Well I got rid of the noise! I tried a multitude of things including:
- Cleaning and the relocating the amp earth wire.
- Checking the resistance of the amp earth wire to the chassis and then
right back to the battery
- As above but for the head unit earth wire
- Re-routing the RCAs
- Disconnecting various speakers, RCAs and the aerial
- And goodness knows what else
Anyway, finally I thought I'd run a separate remote on lead to the amp. The
one I had been using was the sort that is integrated into an RCA. As I was
setting up the system originally I thought "hrrm, that can't be the best
design", so I checked around online but could see no problems related to
having the remote-on lead bonded to the RCA, so I used it... why put more
wires in your car than necessary??
Anyway I ran a separate wire and low and behold... no more noise, its now a
crisp, clean, full sounding system with blissful silence when there's
supposed to be! I honestly don't know whether the noise was a result of a
dodgey remote-on lead or the design of the RCA/remote-on, and frankly I
don't care!
Thanks for your suggestions everyone.
regards
Aidan
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____________________________________________
BE(Mech) Hons (Mat. Eng.)
"A. Allen" wrote in message
...
I know nothing of the set up you describe but if it were in my car I
would
check all the earth connections (ground) and even put a second in to the
negative connection on the battery before I do anything else.
Yep thats one of the things I did on the weekend - doubled the wire
earthing
the body to the battery - no effect.
To me it
sounds like earth connections more than anything else. Did you check
the
earth connection to the units. That is where it the connections are
made
to
the units and not where they are connected to the vehicle itself.
No I didn't actually - although the connection I made was pretty secure I
guess it won't hurt to chuck a multimeter on there to check for any
resistance.
Keep us posted as to the cause when you do discover it.
Will do, thanks for your suggestions
regards
Aidan
Best of luck
Hugh
"A. Allen" wrote in message
...
Hi all - I vowed I wouldn't join the masses and post a question to
help
with
a noise problem - but I've got one, and my reading and attempts so far
haven't fixed it so...
I recently installed a new amp (Boss Audio), subs (Pioneer 10") and
head-unit (Panasonic CQ-DFX572 - I think its an international model
and
may
be called something different in other countries) in my Commodore (for
you
aussies). Since the install my front speakers (Kenwood 6") have
exhibited
an
audiable buzzz. Its not particularly loud, its only noticable during
silent
parts of the music. It goes away if I remove the either both the
subwoofer
RCAs or both the front speaker RCAs from my amp (only subs and fronts
are
running off the amp). It doesn't change when the car is on or off or
with
engine rpm. It does change when I adjust the gain to the front
speakers
on
the amp. It doesn't change much when the volume on the head unit is
changed.
Its on right from when the head unit switches on to when its turned
off.
As to my install, I've got my speaker wires running up under the roof
trim,
my amp power wire running in the lower door foot trim and my RCAs
running
down the center hump. I've checked my ground point, cleaned it back to
bright shiny metal, installed a washer to help apply pressure.
I'm pretty sure its not the speakers because they were fine before the
install and are fine when the subwoofer RCAs are pulled. My only ideas
how
to fix it now are to completely relocate the gound point. Its
currently
into
body metal on the front of the trunk - for those familiar with
commodores
its into the seat support metal in the sedan. I could probably move it
lower
down so it was directly onto frame material but I'm not sure it would
help
signifcantly - its already on a well integrated piece of steel.
Another
idea
would be to start moving cables around... but where? - everything it
as
far
away as I can see practical. Finally my last option I guess is to
check
the
ground on the head unit - its currently to the factory ground wire - I
assumed this would be sufficient.
So any ideas people? - is it likely that it could be a problem with
the
head
unit? The head unit has 6 pre-outs - 2 front, 2 rear, 2 subs. I'm
using
the
2 front and the 2 subs with the rear speakers being driven off the
headunit
preamp. It it possible it could be the amp? I wouldn't have thought so
since
it seems capable of making noise free music under some circumstances.
Anyway, any help would be greatly appriciated - especially if it would
save
me the hassle of ripping stuff out again. Any body interested in my
install
so far can check out http://allen.alphadimensions.net/~aidan/audio.htm
best regards
Aidan
To reply remove the .au and swap the allen and alphadimensions in my
address.
--
____________________________________________
BE(Mech) Hons (Mat. Eng.)