Speaker Interference - Page 2

aiixon · 04-19-2009, 03:13 AM

Okay, I do not think it is the RCA's because I didn't put my sub in until a couple days ago and the noise is the exact same as before. Before I put my sub in, I just had the other RCA cables plugged into the head unit and sitting loose in the trunk on the other side of it. Tomorrow I will try your suggestions with taking the head unit out though. Oh, something I just thought of, I have a series of 5 LED's tapped into the power wire to the head unit, would that affect anything?

thormxkid · 04-19-2009, 08:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

yes i have tried fixing this same problem before in a kenwood,
when i had my kenwood 512 dd....ended up being something with the deck...

swapped it for a different deck and problem sovled...

no im not a installer...but what does that have to do with anything???

i do install my own stereo and i also spend countless hour on sound forums reading up on things...

sure its not a pioneer but that doesn't mean it can't have the same promblem as one....

and un-pluging the rca well the deck is on can blow your pico fuse in the head deck...

so just because im not working as a installer doesn't mean i can't or don't know a thing or two about the topic....for all we knoe you could be working at best buy, and never done anything more then mount low budget speakers and install the odd deck or too...

thormxkid · 04-19-2009, 08:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aiixon

Okay, I do not think it is the RCA's because I didn't put my sub in until a couple days ago and the noise is the exact same as before. Before I put my sub in, I just had the other RCA cables plugged into the head unit and sitting loose in the trunk on the other side of it. Tomorrow I will try your suggestions with taking the head unit out though. Oh, something I just thought of, I have a series of 5 LED's tapped into the power wire to the head unit, would that affect anything?

dumb question but...do you have the rca's plugged into the right spots???

ex...rear to rear, front to front, sub to sub

oldinstaller · 04-19-2009, 10:54 AM

Okay, if you added some type of external led device and tapped into the same power line as your stereo, disconnect it and see if the noise problem is gone.
As for my experience, how about my MECP first class certification, Rockford Fosgate RTTI, Alpine Global, MTX, etc.
Tell you what, I will let you finish helping out this person and I hope you have all the answers.
I have never worked at Best Buys but have worked at several high end shops in Los Angeles and San Diego.
I guess working on Ferraris, Mercedes Benz, BMW, Lexus doesn't count either.
BTW, if you didn't connect an RCA to a head unit in the first place, how can you flow a pico fuse if there is a load and then remove it?

aiixon · 04-19-2009, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thormxkid

dumb question but...do you have the rca's plugged into the right spots???

ex...rear to rear, front to front, sub to sub

Ha, ya I made sure I had them in the right spots..

And can you guys please stop arguing, oldinstaller your obviously really knowledgeable and I would like your help.

aiixon · 04-19-2009, 03:09 PM

Oh also, there's a little switch for LPF/Full/HPF.
If I have it to HPF everything seems really deep and I can't hear the music just deep sound. If I have it on LPF or Full I can't notice any difference. And the knobs for LPF and HPF both go from 40 to 250Hz I think.

oldinstaller · 04-19-2009, 06:59 PM

LPF means Low Pass Filter (subwoofer crossover)
Full means full range (20-20Khz full range of sound, everything in harmonic spectrum)
HPF means High Pass Filter (usually your mid and high pass crossover for midrange and tweeter application)
The problem I found online is that there is very little information explaining the operation of your amp. I cannot see the side of your amp nor have not worked with this type of amp before so I cannot give you proper application for this amp.
This also may lead me to believe that you may want to look into another line of amplifier. Even our good friend thormxkid is using JL Audio and Alpine on his system which are both excellent brands of amplifier. I am a Rockford Fosgate man myself and am using a very very old school Punch 4 channel amp. (its like going on 9 years old and still running good.)
If you ask me for help, I will try my best to help you out.
The one thing I usually will not do is make a specific recommendation for a particular model of a product line. I keep my bias to myself. I will suggest certain brand names for their performance and quality but thats it.
Keep going and let me know what happens.
Good luck always on your installations everybody....

aiixon · 04-19-2009, 07:12 PM

Okay, well I would like buying a new amp to be my very very very last resort as I do NOT have ANY extra money right now. I will mess around with pulling the head unit out and rearranging wires and such, and I'll let you know how it goes..

