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Hey all. 1st post here. I'm going to be as specific as I can since NO ONE has been able to help me, including Alpine tech-support. This post will start off with a detailed time line, including all audio installs, where the install was performed, in the order in which they happened over the course of owning my car.

I have a 2005 Honda Civic LX (Special Edition) sedan.

First install...
Infinity reference Components installed up front and Infinity reference speakers in the back. (Circuit City)

Second install...
Alpine CDA-9847 Head Unit installed Using a harness. (Tweeter)

Third install...
Kicker kx600.1 mono amp & Kicker L7 12" sub @2Ω in box Wired up with 2 AWG Street amp kit.

So far so good. Everything worked great for a few years until, out of nowhere, my front right speaker would cut on and off. After taking the door frame off, I found that my crossover had completely rusted away, rendering it useless. Deciding to check the other crossover, I learned that it too needed to be replaced.

Fourth install...
I decided to pick up a pair of Alpine S-type components, using only the bass-blockers, I was able to replace the Infinity cross overs and was in good shape, again! (I did this myself)

Fifth install...
I purchased the Alpine Power-Pack KTP-445. Considering it's plug and play, I took out all of the appropriate pieces of the dash, made the proper connections for the Power-Pack, and was back in business; or so I thought! (I did this myself)

All seemed okay, until about 3 days after the Power-Pack install. While turning up the more volume, my front speakers would make a buzzing sound, almost like they were blown. That same day, I took my car back to my house, took the paneling off both front doors to access the front speakers, removed the center stick shift housing console, removed the entire stereo AC/Heater assembly, and did some A B testing.

I took a multi-meter to EVERY speaker, including the tweeters, to see if they were blown. All the speakers were fine, reading in about .5 resistance. I ran all new 16 AWG speaker wire to ALL 4 speakers, soldering all connections onto the harness, bypassing all the factory speaker wire. Not only did this not fix the buzzing sound, a new problem revealed itself. With the Head unit set to AUX, turning up the volume would make a random popping, static noise. Also, this made the speakers woofer actually move with the volume increase. Regardless of what was plugged into the Aux 3.5mm jack, this new, unwanted phenomenon was always there.

sixth install...
After calling Alpine tech-support, I learned that my Alpine Aux adapter KCA-121b may have gone bad and that replacing it should fix the issue. Along with the KCA-121b, I went ahead and purchased all new monster aux connecting cables, in an attempt to rule out a bad cable. I Replaced the parts myself, and it DID NOT fix the problem!

At this point, I took a trip to a Car Audio Install shop around my way, with the hopes of getting some professional help. The person at the shop suggested that it was more than likely my Head unit, and that I should consider buying a new one. So I did, The CDE-102.

Seventh Install....
After taking the 9847 out of the mounting bracket, I slid the new 102 in, taking the KTP-445 end and sticking into the new Alpine 102. Same problem!!!!

Finally, I went around to check all the fuses and learned that the Yellow constant wire was fused at 10amp and the red 12v was fused at 7.5 I picked up some 10 AWG wire and a fused wire loop. I drilled a hole through the firewall and ran the new 10 gauge power wire through to the battery. I cut the fused loop, soldered the battery end to the new 10 Gauge Power wire and the other to the yellow wire on my wire harness. I took a short 8" 10guage wire, soldered a ring terminal to one end and soldered the other end to the Black ground wire on the wire harness.

With the new power and ground and all the speakers being rewired, bypassing all the factory wiring, there wasn't much left on the wiring harness. Now, the only wires connected from the harness are: the remote, the red 12v ignition and the illumination to the dimmer.

Even after running a new 15amp fused power and ground, The same problem is there!!!

The only thing that strikes me odd is the fact that Tweeter, over 5 years ago, wired up my Alpine 9847s illum to the dimmer. Even if that's wrong It wouldn't explain how and why my system worked for 5 years and now, with the introduction of the Power pack, all my speakers cut out the louder it goes. Also. It sounds like The sub is barely on.

ANY help would be appreciated!

 
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I'll read more into detail about this when I get home

Kind of long lol

 
Rep Power: 292

So your problem is static when going to AUX?
I believe that is a problem with every headunit, and/or AUX cable.

