speakers humming

[lilzed747]

the other day i was driving me tenant to the bus stop and he told me that the humming sound i was hearing from my speakrs was because of my alternator being over loaded or something?when i turned my system off the humming also stopped...he was saying something about installing a filter but he cant remember what it was called...any ideas?

i dont if it helps but my set up is: JVC El Kameleon KD-AVX44 running front two sony explode speakers, MTX TC4004 4-Channel amp running two Pioneer TSA6993R 6X9 rear speakers and an Audison srx 1D amp running 12" jl audio 12w0v2.

[catalin]

Engine noise, does it fluctuate with the speed of the engine?? Or is it constant regardless if the engine is on or off??

You can simply try to ground the outer shielding of the rcas at the amplifier or you could us a ground loop isolator.

[lilzed747]

Originally Posted by catalin

Engine noise, does it fluctuate with the speed of the engine?? Or is it constant regardless if the engine is on or off??

You can simply try to ground the outer shielding of the rcas at the amplifier or you could us a ground loop isolator.

the noise matches the rev of the engine. i do not hear the noise when the engine is off but when the stereo is off the engine noise stops.

how does the isolator work? do i need one per amp? btw thanks for the reply

[catalin]

An isolator is plugged into series at the amplifiers rcas. I per input, however I would try touching a jumper from ground to an rca outer connection at the amp. It may work.
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[Phil@rise]

There's three basic points of entry for the type of noise you described.
1) Your alternator's diode rectifier and condenser is damaged from age, abuse or bad grounding.
This will introduce an AC ripple into your power source causing noise in sensitive electronics and very difficult to filter out.
2) You have a ground loop noise. Meaning your source unit and amplifier have differing input voltages usually caused by unequal grounding but sometimes from unequal 12v+ power source.
When this happens the difference between the two is carried by the RCA shielding in effect "inducing" noise into the signal path.
3) Induced noise. Meaning either your power pre-amp signal or speaker output signals are too close to a radiated magnetic field and have insufficient shielding from such fields. The smaller the signal the more prone it is to be corrupted by such radiated fields thus induce noise into the system.
Number 2 is the most common.

[MG1]

AC ripple. Cool. I fixed that problem on my old Civic by installing a 40, 000 µF cap between the alternator and ground (I think -- it was so long ago, LOL). Sounds scary, but it was fused and it worked. At least for me. Helped me get a perfect score in the system noise section at the IASCA Finals. Too bad the rest of my score wasn't up to snuff

So, Phil, should we post a 10, 000 word step by step explanation as to how he should go about locating and fixing the problem?

Where to start...........



Like every guy out there, I like hummers, but not through the speakers, LOLOLOLOLOL.

[lilzed747]

catalin: im a little unsure at what you mean by grounding the rca outer shield?

phil: what is meant by unequal grounding? not enough grounds?? kind of a noob with car electronics.lol. have no idea how im gonna install a custom set up.lol.

im pretty good with instructions so any directions would be awesome.thanks.

[MG1]

Theoretically everything should be grounded to one point. Ground loops (differences in grounding) can occur when you have multiple ground points. Having one ground point for all your equipment, however, is hard to achieve. Next to impossible. In 12 volt electronics, proper grounding is so important. Somewhere, something is not grounding properly.

BTW, The RCA connector's centre pin carries the signal, while the outside part is ground.

Anyway, here are some things to check. Are your power cables running with your RCA cables? If so, reroute the two. Power should run up one side of the vehicle while the RCA cables run up the other side. Speaker cables need to be kept away from power cables, too, but speaker cables are less prone to picking up noise than RCA low power signals. In any case, keep them all apart.

Disconnect all your RCA cables and temporarily plug in another set. If that doesn't eliminate the problem, hook up another source to your system to see if it is your deck or the connections to the deck. Disconnect the antenna. Sometimes a damaged or improperly installed antenna can cause problems.

Anyway, when you say humming, is it low humming or is it more like a high pitch? When did the noise problem start? Was it always there?

In line noise supressors do just that - they supress the noise. Like spraying deodorant on smelly shit, it just masks the problem. Degrades the sound, too. If you don't care about losing some sound quality, then go for it. It's a quick and dirty solution to the problem.

There is a logical step by step procedure for isolating the cause of your noise problem. The last time I had noise problems in any of my systems was when I was a pimply faced 15 year old who started getting into this shit. Haven't had problems since I learned to do it right from the start. Noise can be caused by using cheap cables, pinched cables from not installing things properly, equipment not being grounded to a good ground point, etc.

[MG1]

Hey, just googled and found something you may find useful. Check out the "diagnostic flow chart" link. Not the best article/help file I've seen, but it's a good start.

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-5bS6E2n...car/noise.html


These people are trying to sell stuff, so ya gotta take it for what it is.

[Phil@rise]

"So, Phil, should we post a 10, 000 word step by step explanation as to how he should go about locating and fixing the problem? "
Hahaha if you dont teach em where the noise comes from then they will never understand how to get rid of the noise, they will just follow directions aimlessly.
Simply put I'm techin him how to fish and you guys are givin him the fish. hehehe

[MG1]

Originally Posted by Phil@rise

Simply put I'm techin him how to fish and you guys are givin him the fish. hehehe

But, he may use the fish we give him to catch bigger fish. Need bait, LOL.

[Phil@rise]

Originally Posted by 89blkcivic

But, he may use the fish we give him to catch bigger fish. Need bait, LOL.

Ahhhh such wise words

[lilzed747]

daym this is getting deep =p thanks for the article. ill look into it tomorrow