aiixon · 04-19-2009, 07:13 PM

Do you think there is any chance I could have got defective speakers? and why is it that my tweeters have so much more interference than my woofers.

thormxkid · 04-19-2009, 07:28 PM

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showth...t=engine+whine

PhantomLover007 · 04-19-2009, 08:15 PM

Don't they still make noise filters. I know I had to have one installed on my old Sunbird to get the engine noise out.

aiixon · 04-19-2009, 09:08 PM

Okay, the noise is considerably louder when I turn my lights on, and when I use the blinker or something, I can hear it VERY loudly through both the speakers and the clicker. I grounded the RCAs on the head unit like you said and that didn't help. With the antenna pulled out the noise only gets worse. hmm what else...I cut off the connection to the LEDs and that didn't affect the noise at all. Those were connected to the dimmer wire. I have my heated seat kit getting power from the +12 red wire going to the head unit, I may or may not cut that, but I don't see how that would affect anything. I know the head unit itself is not the culprit because it worked fine in my old car and in my friends car.

Any more suggestions?

aiixon · 04-19-2009, 09:09 PM

Oh also, the noise is kind of a hum coming from the woofers and a light crackling as well as a hum from the tweeters.

aiixon · 04-19-2009, 09:39 PM

Alright, I'm fairly positive the noise isn't related to my amp at all. I never even noticed it, but my other amp running my sub has has interference too; when I'm loading a cd or something I can hear it through the sub as well.

I can hear all my cars "stuff" through my speakers. For example, when I flick my lights on, the low hum becomes twice as loud and I get a little popping too. When I use my blinkers I can hear it not only through the clicker at a louder volume, but also through the speakers. I can also hear the wipers, I can barely hear when I shift, I can hear when I pull the door handle open, etc...

The only thing that I have done so far to help anything, is I regrounded my head unit; I cut off the ground wire and just screwed it straight to the metal bar in the area behind the stereo with an eyelet terminal.

thormxkid · 04-19-2009, 09:46 PM

your headlights wouldn't be hid's would they ?

aiixon · 04-19-2009, 10:24 PM

nope.

oldinstaller · 04-19-2009, 10:25 PM

Okay...you have got alot accomplished in a very short period of time.
Your tweeters are making more noise than your woofers because the frequency of your engine noise is at the same level. So, your speakers are not to blame. They are only reproducing the noise it sees coming from the amp.
Now, you regrounded your head unit with a better grond point and you still have noise problems. When you hear engine noise that gets louder when you turn on your lights and other accessories, the noise problem is either gonna be from your main power line (red) or ground. If you already made sure you have a good ground for your head unit, try using a different power source like a constant power (share the same power with your yellow wire). See if the noise goes away or is the same. The last resort will be to put on a noise suppressor on the main power line of your head unit. Since its not for for main power for your amps, you should be okay with this application. Usually Kenwood already has some type of noise suppressor on their main power wire unless they got cheap and did away with it recently.
One other test you can try if you want is to disconnect the rcas from the head unit and use a mini to rca adaptor and use like an ipod for your source. If your noise problem is gone, you have an issue with the head unit then. Keep the head unit main power connected and use it for the amplifier turn on only. This way you are using a total isolated audio source that is not using power from your cars electrical. If you still have noise problems, its probably the amplifier or something is radiating from the cars electrical through either the rcas or main power. (I know this is gonna be some work, but run rcas down the center of the car usually avoids radiated noise problems from things like electric fuel pumps or ECM modules that can be located in rear side panels of cars.)
Good luck and keep us informed.

P.S. good article forum thormxkid on engine noise. I think we both hit every single point from the article and I never saw it before you posted it.

aiixon · 04-19-2009, 11:07 PM

okay, first of all, im confused on what you are saying about sharing the yellow wire, please explain this more plainly haha. and and for the rca converter do you mean aux --> rca?

