Noise with No Volume

Hi Everyone,

I was doing some research on this problem I had and read the articles on this site and the forum stickies on grounding and alternator whine. I thought this forum was great and filled with a lot of great information, but for someone like me that this is all new to I think I might need someone to fill in the blanks.

My problem is, I have a 2007 Accent. I recently got professionally installed a Audison srx5 with hertz component speakers, and a 10 inch hertz sub, running off my factory deck.  Well needless to say I wasn't impressed with the sound, it could get loud but sounded like garbage.

So I went back tot he shop I bought this from and got a HU the Kenwwod excelon x590, things sound much better now but I have a problem. When I turn my car on and have the volume at zero I can here a clicking sound, then when I accelerate I can hear a high pitch sound. It's not really that loud, but I do notice it when the volume is at 0. Is this normal for this type of set up? Is a little alternator noise to be expected, or should I go back to the store and say to fix this? The system does sound great now, except for this problem. When I had everything running from my factory deck there was no noise at all at 0 volume.

The set up is as follows:

3 pairs of rca's from kenwood excelon x590, Audison (5 channel) srx5 amp, Hertz component speakers 165.2 (6 1/2) with tweets, 2 way Hertz in the back and Hertz bx250R sub.

Thanks for your help in advance.

Thanks, much appreciatted.

I took it back to the store (east hamilton radio) for those in ontario :)  The installer just played with the gain a bit and checked the RCA cables. I told him what you guys said and he kinda looked off into space, and said maybe. The noise is still there, but I guess maybe I am being to picky, the guy said that you will always get feedback.  (I get the feeling that he was just brushing me off cause he didn't know what to do).

I am suppose to call back when a certain installer is there that is suppose to know all about this stuff, so hopefully he can fix the problem for me.

Thanks for the help guys, I might even send this thread link in an email to them cause it sounds like it would really help them as well.

EHR from the bits I have heard have capable installers and they do a good job. I have never heard any horror stories about them. If gains are too high then indeed you can get noise in the system. I would also try regrounding the head unit first. Next disconnect all rca cables at the cd player end, then test for noise again. If there is noise, then it is either a amp or rca cable issue. I would also try a different cd player and here is yet another shameless plug for Eclipse.

I share your feeling.  Sounds like an inexperienced installer.  Tell him you want a dedicated chassis ground for your HU... and you should never get "feedback" in any car audio system.

Most inexperienced or "lazy" installers do not want to deal with engine noise. If anyone tells you that you are being picky and have to live with it I would look elsewhere for help. If the noise is not due to a defective component...it can be cleaned up. Now if the gains are too high that can increase the noise..but to lower the gain just to get rid of noise may work as a "band-aid"..but if the system sounds good and well balanced after that..it is acceptable.

Like others said...try a better ground..alternator whine is commonly caused by poor grounding somewhere..so the head unit and/or amp grounds are suspect.

If that doesn't solve it there could be a ground loop with the RCA's....you or a qualified installer can try grounding the outer shield of the signal cable to ground. If that doesn't help a "ground loop isolator" can be plugged into the signal cables and will generally help..just use a quality piece or it may add problems or cause a loss in sound quality..I use the pac ground loop isolators with 100% success. Now some may claim this is a "band aid" as well..but if it gets all the noise out..and doesn't affect the sound quality...who cares what it is called?..it worked. try it at the amp first..if no improvment try it at the deck..sometimes I find the location of the isolator has a negative effect but trying it at another location works perfect. On my car it worked at the deck but not in the back.

The last scenario can be the signal (rca) cables are picking up "induced" noise from a power cable or other unit in the vehicle..this is not too common with todays equipment but..I see it now and then, The easiest check is to run a "test" rca outside the vehicle from the deck to the amp(s) and see if the noise goes away. If it does it either needs to be re-ran..or it is a defective RCA and will need a new run as well.

Best of luck and keep us posted.