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First System install.. strange noise

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Old Jul 18, 2006 | 09:27 AM
  #1  
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Default First System install.. strange noise

Hi,

This is my system setup.. in my 2000 Camaro SS... which had the monsoon system originally:

Pioneer Avic X1 (N series in the US) Navigation unit
Focal JMlab 165 speakers in the front
Focal JMlab speakers in the very rear
JBL GTO 755.6 (6 channel 560 W amp) (Behind rear seats above gas tank... screwed in.. no holes drilled!!)
Sub, Rockford Fosgate 8" to go in speaker location beside rear seats... to go in this weekend (hopefully)

Wiring:
4 guage power wire to power distribution unit (Spare tire well)
8 guage power wire from distribution unit to amp
8 guage power wire from amp to ground (beside spare tire well)
RCA's down drivers side
Speaker wire down drivers side
Power wire, earth and remote on down passenger side.
Crimp terminals used on earth and to attach all wires to amp.(except RCA's)

Problem:
When I start the car, I get a loud pop in the speakers (Front)
When I drive (or when engine is on), I get a high pitched buzz from the speakers (rear)... when I accelerate, the high pitched sound increases.

Can you help:
I have heard / seen in forums, this may be caused due to the earth... but, does this mean I have a poor earth point, or does it mean I used the wrong guage wire, or too long an earth wire... or could there be any other reasons / solutions for the noise?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
UKCamaroSS

PS - I am trying to obtain an HUmount... I am not sure if the ship to the UK... waiting to hear back from them.... if not... any chance of someone purchasing a kit and placing it on ebay for my to buy?
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Old Jul 18, 2006 | 10:01 AM
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check your pos/neg and make sure you have them wired right would be my first guess.
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Old Jul 18, 2006 | 10:18 AM
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check all the grounds on all the amps. Did you run the power wire on seperate side from the speaker wire?
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Old Jul 18, 2006 | 10:20 AM
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Where did you ground the ground wire?
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Old Jul 18, 2006 | 02:39 PM
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ground on the radio, when you move it around ,it will get better and worse.
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Old Jul 18, 2006 | 03:35 PM
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It sounds like you ran a ground from the radio all the way back to your power distribution block at the rear of the vehicle. This is not necessary, and is probably your problem. Run the shortest ground wire possible straight from your amp to a metal point on the body, make sure the wire is grounded to bare metal. There are quite a few bolts to use in the hatch under the carpet, including a factory ground for the rear hatch release mechanism. That should help.

If your "power distribution unit" contains your main fuse - this is also a problem. The fuse should be as close as possible to the battery itself, typically the fuse block is underhood. This shouldn't pose a sound quality issue but it is safer should you have a short.

Does the loud pop happen only when you start the car - or does it happen everytime you power the stereo on?
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Old Jul 19, 2006 | 11:58 AM
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Had same problems when I did my system. Check your remote wire. Make sure it is connected to the soft remote on the head unit and not the other switched wire. Mine was a blue wire with a white stripe. The wrong one was a totally blue wire, which is normally the remote. Anyway with the soft remote it turns on the amps after the H/U sends a test signal to the rca's, hince the pop. If the amps are turned on too early like with the other wire then you will hear this test signal and it doesnt sound good for the speakers, not sure if it is or not just a loud pop!

For the noise make sure you ground each amp separately and to a good solid bare metal piece. Not the flimsy ones that are tacked on the trunk area but the good ones like by the spare which you said. Scrape off all paint and make sure you have the proper gauge wire. Also this could be if you have cheap rca's that will pick up noise from the frame or even speaker wire, this sounds like spark plug noise so Im guessing frame. Mine came from bad ground and bad rca's. fixed the ground and now the noise is almost undetectable, this is because I didnt want to buy a $60 set of rca's. Hope some of this helps
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Old Jul 20, 2006 | 07:54 AM
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One thing to do is get the RCA's away from the speaker wire, that could be some of your engine noise right there. Always run your RCA'a alone, or perpendicular to your other wires not with them.
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Old May 9, 2007 | 07:39 PM
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Sorry to bring up a dead thread but I'm having a similar problem now and I figured there was no need to make a new topic:

I'm getting a buzz from my front passenger speaker sometimes when I accelerate and it also buzzes (with increasing loudness) as the dome lights fade out after closing my door and turning my key to on (but not run) sometimes. The acceleration buzzing is actually more like a whine and its most noticable in lower gears.

The dome light buzz is literally a buzzing noise and goes away after the lights have completely faded. Oddly enough, I had this problem in my 98 V6 firebird, too but I never bothered to fix it. Both this car and my firebird had stock systems so I dont know how a ground wire could have gotten screwed up during any sort of install.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.
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Old May 11, 2007 | 03:39 PM
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Originally Posted by Gallstaff
Sorry to bring up a dead thread but I'm having a similar problem now and I figured there was no need to make a new topic:

I'm getting a buzz from my front passenger speaker sometimes when I accelerate and it also buzzes (with increasing loudness) as the dome lights fade out after closing my door and turning my key to on (but not run) sometimes. The acceleration buzzing is actually more like a whine and its most noticable in lower gears.

The dome light buzz is literally a buzzing noise and goes away after the lights have completely faded. Oddly enough, I had this problem in my 98 V6 firebird, too but I never bothered to fix it. Both this car and my firebird had stock systems so I dont know how a ground wire could have gotten screwed up during any sort of install.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Okay ur seeing a diffence in ground from the car itself and ur audio system. BUT, my gut feeling tells me that theres a loose connection or a connection that is being shorted by metal in the car. Start by pulling out hte radio, unpulug it, plug it back in (MAKE SURE U HAVE THE THEFTLOCK CODE FIRST), then take apart the door and checkthe speaker connections, check to see if the wire is being pinched anwhere against metal or if the connector is loose.
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Old May 11, 2007 | 03:42 PM
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Originally Posted by imnotplutonium
Had same problems when I did my system. Check your remote wire. Make sure it is connected to the soft remote on the head unit and not the other switched wire. Mine was a blue wire with a white stripe. The wrong one was a totally blue wire, which is normally the remote. Anyway with the soft remote it turns on the amps after the H/U sends a test signal to the rca's, hince the pop. If the amps are turned on too early like with the other wire then you will hear this test signal and it doesnt sound good for the speakers, not sure if it is or not just a loud pop!

For the noise make sure you ground each amp separately and to a good solid bare metal piece. Not the flimsy ones that are tacked on the trunk area but the good ones like by the spare which you said. Scrape off all paint and make sure you have the proper gauge wire. Also this could be if you have cheap rca's that will pick up noise from the frame or even speaker wire, this sounds like spark plug noise so Im guessing frame. Mine came from bad ground and bad rca's. fixed the ground and now the noise is almost undetectable, this is because I didnt want to buy a $60 set of rca's. Hope some of this helps
soft turn on is a benefit of high quality amps, not necessarily HU. The "OTHER" blue wire is the antenna remote output. It is only powered when you are listening to AM/FM. Look into the amps for the "SOFT" turn on which many new amps do have. WOrst case scenario, you can build a delayed remote switch with a relay so that the amp turns on AFTER the radio is booted up.
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Old May 13, 2007 | 10:22 PM
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Thanks for the advice. I just installed a Panasonic head unit so when I got back there, everything seemed to be in order, yet the problem continues. Looks like I'll have to get the door panel off sometime soon and have a look around.
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