remove the head unit from the dash and see if the noise problem goes away. If it does, something in the dash is radiating the noise to the head unit.
If not, disconnect the antenna cable. If the head unit goes dead, you have a bad ground and you are using the antenna cable for the head unit ground.
If the noise is still there and the headunit is still working even though you disconnected the antenna cable, there may be an issue with the actual head unit as far as shielding.
If you paid for the installation from the start, ask the installer for advice and see if he follows all the recommendations I just gave.
I am not gonna say it is the answer, but at least it is a start in the right direction.
Good Luck

[aiixon]

I just installed the system myself. I have a Kenwood KDC-X592 head unit. I'm running Diamond Audio S500s 5.25" components amped off of a Power Acoustic OV4-1600. I ran all new wiring for everything. For a ground I lifted up the carpet in the trunk right behind the seat, used a sanding bit on my Dremel, and sanded off over a square inch of paint, drilled a pilot hole then stuck the wire and screwed it down. Then I put another screw on each side to hold it down even better.

I had used this head unit in another car last summer and I had no problems with noise, so I don't think that's the problem. The only thing I'm worried about is that either a) when I crimped on the connector (4-gauge) it didn't get completely tight since I don't have the right tools for it, so it's kind of wiggly and only half in there. b) the speakers might be messed up themselves (got them off ebay, but they came to me brand new) or how I wired the tweeters.

Not really quite sure, since before this, the most I've done is replaced speakers. I've never done speaker wiring before or amping. Okay hope this helps clarify things.

But I'll see if there's anything wrong with the wiring behind the head unit.

[KhellendrosxS]

Do you have a Nextel or Boost phone?

My old phone always used to make my speakers crack and pop and it did it even if I had the volume turned down to 0 and was always worse than the stock headunit (this was in my truck...not so bad in the GA).

[thormxkid]

tryin grounding out your rca's on the back of your head unit ...

like this ....it's ugly but solves grounding problems that are common on pioneers

and your ground should be crimped tight so it don't move...you could even soder it to insure a good connection

[oldinstaller]

Okay, from what I understand, you grounded your amp but used a sheet metal screw and attached bare wire to the scraped metal area for ground?
A much better method of grounding your amp is to crimp an eyelet terminal to your ground wire and use an existing bolt close by for your ground. The bolt has more surface area to touch the eyelet terminal and also more threaded area to keep your ground secure. I hope you used the same guage wire for ground and power. Using a thinner guage wire for ground can cause problems.
I still feel that your ground for the stereo is not solid. Try attaching a wire from the back of the stereo to a metal area in the dash. Even better, if you can find one, a braided ground strap works real well for a headuint ground.
Your speaker wiring issue probably is not the reason you have a noise issue.
If you did run your power wire along side your rcas, that could also be the reason you have a noise problem.
Grounding your rcas may help but that issue usually happens with Pioneer head units and not Kenwood. ( I have owned many a Pioneer headunit over my lifetime so I do know that for a fact).
I have not worked with Power Acoustic amps before so I cannot verify that the amp has any issues with noise cancellation even though if I remember, Power Acoustic is now made my Rockford Fosgate as a lower line of amps.
Keep me informed of your progress and good luck

[aiixon]

I ran my RCA's along the right side of the car, as well as the speaker wire. I ran the power wire for both amps I have on the left side.
The ground has an eyelet on it, the wire is just not completely secure inside the eyelet hole, but it's definitely making good contact. It is 8-gauge though for the ground and my power is 4-gauge. Should I just switch it to 4-gauge, because I bet your right about it being the problem.

[aiixon]

Do you think if I went to a local stereo shop and asked them to crimp my wires for me, they would do it for free?

[oldinstaller]

Change the ground wire to 4 guage. Ground it using a nut and bolt, not a sheet metal screw.
Asking an installer to crimp a wire for you will depend on the installer. Its kinda like asking a cook to fry your own eggs for you but not pay for his food or prep.
Its the installers tools and time you are asking about. I would ask the installer questions as to your problem first and see what they have to say.
Kinda see if they will crimp it for free or for like a starbucks coffee or pepsi.
Take care of the installer if they offer to help you out. They won't forget you the next time you need help.
Make their day so it can make yours.
Good luck...

[thormxkid]

your ground should always be at the very least the same size as your power

[aiixon]

Okay, I went to an installer and I got new eyelet terminals from them and they re-crimped my power and ground for free. I'm running 4-gauge now for power and ground, and I'm 100% positive I have a good ground now. I have not tried messing with the head unit grounding or anything, but I still have a lot of noise. I have the level on my amp turned almost all the way down and I can still hear a little noise from my woofers, and there's serious noise from my tweeters no matter what. Are the power/ground wires not allowed to cross any other wires at all? Because where all the wires go into the amp, All the wires are ran together for about a foot along the back of the seat including the power/ground, RCA's, amp-crossover, and crossover-speakers.

