i hate my stereo make it stop whining

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jdawg454

Member - Posts: 9

Joined: November 23, 2008

Location: Minnesota, United States

Posted: July 10, 2009 at 7:42 AM / IP Logged

I'll try to make this as shot as possible, but its a long story. Here's what I have:

Alpine H/U

2 Rockford Power 500 amps

Infinity Perfect 12" sub

Diamond Audio components in front, nothing in rear.

So for years I've been dealing with a whine when I put the amps in. Not only does it whine, but it also pops when another electrical item is used such as brakes or turn signals. I've done numerous stereos and never had a problem. I installed for Best Buy for 5 years and never had one come back and I've tried everything on this car (1994 Trans Am).

Over the time I've tried 4 different H/U (some for testing, others replaces) and it still makes the noise, so it shouldn't be that.

I've tried different amps, all with same whine and popping noise.

Ran new ground for H/U and amps, even tried running them to the same point in the car once, no change.

Ran a new power wire outside the car (for testing), no change.

Ran the RCA's down the middle of the car, not even tucked into anything just sitting there. That was the ONLY difference I ever saw. It made the noise quieter, but still there. I even recently bought new RCA's, double shielded and what not and tried them last night with the same result.

What gives??? I'm at my witts end with this damn thing. I'm about to build the system outside of the car and put on piece in at a time or something.

One thing I did try was I disconnected the RCA's at the amp and the sound went away. But my question here is, if the RCA is not plugged in, is the amp even sending anything to the speakers? If it does then I guess I can look at the H/U, but what else can I do? I've tried dedicated ground and power wire to the H/U. The ony thing I haven't run a dedicated wire for was the acc. wire for the deck to turn it on. Just thought of that, but would it have any affect?

Sorry for such a long post, but any ideas are greatly appreciated. It realy shouldn't be this damn difficult. I'm about to pull it all and put some gauges there, at least it would be USEFULL!!! lol. Thanks guys.

-Jeremy

i am an idiot

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This member consistently provides reliable information

Joined: September 21, 2006

Location: Louisiana, United States

Posted: July 10, 2009 at 8:00 AM / IP Logged

http://bcae1.com/images/rca/temporaryrcashieldrepair.html

yimke

Copper - Posts: 417

Joined: June 23, 2009

Location: Nebraska, United States

Posted: July 10, 2009 at 9:14 AM / IP Logged

You can either do the shield repair as above, or buy a new set of RCAs. They are probably bad.

Also is this connected to the BOSE system for the speakers? Also is the sound coming from the sub or the speakers?

DYohn

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Joined: April 22, 2003

Location: Arizona, United States

Posted: July 10, 2009 at 9:27 AM / IP Logged

yimke wrote:

You can either do the shield repair as above, or buy a new set of RCAs. They are probably bad.

Also is this connected to the BOSE system for the speakers? Also is the sound coming from the sub or the speakers?

New cables is NOT a substitute for repairing the shield ground plane in the head unit...

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jdawg454

Member - Posts: 9

Joined: November 23, 2008

Location: Minnesota, United States

Posted: July 10, 2009 at 9:28 AM / IP Logged

Just bought brand new ones, shielded and all that good stuff. Tired multiple sets before too so that should be good... And no BLOWS. Everything is after market. I've even taken the speaker wiring out of the equation by wiring a speaker just a couple feet from the amp for testing.

I'll take a look at that shield repair link, at least see if the resistance is right.

Thanks for the replies, sooner or later something will come up that I've missed.

Also, I've disconnected the Alternator to take that out of the equation, no change. Ran new ground cables for the battery, still need to do the postive yet just haven't gotten around to it.

DYohn

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Joined: April 22, 2003

Location: Arizona, United States

Posted: July 10, 2009 at 10:18 AM / IP Logged

I suggest testing to see if your head unit ground plane needs repair by touching a wire between the RCA shield and the head unit case. If this corrects the whine, perform the more permanent repair. If it is not the issue, what is your main power ground return resistance to the case of your alternator? Trans Ams are known for not having the best chassis ground consistency, so you may need to complete the Big 3 and then also run a dedicated ground cable back to the battery from your amps. Also, are you certain the gains are set correctly?

You may want to refer to the ground related sticky posts in our Hot Topics section: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_topics.asp~FID~22

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mike swanson

Copper - Posts: 290

Joined: January 28, 2003

Location: United States

Posted: July 10, 2009 at 10:59 AM / IP Logged

Like Dyohn said

suggest testing to see if your head unit ground plane needs repair by touching a wire between the RCA shield.

Take a ground wire and touch it to the outside of the RCA

Or look at your speaker install and make sure that the speaker terms are NOT touching metal or close to metal. Tape them up or pull the speakers as they play and see if it goes away

Also I have a 1994 TA the 25th that I put a system in and its clean No bad noise

jdawg454

Member - Posts: 9

Joined: November 23, 2008

Location: Minnesota, United States

Posted: July 10, 2009 at 11:09 AM / IP Logged

DYohn wrote:

what is your main power ground return resistance to the case of your alternator?

What do you mean by this?

As far as the gains go, I think its between 1/4 and a half, somwhere in there anyway. So not all the way up...

DYohn

Moderator - Posts: 10,741

Joined: April 22, 2003

Location: Arizona, United States

Posted: July 10, 2009 at 12:43 PM / IP Logged

jdawg454 wrote:

DYohn wrote:

what is your main power ground return resistance to the case of your alternator?

What do you mean by this?

As far as the gains go, I think its between 1/4 and a half, somwhere in there anyway. So not all the way up...

Three threads from the Hot Topics forum that you should read:

How to Set Your Gain

What is a Proper Ground

How to Upgrade your Big 3

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jdawg454

Member - Posts: 9

Joined: November 23, 2008

Location: Minnesota, United States

Posted: July 10, 2009 at 12:58 PM / IP Logged

I've read through most of that, as stated before I have been doing installs for quite some time and have never run into this problem that wasn't essily fixable. This is more of a "What am I missing" question lol.

I was asking what you meant by: "main power ground return resistance to the case of your alternator". There are 2 wires on most alternators, mine in particular, neither of which are grounds. So are you asking what the resitance is from say the post on the alternator to the mounting bracket? I'm not following you there. Please clarify if possible.

Thanks.

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