Engine noise in my tower speakers

[truekaotik 458]

This is why I said what I said...posted earlier by ATK "t. I made sure the amps are all powered and grounded to the same battery."

And it will fix your issue if your still currently running this way.. Now if you choose to switch both amps power to the back of the selector, which doesnt HAVE to be done, then yes you'd wire it to the back of the switch.. Haha

 

Wrong again

Edited July 23, 2012 by truekaotik

[harlobra 24]

Fallow Davids advice in regards to the head-unit wiring, he has it correct.

 

Do not connect the head-unit's yellow B+/MEM wire directly to a battery in a dual battery w/switch setup. It needs to go to the "C" (common) post of the switch. This insures that the entire audio system shares the same battery source, other wise, you are inviting noise, which is what you are fighting now.

 

Does the "C" common keep power when the switch is turned off? If it loses power the head unit will lose memory right?

[truekaotik 458]

Yup harlbora your correct... It looses power when put in the off position if the head unit is wired to te "C" position...

Edited July 24, 2012 by truekaotik

[DavidEM 1]

 

Does the "C" common keep power when the switch is turned off? If it loses power the head unit will lose memory right?

 

If you are concerned with maintaining memory, default settings, etc. then with many source units you can circumvent the dual battery switch and go battery-direct on the memory lead ONLY. This circuit is often totally isolated from any internal circuitry in the source unit signal path and is incapable of introducing a supply loop. But the topology differes from unit to unit. At the first sign of noise go back to the dual battery switch output post and see if that is a real concern.

 

David

[truekaotik 458]

Ah thank you David for your technical post That just basically said my post about putting the yellow wire directly to the battery was correct and didn't need slammed like it was wrong

cheers people!! :-D

[Wylie_Tunes 146]

 

Does the "C" common keep power when the switch is turned off? If it loses power the head unit will lose memory right?

 

 

No, the "C" post is disconnected from both batteries when the switch is turned off. Check your head-unit's owners manual. many have a backup battery for the memory. If so, then you will not loose your settings between outings when the switch is tuned off.

[ATK 0]

Yahoo.... The horrible buzzing noise is gone. I cut the yellow wire from the back of the head unit and connected it to the C post of the battery selector switch. I then cut the black ground wire from the back of the head unit and grounded it to the battery that the two amps are grounded to. Now when I power up the stereo and run the engine, there is no buzzing noise. There is a slight sshhhhhh noise from all the speakers when I turn the stereo on but you can't hear it when I turn up the music. Thank you all for your help and fixing my problem. Very much appreciated.

[Wylie_Tunes 146]

Fantastic! Glad to hear the info here was a help to you.

[PayCheck 20]

Yahoo.... The horrible buzzing noise is gone. I cut the yellow wire from the back of the head unit and connected it to the C post of the battery selector switch. I then cut the black ground wire from the back of the head unit and grounded it to the battery that the two amps are grounded to. Now when I power up the stereo and run the engine, there is no buzzing noise. There is a slight sshhhhhh noise from all the speakers when I turn the stereo on but you can't hear it when I turn up the music. Thank you all for your help and fixing my problem. Very much appreciated.

 

I also ran thhe head unit directly to the battery, ground and power. we still get a small, but much less noticable, buzzing noise through our inboats. its more noticable in the front because you cant hear the tower speakers which help drown out some of the static. i have tried switching the RCAs, and its still only in the inboats. could there just be a problem with them amp?

[truekaotik 458]

 

I also ran thhe head unit directly to the battery, ground and power. we still get a small, but much less noticable, buzzing noise through our inboats. its more noticable in the front because you cant hear the tower speakers which help drown out some of the static. i have tried switching the RCAs, and its still only in the inboats. could there just be a problem with them amp?

yeah you pretty much isolated it to the amp if it is the same when switching RCAs... you can replace or bust it open and try to find the issue...

[PayCheck 20]

darn, we will probably look into a new amp then. using a $50 amp off amazon...

[truekaotik 458]

You can try taking the head unit ground directly to the negative terminal on the amp that's causing a issue?

[truekaotik 458]

Your a 100% positive there is NO noise in the tower, right?

[PayCheck 20]

yes, iv turned the music to 0 numerous times and can only hear it from the inboats. have not tried grounding the HU directly to the amp terminal yet

[DavidEM 1]

PayCheck,

It's too early to start purchasing replacement equipment as a noise resolution. Thus far you have done a little trial and error but really haven't done anything conclusive to isolate and diagnose the amplifier. Unplug the input RCAs. Short out the input stages so the bare RCA jacks are unable to pick up an external source of noise. Set the input gains no higher than halfway. The noise you have under this condition is solely attributed to the amplifier. Any additional noise is coming from another component in the signal path or is a problem with the relationship between components in the signal path. New equipment could behave exactly the same if you miss the true cause.

 

David

[PayCheck 20]

currently the gains on the amplifier are only at about 30-40%. should i unplug the RCAs from the HU or the amp??

[truekaotik 458]

If you pulled the RCAs and switched them And the noise persists in the same speakers and no noise in the towers still ( which all your speakers are coaxials)... It is conclusive enough for me that the amplifier and beyond is the culprit.. Now what it is from there beyond is yet to be determined.. The signal path should react the same in both amplifiers if it was the case. Unless your using two totally different grades of amps... . All I'm gonna say about that... good luck with your other test though to make sure that's the culprit I can be wrong.. I have been before...

Edited August 7, 2012 by truekaotik

[truekaotik 458]

Also, I think Wylie's post before in a thread about using a iPod and a aux to RCA short cord directly to amp will also isolate it down to the amp and beyond so you can try that as well. This has been a trick for years.. We may bicker on here but dude knows his stuff as well It could be several things with the amplifier and beyond, from location of the amp (picking up noise), down to ground issues external or internal. Audio is fun to diagnose sometimes.. Lol .. good luck though paycheck with finalizing the diagnosis bro!!

Edited August 7, 2012 by truekaotik

[PayCheck 20]

i will try the ipod and pulling the RCAs input out, although i cant hear it while driven, the 4 coaxials on the tower drown out all the rear noise will a noise filter be a solution? my cousin relied on them for his car, and he had a killer system...

[DavidEM 1]

PayCheck,

If your issue is hiss you do not need a substitute source to isolate the amplifier. Simply unplug the inputs at the amplifer. With the amplifier on, either the hiss is the same or it is reduced and you have your answer. However, with the inputs unplugged you are somewhat vulnerable to picking up new and different types of noise. To be absolutely conclusive you would short the input RCAs but I don't think the extra step will be necessary in narrowing the source of the hiss.

 

David