Ok. Here's the setup. Eclipse head unit. 3 sets of rca outs: Front, rear, and prefade sub out. 2 amps. 2 channel for the subs, 4 channel for the speakers. 2 DVC 4 ohm subs, 2 eclipse 6x9's in the rear, stock pos's in the front for now.

Wiring/ Signal Flow:

Wiring harness : Stock wiring harness. Power/constant/ground goes to the stock wiring harness. 3 rca's. 4 guage power wire, run opposite side of the rca's (pass side - batt side, doesnt cross over) to a distro box. 8 guage to each amp. Grounds are right in the back, both amps to the same point. Sub out via 1 set of rca's to the 2 channel. Parallel to the 2 dvc 4 ohm subs. Independent remote turn on run down the same side as the rca's. Front/Rear out via other 2 rca's to the 4 channel amp. Here's where it gets weird but convenient. 9 conductor wire from the 4 channel amp (4 pairs - 1 for each speaker, 1 for remote turn on ..handiest thing i've ever seen) run same side as the rca's/remote turn on, back to the stock wiring harness.

I dont recall the problem happening with the hu, but i could be wrong. Happens more so when the car is warm, more so when rpm's are high, cuts out when they top 3500. Happens without the car on, key to acc, but at a MUCH lower volume. Switched grounds as well as remote turnons (but power was still flowing through 9 conductor via the remote turn on in it), still happened. All wires monster cable, distro box fused monster cable. I have a circuit breaker under the hood, i believe monster as well. Recap of wire routing: Gains on both amps are relatively high - about 3/4 ( I think the HU has a crappy voltage on the outs they claim 5v - i dont believe it for a min. Jeff -kandied- tested his , he figured no more than 2).

Driver side:

3 sets of rca
1 remote turn on independent
9 conductor signal for all 4 speakers, 1 channel of which is remote turn on

Passenger side:
4 gauge power cable only

Any help would be fantastic. I think it's narrowed down to the amp setup somehow, not the hu. I live in Buffalo, NY and it's beyond cold out..my kerosene heater is out of juice ... so i'd like to nail this down w/as little work as possible

 

What kind of noise is it? I have an old Eclipse in my Cherokee that has got internal issues that make all sorts of noise. Once it warms up, they go away.

Did you try eliminating the remote turn on from the speakerwire bundle (speedwire)? If u have a seperate one run, I would get rid of it anyway.

How long are your grounds and whate gauge are they? Did you take a wire wheel and remove all of the paint on the sheetmetal where the ground terminates? I would also try a new deck ground.

What kind of amp are you running? Some of the Eclipse Premiums want alot of preout, and if you need to jack the gain on a low volt preout deck, you can do it and it usually does not induce noise. I have an Eclipse 34230 on a 2V Eclipse HU. The gain needs to be just a hair below pegged and I have no noise. On the other hand, I have a Tube Driver that induces a ton of noise if you give it too much (more than 3/8 gain on an Eclipse 5V) gain.

Just some starter ideas and past experiences. Good luck.

 

Great job outlining the install. I wish I had done that in my initial noise problem post when I was first getting my system together. It would have saved a lot of time.

That said, what's the problem? You never specified. I'm guessing that you're picking up ignition noise and/or alternator whine if it varies with engine rpm? I would speculate more but it's pretty pointless until I know what sound you're making that's not supposed to be there.

I wouldn’t worry that much about your ground either at this point. They didn’t turn out to be the problem for me and if your problem really is alternator whine/ignition noise or something induced into the system then new grounds won’t solve it anyway.

One final question: with the engine off was everything but the radio off, any fans spinning (radiator, HVAC, etc)?

Don't worry about the remote wire running with the RCA's. It's not moving enough current to interfere with anything. I think I read Jim say that wire is actually supposed to tie the amp/HU together in terms of ground (HU chassis to amp ground) to make a level grounding plane for the RCAs. I'm not sure if this is accurate but if it is then it's far from necessary. I also don’t know if my memory is serving me well right now. I do know plenty of people that use that wire as the remote turn on and have no issues with it.

