Hey guys im fairly new here so Im hoping I can get some help. I just set up my system in my 94 formula. Built my own amp rack wired everything etc. and just bought a new head unit.... again. but I am getting buzzing out of my passenger sail panel speakers and I dont even think the front door speakers are working. I was sure they were at one time, then I did the fade-balance and they werent on. here is what I got. (cartoys says my amp is not quality so it is its fault, but im worried they are just trying to sell me stuff as usual)

alpine cda-9847 headunit with the ipod controller
door panel - infinity reference 6.5's with stock tweeter
sail - infinity reference 6.5's
rear - infinity reference 4's with stock tweeters
subs- 2 visonik 10's
boss 3 way crossover
boss c-350 400 watt 4 channel amp
quantum audio 700 watt monoblock amp

I kept the tweeters and the 4 inchers wired to the radio and ran all 4 6.5's to the 4 channel. I have a 8 gauge (maybe too small?) running from the positive platform in the ingine (maybe needs to be straight to battery?) to a dist. block in the back, with a 8 gauge running from the ground (seatbelt bolt) to the dist. block too. there I have 3 60amp fuses running to the x-over, and both amps. all using 8 gauge wire, except x-over which is 18. Oh and the inline fuse in the engine is 60 amp too.

what do you guys think I should try before buying a new 4-channel, the other amp always worked fine. I just bought this amp (4 chan) and crossover, and this is the first time they are hooked up.

also should I cut the tweeters out? since the infinities are all 3-way? there seems to be a lot, i mean a LOT of highs.

Oh and sorry for the long post

 

Ok, no offense, but your system sounds like a mess.

1) take that 8 gauge wire throw it all in the garbage. Buy some 4 gauge, fuse it, run it FROM THE BATTERY to a distribution block, run fused 4 or 8 gauge lines to each amp. 8 gauge should be ok there as those are not monster amps. The crossover should not have an 18 gauge power wire, 12 maybe.

2) toss the rear speakers, disconnect the tweeters. Disconnect the front tweeters too. They all suck. Run your 4 channel amp to the 4 6.5's and leave it at that. Do not use the internal amp on the radio or any of the radio's speaker wiring. Also the Alpine CDA-9847 requires a dedicated power line, run a 10-12 gauge from your fuse box or from your distribution block to the powerline on the radio.

After that everything SHOULD work fine. If not next its time to see which components are bad.

 

well the crossover only takes 18 gauge wire, it does not have screw terminals like the amps, it has a plastic piece that has 3 wires coming out of it for the power, remote and ground.

And the radio needs a power source straight from the battery? the stock wiring harness is not enough, and if so Im assuming just splice the power wire into the radio and run it to the battery. fused of course. I did not install this head unit cartoys went ahead and did it while they had my dash apart. so im not sure what they did.

and get rid of the 4's too? even if those will be the only ones off of the radio?

tomorrow Im getting 4 gauge wire for the power and ground and the gm battery adapter. hopefully that will clear up some issues

 

I have a cda-9847 and it works fine for me without a special dedicated power cable, I just spliced it into the factory harness.

 

Yes the Alpine CDA9847 does work without hooking up its own dedicated power line. However, Alpine reccomends it for all its higher end models for best performance, and it does make a difference.

If thats all the crossover takes thats fine, but no offense sounds like a cheap crossover which could be a source of your system noise.

And yes dont waste the time with the 4 inch speakers. Do not wire the factory radio's internal amp to anything.

 

Throw away the Boss stuff. Those Visonik subs are no picnic either, although a step up from Boss.

You need at least a 4 gauge power cable running straight from the battery due to the length of the run in our cars. With all that stuff, a 2 gauge would probably be even better. I couldn't tell if you said you had a ground dist block or not, but you shouldn't. Also, don't ground to seatbelt bolts or other such location. Sand/scrape off the paint somewhere in the interior in an unobstrusive location, and mount your grounds on that. Do each amp seperately!

Also, I'm guessing all of your speakers besides the subs are coaxials and not true components? If so, you don't really need to mess with a crossover at all, especially not a 3 way. Just highpass all of your speakers at like 60-80 hz, and then lowpass your subs somewhere within that same range. That helps to keep your stereo from sounding too "peaky" in a given range, just helps smooth things out.

 

yea I had gotten all of the equipment pretty cheap from a friend, and just wanted to boost my stock system a little bit. I didnt want to cheap out on the head unit or the speakers so i tried to get some better stuff. I have had the visonik's for a while and have had no problem with them. I have had problems with the boss stuff though.

I fixed the buzzing by running the power straight to the battery, it was actually touching my msd power wire and sending the sparkplug noise into the speakers. I still am working on getting the front ones working, Im going to check all the connections and play around with the amp a little more before I give up on it though.

Oh and I did say I have a ground dist. block. I thought if I ran 4 gauge to that then 8 or 10 to the amps is should be fine, they aren't very high wattage. 400w and 700 watt max

And I guess I will run the alpine to the batt. how big of a fuse should I use for that?

 

Sounds like your still trying to use your monsoon amp to power your rear hatch speakers? I'm not sure if the monsoon will work that way? Lose the front sock tweeters. Use the ones from the infinity's I have the dual 6.5 by infinity and they're great up front. Rear sails should be fine also. Don't know about those rear 4 inchers. I wouldn't even use them. You won't need them if you balance your fronts and sails and imaging wouldn't be any better with or without.

 

no see the weird thing is, I didnt have a monsoon amp. I looked at where it should be, and it isnt there, I couldnt find it anywhere. I have the monsoon set up as far as the 10 speakers but no amp. The 4's would be ran by the alpine head unit itself. But by the the sounds of it I probably shouldn't use the 4's anyway. Guess without them I at least get some weight reduction! lol

 

Ok so I ran a 4 gauge ground to a piece of the sheet metal in the back, scrapping all the paint around it off. I ran a 4 gauge straight to the battery with a gm side mount adapter. I found a wire grounding out the front speakers so I have those working now. But when I turn on the car I still get a loud pop in the speakers and then buzzing. what gives?