And I don't know how much of a difference this makes, but without the rcas plugged in I have no noise, if i recall correctly... ill have to double check that though.
And the rcas are ran along the right side of the car with the speaker wires and remote wire. power/ground are on left.

oldinstaller · 04-19-2009, 11:41 PM

Okay...your main power wire for your head unit is suppose to go to an accessory hot (it gets power with the key in either acc or on). On Kenwood stereos (and pretty much everyone elses) its the red wire. Now, cut that wire and attach it to your yellow wire for memory for the head unit (it has power all the time regardless if the key is in accessory, on or off). If the noise goes away or is less, that means the accessory power source you tapped into has noise coming in from that point. If you are now getting no noise at all while the red and yellow wires are connected, you can if you like just leave it but remember to turn off your stereo manually before you leave your car.
If you still are getting noise, you can try a noise filter on that red wire if there is no noise filter already on it supplied from Kenwood.
Now, about the rca adaptor to mini adaptor...they make mini to rca female adaptors that allow you to plug in an mp3 player like an ipod to a standard rca cable. You are going from a male mini plug to rca female (or use 2 female to female rca adaptors instead) and connect it to the rca cable running to the amp.
Disconnect the rca cable first obviously, connect the adaptor to your ipod, turn on your head unit so the remote lead from the head unit turns on your amp. What you are doing is using the ipod as your audio source to the amp instead of the head unit but still using the head unit to turn on the amp.
(Does that make sense?) If the noise is gone, then the source of the noise is from the head unit. If the noise is still there, its from the amp.
Here again as you can see from all this time and hard work, trying to fix noise problems in the car stereo system is a bitch. It is trial and error, step by step.
Let me know and good luck.

aiixon · 04-20-2009, 11:27 AM

Alright thanks for clarifying on those things. I have an rca to female adapter somewhere, so I'll give that a shot. And I'll also try switching from the red wire to the yellow. I just don't remember having a yellow wire...

But I was reading around about ground loops, and I think I might have one. My heated seat kit has it's +12v coming from the same wire as the stereo does. But it's grounded with a seperate screw about 2 inches up the same bar that the stereo is grounded to. Also grounded with that are my 2 series of LEDs. Does this make any difference?

04-19-2009, 10:54 AM	#24
oldinstaller used to install..... Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 150 Vehicle: 1999 Grand Am SE	noise problems... Okay, if you added some type of external led device and tapped into the same power line as your stereo, disconnect it and see if the noise problem is gone. As for my experience, how about my MECP first class certification, Rockford Fosgate RTTI, Alpine Global, MTX, etc. Tell you what, I will let you finish helping out this person and I hope you have all the answers. I have never worked at Best Buys but have worked at several high end shops in Los Angeles and San Diego. I guess working on Ferraris, Mercedes Benz, BMW, Lexus doesn't count either. BTW, if you didn't connect an RCA to a head unit in the first place, how can you flow a pico fuse if there is a load and then remove it? __________________ senior installation guru mobile security advisor home audio/video design consultant

04-19-2009, 06:59 PM	#27
oldinstaller used to install..... Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 150 Vehicle: 1999 Grand Am SE	noise problems... LPF means Low Pass Filter (subwoofer crossover) Full means full range (20-20Khz full range of sound, everything in harmonic spectrum) HPF means High Pass Filter (usually your mid and high pass crossover for midrange and tweeter application) The problem I found online is that there is very little information explaining the operation of your amp. I cannot see the side of your amp nor have not worked with this type of amp before so I cannot give you proper application for this amp. This also may lead me to believe that you may want to look into another line of amplifier. Even our good friend thormxkid is using JL Audio and Alpine on his system which are both excellent brands of amplifier. I am a Rockford Fosgate man myself and am using a very very old school Punch 4 channel amp. (its like going on 9 years old and still running good.) If you ask me for help, I will try my best to help you out. The one thing I usually will not do is make a specific recommendation for a particular model of a product line. I keep my bias to myself. I will suggest certain brand names for their performance and quality but thats it. Keep going and let me know what happens. Good luck always on your installations everybody.... __________________ senior installation guru mobile security advisor home audio/video design consultant

