Ground loop isolator? Yes or no

I've been hearing local places tell me that a ground loop isolator will fix my problem as far as the alternator wine.  Will it take away from the overall sound of my system.

I would try to figure out the source of the whine & then fix the problem instead of using a ground loop isolator. I beleive it does affect the sound in a negetive way, but can't be certain as I only experimented with a ground loop isolator once. What kind of set up do you have & how is it wired. Are your rca cables running on the same side as your power cables?

There is no clear cut answer to this question, as we cannot tell you if the noise is entering through your RCAs or if it is in the HU, or amps, or antenna... we need a little more information, to make a educated guess. If you remove the RCA from the amp, is the noise still there? If yes, then NO, a GLI will NOT solve your problem. If you remove the RCA from the head unit, and install shorting plugs, is the noise still there? If yes, then maybe, a GLI might solve your problem. Does the noise change volume with the headunit volume? If yes, then NO, a GLI will not solve your problem. Where is your power cable in relationship to your RCA cables? Is the noise in the wole system or just one set of drivers? If the highs are runing off deck power, and there is noise in them, NO, a GLI will not solve your problem. Also, yes, a GLI WILL add some additional resistance to the RCA path, lowering total output, and your high frequencies will be attenuated more than the rest of the frquencies in the system, due to the additional inductance of the transformer in the GLI. It is something to know also, a GLI is a band-aid and should only be used as a last resort, BECAUSE of the bad things it can do to your audio path.It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."

haemphyst wrote: Also, yes, a GLI WILL add some additional resistance to the RCA path, lowering total output, and your high frequencies will be attenuated more than the rest of the frquencies in the system, due to the additional inductance of the transformer in the GLI. It is something to know also, a GLI is a band-aid and should only be used as a last resort, BECAUSE of the bad things it can do to your audio path.

very true... the ground loop isolators like the ones you buy at like CC or Bestbuy are crap, i use some good old western electric transformers, very wide bandwith and have no effect on the sound and got rid of all my alternator noise that i couldnt solve with the big3 (it does help with some noise).

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I got some pac GLI's and they worked perfect and they didn't take anything away from the sound.