What to do about alt. whine in speakers?

[rock883]

Sometimes the noise isn't too bad, and turning it up a little will drown it out. Then there are other times when the whine gets really loud, so loud that I can still hear it going down the road at 2,000 rpm with my windows down (and my tires can be fairly loud) with the volume up to 20 (goes to 33). How in the world can I get this sound to quit coming in through the speakers? Also, sometimes when I am changing cd's there is a really bad scratching like sound coming through the speakers, also. It used to be that I had the gains turned up too high on my amp (Rockford 600A4), then I turned them down so it didn't make the sound and it was fine, and I havent touched the gains since then. Is there something I can buy so cut out the noise? Oh and the first time I wired everything for my sub amp, I ran the power and rca's together, had them zip tied together and everything. Then I ran the 4channel amp's power to one side and the rca's to the other and now it makes sound?? please help me out, this is getting annoying. Thanks

 

[sideswipe]

This happens to me sometimes when I play the TV. Hopefully there is an answer.

 

[4Wheelin]

When I first wired up my new system I ran the 4 gauge power wire from the battery (on passenger side) across the firewall and down through the firewall on the driver's side and occasionally there would be a really loud hum from the engine in the speakers so I ran the power wire through the passenger side instead and the noise went away immediatly. I would recommend doing that if not already done so and the power wire and RCA's should be far away form each other as well.

 

[rock883]

Taken from my first post:
Oh and the first time I wired everything for my sub amp, I ran the power and rca's together, had them zip tied together and everything[and there was no whine and still isn't any whine to this day]. Then I ran the 4channel amp's power to one side and the rca's to the other and now it makes sound??

I did run them opposite form each other and this amp makes sound, but my other amp's rcas and power cable are tied together on the same side and there is no sound coming from that.

 

[justin146]

Try getting a better shielded set of patch cables. You do get what you pay for!!!!!! The patch cable for my sub amps in my Dakota was about $120 for a 12 foot cable.
You could get an inline noise killer thingy but they are often cheap and in a good system do more harm than good.

Is your patch cable one of the kind with the remote wire running through it? If so GET RID OF IT!!!!!!!

 

[JTang]

I would say not to run out haphazardly and think buying new, expensive cables will fix your problem. It's not worth $100+ to find out that won't fix it. They'll lower the noise floor a little, but won't fix bigger problems you are experiencing. I don't think they'll fix your problems as noise is pretty bad as you describe it. There are too many people on this board who have had successful installs with normal RCAs, and many enthusiasts make their own using Cat 5 cable with is about the size of a pencil, and runs enough wiring for more at least 4 pairs of RCAs. Cat 5 IS shielded, but hardly twisted or anything.

Which amp (sub or full range) is making the noise? Which is wired down which side of the vehicle? Try flipping a few speakers around with the amps, and then try swapping RCAs with amps. That'll most likely help you figure out if it's really the wiring of if somethings defective. For a while, my speaker was cutting in and out, but there was no way my MTX was the culprit. Switching a few wires confirmed the bad speaker, rather than faulty wiring, bad grounds or a broken amp and it took like 10 minutes.

Later,

Jon

 

[rock883]

I think I would rather live with this noise, than to live with myself after I spent $120 on a 12 foot rca cable. Just my opinion. But, to answer your question Jon, it is the full range amp (the amp that powers my door speakers, that is making the noise. The full range rca's are run down the driver's side, and the sub amps are down the passenger side. The power for both are also run down the passenger side. When I have some time I will have to ry switching things. I will also pull the cables out and then run them to the amp and HU and move them around to see if the noise comes in and out, then run them accordingly, how does that sound? Thanks Jon.

 

[Diablo3305]

I had that problem too. What you can do, is first check your ground, see what you mounted it to. I first had my ground on a screw under the carpet in the trunk, and while it was a good location, it wasn't a solid ground, and when I ran my stereo I got a whine sometimes. What I then did was move the ground to a seat bolt, If you don't have it on one I would try that. Just find a good solid ground. If that doesn't work, what you can do is go to Radio shack and get a ground loop isolator, which hooks up to a set of RC's, this could fix your problem. My roomate used that in his car and it fixed the whine, and sounds perfect....but before you do that, just try moving to another ground, you would be suprised how that can change it. Also if your speakers are making scratching noises, check the connections for the speakers, make sure they are ok....that could be your problem....

 

[leenjen]

if you dont want to buy expensive cables then it's time to rewire.

the noise is caused by power wires too close to speaker or rca leads. by ripping everything out and running power wires one way and speaker/rca's the other way, you wont get any noise.

the alternator powers the system and the whine come from the current passing through the wires. speaker wires and cheap rca's pick up on this electric current and the sound is reproduced in the speakers.

 

[justin]

Sounds like you need to check all your grounds and make sure the paint is scraped off the connection. Make the ground wire under 18 inches if possible. There really is no reason for you to out and spend $120 on a set of patch cables. Most cables are the same anyways. If you dont believe me, go read any car stereo magazine or check out any audio website. Most cables are about the same. You probably couldnt tell the difference between Kimber Kables and Radio Shack RCA's if they are 18 inches aways from the power wire like they should be.

 

[TerraBomb]

i had the humming/whining problem on my 6*9's in the rear i just added an groundloop isolator, it's working fine now...

however don't get the noise killer, those are worthless and don't work half the time....the GL isolator is for sale at wally world for like 12-13 bucks orso...