[thormxkid]

try grounding th head uint like i posted

[oldinstaller]

Heres a question for you. Are you running 2 sets of rca cables from the head unit to the amp in the back? I am assuming you are running a 4 channel amp for everything.
If you are, your rca cables may be causing the noise problem. Try this, disconnect the rcas running to the amp for sub bass. If the noise problem is gone, plug it back it and see if the noise comes back. Now disconnect the rcas running for the rest of the sound system. If the noise problem is gone on the subwoofer, then your rcas are causing the problem. The solution is to buy 4 channel rca cables that are designed to prevent this type of problem from happening. If you think I'm crazy, do the test to find out and see if this IS the noise problem. I have had this happen before to me and ended up buying 4 channel rca cables to fix the problem. It doesn't matter if their Monster Cable, Rockford Fosgate, JL Audio, Phoenix Gold, etc. They have to be designed for 4 channel application to prevent noise issues. Usually, the manufacturer will list this feature on the package. I myself have used Monster Cable rcas on my car and my system has zero noise problems.
The last step is pulling out the head unit while the engine is running and see if the noise is still there or goes away while the head unit is out of the dash.
You have the tools now to find the answer to the problem, and everyone is trying to help you too.
Make us all proud and be victorious.
Good luck.

BTW, wires crossing each other should not be an issue. Most clean looking installations have wires tied together to make them look uniform going to the amp.

[oldinstaller]

I did do a quick online check on your amp and found very little data available. I was mistaken about the amp line being a line from Rockford Fosgate. I have a feeling that you may want to consider using a different line of amplifier. Understand that amps don't make noise, its the compatibility to the car that causes the noise. Now I know you are NOT going to buy a new car just because you have a noise problem. But if the amp does not have a more advanced design to help prevent noise problems, that may be the reason why you are having problems.
If after you do everything you possibly can to determine what is causing your noise problem and still cannot seem to solve it, that would be another option.
Your head unit is fine and the quality of speakers does not make a difference.
Good luck.

[thormxkid]

Originally Posted by oldinstaller

I did do a quick online check on your amp and found very little data available. I was mistaken about the amp line being a line from Rockford Fosgate. I have a feeling that you may want to consider using a different line of amplifier. Understand that amps don't make noise, its the compatibility to the car that causes the noise. Now I know you are NOT going to buy a new car just because you have a noise problem. But if the amp does not have a more advanced design to help prevent noise problems, that may be the reason why you are having problems.
If after you do everything you possibly can to determine what is causing your noise problem and still cannot seem to solve it, that would be another option.
Your head unit is fine and the quality of speakers does not make a difference.
Good luck.

how do you knoe his head unit is fine?

[thormxkid]

Originally Posted by oldinstaller

Heres a question for you. Are you running 2 sets of rca cables from the head unit to the amp in the back? I am assuming you are running a 4 channel amp for everything.
If you are, your rca cables may be causing the noise problem. Try this, disconnect the rcas running to the amp for sub bass. If the noise problem is gone, plug it back it and see if the noise comes back. Now disconnect the rcas running for the rest of the sound system. If the noise problem is gone on the subwoofer, then your rcas are causing the problem. The solution is to buy 4 channel rca cables that are designed to prevent this type of problem from happening. If you think I'm crazy, do the test to find out and see if this IS the noise problem. I have had this happen before to me and ended up buying 4 channel rca cables to fix the problem. It doesn't matter if their Monster Cable, Rockford Fosgate, JL Audio, Phoenix Gold, etc. They have to be designed for 4 channel application to prevent noise issues. Usually, the manufacturer will list this feature on the package. I myself have used Monster Cable rcas on my car and my system has zero noise problems.
The last step is pulling out the head unit while the engine is running and see if the noise is still there or goes away while the head unit is out of the dash.
You have the tools now to find the answer to the problem, and everyone is trying to help you too.
Make us all proud and be victorious.
Good luck.

BTW, wires crossing each other should not be an issue. Most clean looking installations have wires tied together to make them look uniform going to the amp.

and as far as pullin out the head unit while the car is running bad idea....inless you just mean un pluging the power wires...cause if you mean pulling rca while cars running or even stereo on you can mess things up

[oldinstaller]

How can you mess things up? Are you a car stereo installer?
Just removing the input signal from amp isn't gonna damage anything. Grounding the speaker output of an amp will.
If you have tried to fix engine noise problems in car stereo systems before, then you know there is no set method to solve the problem. I have for over 20 years.
It is trial and error to resolve the problem. One method may not work in a different situation. And forget noise suppressors on power lines, thats a joke.
Ground loop isolators on rcas just cuts out the highs so now you can't hear your tweeters any more.
All I am trying to do is help someone who is asking for help and give them answers to solve their problem. If you feel that I am not doing this person justice, then I will stop.

[oldinstaller]

Originally Posted by thormxkid

tryin grounding out your rca's on the back of your head unit ...

like this ....it's ugly but solves grounding problems that are common on pioneers

and your ground should be crimped tight so it don't move...you could even soder it to insure a good connection

He has a Kenwood head unit, not a Pioneer so grounding the rcas is redundant.
Kenwood head units have a common ground with the shielded side of the rcas.
Pioneer head unit do not.