 

Ok, grounds are 4g for the amp, go to the same ground point as i believe the rear defrosters...i cant recall i'd ahve to look again, but i know it's a ground point for something else - didnt have to grind any paint. Noise i think is alt bleed .... i believe the fans were off when the car was off and acc power was on. Still had noise, but not nearly as bad. 91 rs/ss ... according to what you described, lower pre out would be better .... which ddoesnt make sense to me . The amp with the ground is an eclipse PA 5422. Still looking for any help.

 

One, great job on background wiring, vary nice. I'd also like model #s for the HU and amps if you could.
Two, how about just a pinch more on the noise (high noise floor, ignition noise, popping, ...).
Three, got a DMM and know how to use it?

 

HU: Eclipse Model CD 3422
Amps : 4 channel : Eclipse Model: PA 5422
2 channel: Eclipse Model 33250

Noise i think is alternator noise - it gets worse at higher rpm, but then stops over like 3k - 3500 rpm. The confusing part is like jims problem, its there but a lot less w/the car off. No popping. More noticeable at lower volume, but is still there at higher volumes, i think just less apparent due to the music ... what im saying is as rpm goes up, it almost whines higher , ... volume is almost consistant, maybe a little more at higher volume, but still there, just drown out by the music. More noticable too i found w/the craptastic stock speakers up front, less from the rears. Rear speakers are Eclipse 3 way 6x9 Model 83941. I dont have a dmm (digital multii meter?) ... i have a friend that does though.

 

Alternator sounds exactly like what it sounds like: a highish pitched whine. It shouldn't be present when the engine is off though, but fans (or anything else with bushings) can create it. That's why I asked about any other fans/what not being on when you tried listening with your car off.

Another question: does the noise get louder with HU volume or does it stay the same constant volume regardless of HU volume? If the noise doesn’t change in volume then it’s getting induced after the HU.

I had a problem with my system picking up noise but it turned out to be an amp issue. Here's the thread.

 

Im pretty sure it's constant - volume doesnt matter. With all that you changed it doesnt sound like you narrowed it to 100% the amp. I think when i get home i'm gonna pull the rca's from the amp to see if it's the HU passing dirty signal and getting amplified, or if it's bleed from somewhere. I was thinking about swtichign the 2 channel over to the fronts to see if maybe there's still noise there that way as well to eliminate the amp.

 

My problem is that I had another thread going on another board and both were not updated as well as they could have been: http://www.icixsound.com/vb/showthre...+noise+problem

In the end, Jim's resistor idea worked on my old amp and when I installed the new two channel amp the noise was gone. The new amp has a high resistance RCAs (forgot the exact wording) that matched with the resistance I had to put on the old amp to get rid of the sound. Not sure if the old amp got messed up or if they were never there to begin with.

Keep in mind that amplifiers amplify at a constant rate. This means that if the volume of the noise isn’t changing when you turn the head up/down then it’s getting introduced after your head’s preamp.

 

KCobain, Do you have a DMM or any way to measure resistance?
Gummie, if those resistor killed the noise I bet it was the little ground coupling circuit causing problems. If you ever want to did into what is bad on the inside, let me know (i have a thought, to bad no service info on that one).

 

I'll listen to your thought but I hesitate on pulling the amp apart again because I'm currently using it for the subs. What's the idea? If it's not too evasive I'll take a stab at it. You have a PM.

 

I was trying to double check. DMM = Digital multi meter? Friend has one and will be in town this weekend. if its something else - no.

 

Yes.
Check the resistance from the HUs RCA plug ground to the HUs chassis. Then go back to the amp and check the resistance from the amps power ground the RCA ground on the cable with it plugged into the HU. Should be close to zero.

 

Ill check it tomorrow night and see what i come up with. Both should be close to 0?

 

Yes sir. This is kinda outlined in my threads, that's why I linked to them

Anyway, if you get a high reading make sure that there's nothing else lit up on the display (like m for miliohms). Some DMMs will automatically drop down to smaller units.