04-19-2009, 10:25 PM	#37
oldinstaller used to install..... Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 150 Vehicle: 1999 Grand Am SE	noise problems... Okay...you have got alot accomplished in a very short period of time. Your tweeters are making more noise than your woofers because the frequency of your engine noise is at the same level. So, your speakers are not to blame. They are only reproducing the noise it sees coming from the amp. Now, you regrounded your head unit with a better grond point and you still have noise problems. When you hear engine noise that gets louder when you turn on your lights and other accessories, the noise problem is either gonna be from your main power line (red) or ground. If you already made sure you have a good ground for your head unit, try using a different power source like a constant power (share the same power with your yellow wire). See if the noise goes away or is the same. The last resort will be to put on a noise suppressor on the main power line of your head unit. Since its not for for main power for your amps, you should be okay with this application. Usually Kenwood already has some type of noise suppressor on their main power wire unless they got cheap and did away with it recently. One other test you can try if you want is to disconnect the rcas from the head unit and use a mini to rca adaptor and use like an ipod for your source. If your noise problem is gone, you have an issue with the head unit then. Keep the head unit main power connected and use it for the amplifier turn on only. This way you are using a total isolated audio source that is not using power from your cars electrical. If you still have noise problems, its probably the amplifier or something is radiating from the cars electrical through either the rcas or main power. (I know this is gonna be some work, but run rcas down the center of the car usually avoids radiated noise problems from things like electric fuel pumps or ECM modules that can be located in rear side panels of cars.) Good luck and keep us informed. P.S. good article forum thormxkid on engine noise. I think we both hit every single point from the article and I never saw it before you posted it. __________________ senior installation guru mobile security advisor home audio/video design consultant

04-19-2009, 11:41 PM	#39
oldinstaller used to install..... Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 150 Vehicle: 1999 Grand Am SE	noise problems... Okay...your main power wire for your head unit is suppose to go to an accessory hot (it gets power with the key in either acc or on). On Kenwood stereos (and pretty much everyone elses) its the red wire. Now, cut that wire and attach it to your yellow wire for memory for the head unit (it has power all the time regardless if the key is in accessory, on or off). If the noise goes away or is less, that means the accessory power source you tapped into has noise coming in from that point. If you are now getting no noise at all while the red and yellow wires are connected, you can if you like just leave it but remember to turn off your stereo manually before you leave your car. If you still are getting noise, you can try a noise filter on that red wire if there is no noise filter already on it supplied from Kenwood. Now, about the rca adaptor to mini adaptor...they make mini to rca female adaptors that allow you to plug in an mp3 player like an ipod to a standard rca cable. You are going from a male mini plug to rca female (or use 2 female to female rca adaptors instead) and connect it to the rca cable running to the amp. Disconnect the rca cable first obviously, connect the adaptor to your ipod, turn on your head unit so the remote lead from the head unit turns on your amp. What you are doing is using the ipod as your audio source to the amp instead of the head unit but still using the head unit to turn on the amp. (Does that make sense?) If the noise is gone, then the source of the noise is from the head unit. If the noise is still there, its from the amp. Here again as you can see from all this time and hard work, trying to fix noise problems in the car stereo system is a bitch. It is trial and error, step by step. Let me know and good luck. __________________ senior installation guru mobile security advisor home audio/video design consultant

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04-19-2009, 03:13 AM	#21
aiixon got ma permit! AKA: Steffan Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: 907 Age: 29 Posts: 830 Vehicle: 2000 GT Sedan	Okay, I do not think it is the RCA's because I didn't put my sub in until a couple days ago and the noise is the exact same as before. Before I put my sub in, I just had the other RCA cables plugged into the head unit and sitting loose in the trunk on the other side of it. Tomorrow I will try your suggestions with taking the head unit out though. Oh, something I just thought of, I have a series of 5 LED's tapped into the power wire to the head unit, would that affect anything?

04-19-2009, 03:09 PM	#26
aiixon got ma permit! AKA: Steffan Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: 907 Age: 29 Posts: 830 Vehicle: 2000 GT Sedan	Oh also, there's a little switch for LPF/Full/HPF. If I have it to HPF everything seems really deep and I can't hear the music just deep sound. If I have it on LPF or Full I can't notice any difference. And the knobs for LPF and HPF both go from 40 to 250Hz I think.

04-19-2009, 07:12 PM	#28
aiixon got ma permit! AKA: Steffan Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: 907 Age: 29 Posts: 830 Vehicle: 2000 GT Sedan	Okay, well I would like buying a new amp to be my very very very last resort as I do NOT have ANY extra money right now. I will mess around with pulling the head unit out and rearranging wires and such, and I'll let you know how it goes..