 

Gummie, you know a DMM that will go that low? Got a model? Hard to get a DMM reading accurately under around 2 ohms or so (what's this tell you about read the DCR of your subs...). Under that you usually get a 4 wire setup, I'm looking for some options for when a short just isn't a short and a grand+ for a good DLRO is not an option.

 

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...er&tab=support

Granted, I could be a moron, but I'm pretty sure that it supports miliohms

 

it could be feedback coming through the rca's phionix gold makes some rca that are shielded they have a ground that runs down the length of the rca's and you atatch it to the body at each end. it should kill alot of that noise. and you should run your remote with the power wire not with the rca's

 

He's running a similar cable and is using that extra wire as a remote, not a ground. The idea of the extra wire as a ground is to make sure that amp/HU will be on an even grounding plain. I don't think it's necessary myself and the majority of the people out there end up using the wire as a remote.

The remote wire its self (a separate wire or the extra wire) doesn't move enough current to cause any noticeable interference. If he was doing the install again I would tell him to run it with the power, but I wouldn’t point my finger at it as the problem.

 

as i was told by me install guy here in sacramento he said alot of people use that wire for the remote. that is not what it is intended for. it is a sheided cable you ground the wire at both ends so you dont get noise through the rcas. ask any good stereo install shop. dont ask circut city. and they will tell you the same thing. 2002 chevy silverrado ext cab. alpine iva-d901 head unit two rockford t2 15" woofers four sets rockford x186x componets 1 t30001bd and a t1500bd audiocontroll 142 band dig. eq. whole truck is dynomated three batteries. ect. ect. ect.

 

My friend and I went over it. this weekend. Started simply by switching the front channel ( + - and rca's ) from the 4 channel to the 2 channel ( sub amp). Set it to high pass instead of low pass on the 2 channel , all sounded perfectly fine. (insert me getting pissed here ) . Looking like the amp. Switched it back, noise. Checked the amp ground - fine. Power (for some reason 22 - can't explain it) Power constant between 2 amps, ground on both about the same. Looking like the amp has a screwed ground somewhere.

 

Not a moron. It has resolution down to 0.1 ohm (100 miliohm), but isn't accurate that low. The spec is (+- 1.2%) +(+- 4 in LSD). For good readings at the extreme low end of any range you need to see a minimal number in the (+-n in LSD) [where n is as low as possible and LSD=Least Significant Digit].

KCobian, sounds like the amp, a lot of these lately.

 

I hate buying/ordering electronics over the internet. Go figure the only time i ever order an amp online because i want that specific model and it's disco'd - i get a dud. O well - 1 yr warantee through eclipse .. ill ship it back from my local dealer for 30 $ to have it fixed. Thanks for all the help ya'll - feel free to keep this thread goin w/discussion and what not - it seems we got the few people in here that actually know what they're doin on the board.Needaz what kinda setup are you runnin?

 

That question amuses me becuase I just realized that I've never read anything about his system. It's gotta be something cool.

 

Know the story of the cobbler's son? Work with the stuff all day you loose interest when you're off the clock.

I just bought a new truck, 98 S10 ZR2, and as soon as the wether brakes and I can make a custom 'Dash Kit' I should have new's. Got a APX-400.4 and DPX-1000.2 in the shed for amps (need time to fix the DPX and modified the APX). Got some Alpine 6.5" Type-R comps for the front (200W each off of the AXP), picked them up NIB for under $100.00. The DXP will power my Alpine 12" Type-R. (May sell that and grab a RE8/RE10 and drop something small in place of the jump seat, looks better.) Had the comps in the old truck running off an Alpine T505, basic. The new HU is a Pioneer DEH-P8600, I may modify that for three way X-Over so I can by-amp some comps off of a APX.

I've got an old Pioneer 1.5 DIN in the IRoc with Infinity speaker off of the deck (Got it to fix, they didn't what to spend the money so got that for free and fixed it). Need to order a set of kicks from Jim and I'll drop the other set of Alpine Type-R comps in it powered off of the T505, and 2 RE8s is the plan for that.

We'll see how things pan out. All just BS talk until it's done.