04-19-2009, 07:13 PM	#29
aiixon got ma permit! AKA: Steffan Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: 907 Age: 29 Posts: 830 Vehicle: 2000 GT Sedan	Do you think there is any chance I could have got defective speakers? and why is it that my tweeters have so much more interference than my woofers.

04-19-2009, 07:28 PM	#30
thormxkid GAGT - Member AKA: HART Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: ontario Age: 36 Posts: 441 Vehicle: 2003 grand am gt 4dr.	http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showth...t=engine+whine

04-19-2009, 09:08 PM	#32
aiixon got ma permit! AKA: Steffan Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: 907 Age: 29 Posts: 830 Vehicle: 2000 GT Sedan	Okay, the noise is considerably louder when I turn my lights on, and when I use the blinker or something, I can hear it VERY loudly through both the speakers and the clicker. I grounded the RCAs on the head unit like you said and that didn't help. With the antenna pulled out the noise only gets worse. hmm what else...I cut off the connection to the LEDs and that didn't affect the noise at all. Those were connected to the dimmer wire. I have my heated seat kit getting power from the +12 red wire going to the head unit, I may or may not cut that, but I don't see how that would affect anything. I know the head unit itself is not the culprit because it worked fine in my old car and in my friends car. Any more suggestions?

04-19-2009, 09:09 PM	#33
aiixon got ma permit! AKA: Steffan Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: 907 Age: 29 Posts: 830 Vehicle: 2000 GT Sedan	Oh also, the noise is kind of a hum coming from the woofers and a light crackling as well as a hum from the tweeters.

04-19-2009, 09:39 PM	#34
aiixon got ma permit! AKA: Steffan Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: 907 Age: 29 Posts: 830 Vehicle: 2000 GT Sedan	Alright, I'm fairly positive the noise isn't related to my amp at all. I never even noticed it, but my other amp running my sub has has interference too; when I'm loading a cd or something I can hear it through the sub as well. I can hear all my cars "stuff" through my speakers. For example, when I flick my lights on, the low hum becomes twice as loud and I get a little popping too. When I use my blinkers I can hear it not only through the clicker at a louder volume, but also through the speakers. I can also hear the wipers, I can barely hear when I shift, I can hear when I pull the door handle open, etc... The only thing that I have done so far to help anything, is I regrounded my head unit; I cut off the ground wire and just screwed it straight to the metal bar in the area behind the stereo with an eyelet terminal.

04-19-2009, 09:46 PM	#35
thormxkid GAGT - Member AKA: HART Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: ontario Age: 36 Posts: 441 Vehicle: 2003 grand am gt 4dr.	your headlights wouldn't be hid's would they ?

04-19-2009, 10:24 PM	#36
aiixon got ma permit! AKA: Steffan Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: 907 Age: 29 Posts: 830 Vehicle: 2000 GT Sedan	nope.

04-19-2009, 11:07 PM	#38
aiixon got ma permit! AKA: Steffan Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: 907 Age: 29 Posts: 830 Vehicle: 2000 GT Sedan	okay, first of all, im confused on what you are saying about sharing the yellow wire, please explain this more plainly haha. and and for the rca converter do you mean aux --> rca? And I don't know how much of a difference this makes, but without the rcas plugged in I have no noise, if i recall correctly... ill have to double check that though. And the rcas are ran along the right side of the car with the speaker wires and remote wire. power/ground are on left.

04-20-2009, 11:27 AM	#40
aiixon got ma permit! AKA: Steffan Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: 907 Age: 29 Posts: 830 Vehicle: 2000 GT Sedan	Alright thanks for clarifying on those things. I have an rca to female adapter somewhere, so I'll give that a shot. And I'll also try switching from the red wire to the yellow. I just don't remember having a yellow wire... But I was reading around about ground loops, and I think I might have one. My heated seat kit has it's +12v coming from the same wire as the stereo does. But it's grounded with a seperate screw about 2 inches up the same bar that the stereo is grounded to. Also grounded with that are my 2 series of LEDs. Does this make any difference?