95% I say you originally had this problem BEFORE the power pack, and it wasn't really as noticeable because your HU doesn't kick up enough power to the speakers for it to be noticeable.
But now that you've added the power pack, the sound becomes more clear and distinct.

Here's how I would go about diagnosing the situation
With your AUX cable plugged into your HU, use the other end of the AUX to rub against random things, including metal, coins, plastic, or wiggle it in and out of your MP3 player.
If that is the static you are hearing, there is nothing wrong with your wiring.

It's just that AUX isn't a very efficient way to transmit sound, the wiring is not shielded, and is susceptible to interference.

Also, If you stick a CD in, and press pause, you don't hear the static, that also leads you to the AUX problem.

My only recommendation? Get a USB input deck. If you're using an iPod, get one that has iPod controls on the deck.
That will eliminate AUX and your problem.

I have the same static when I use AUX too

 
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I would remove the KTP-455 Power-Pack and then test the system with a CD.

The reason I say this is, if I remember correctly, the Alpine Power-Pack connects to the speaker wires instead of the pre-amp outputs. The problem with this is you are amplifying any static or distortion coming from the amp in the head unit. I've read decent reviews for the Power-Pack but a true seperate amp from the pre outs will do a better job. It is also possible the Power-Pack has a bad amp so I would remove and check the sound quality.

Kenny is also right that the AUX is probably the worst source of music for the head unit. The DACs (Digital to Analog Converters) in most portable music players are optimized for the ear buds that come with them. When you plug an iPod into the head unit using the USB port you bypass the DAC's in the iPod and use the ones in the head unit which are higher quality. The other problem with the AUX input is you are using the headphone output from the music player which has the staic and distortion from the amp in the music player. Currently you have the amps in the music player, head unit and Power-Pack all adding distortion.

I believe Alpine also has a front USB port so another option is to copy some high bit rate MP3's to a USB drive and plug that in for testing.

 
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Thanks for the replys.

It's definately NOT static in the aux. I've experienced a bad aux connection before and It's not that. The noise is not static its from somthing, KTP-445, cutting on and off at such a high rate, it make it sound like some of my speakers are popping.

It does it with cd too. The Audio is being sent from my ipod via USB, not 3.5mm.

I also contacted Alpine again, 15 min ago. They said it could be becuase one of my speakers is operating at 2 Ohms instead of 4 Ohms, which is required for the Power Pack to function properly. All my speakers are 4 ohm speakers, except the sub, its 2 ohms but it's powered by a seperate amp.

 
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Hmm, then it probably is the power pack...
To be honest, I've never had any experience with these kind of amps,

And for $100, I would have gone and got a proper amp.
Or a 5 channel amp

 
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yes. Had I known all the trouble a plug and play Ktp-445 is, I would've have installed a nice 4 channel amp! I purchased the Power-pack for it's simplicity.

Thursday, I have an appointment with the install shop where I originally purchased the Power-pack. If at all possible they can take the damn thing back and use it for paper weight, Sell me an amp!

Throwing out a hypothetical here, Will I be able to power a new 4 channel amp at about 50watts rms on the new Power and ground I just ran for the power pack, 10gauge?

 
Rep Power: 292

I would at least have 4 gauge for any amp

Btw, Because this is mainly a civic forum, I suggest you go to an audio forum such as Realmofexcursion.com with more experts on car audio to answer some of your audio questions.

I can only help so much with audio

 
Rep Power: 210

While the Power-Pack is not ideal, the reviews I have read for it are not bad. It may be that the one you got is defective. I put in an Alpine head unit last summer and one speaker was nothing but static. After checking the resistance at the speakers they (Crutchfield) sent me a replacement unit and everything was fine.

 
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Ok. After my apt. at DSI car electronics install shop, they narrowed it down to a bad right front tweeter!! Whats crazy is that It tested the tweeter, with a multi meter, and it appeared to be okay. He said, tI got a good reading from the multi-meter becuase the speaker wasn't blown, it was shorting out, causing the KTP-445 to go crazy and shut down.

So, Problem solved. can anyone suggest a good 6.5 component (no deeper than 62mm) for my car door???

 
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Because I'm Biased:
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...io-db6501.html

Also, if the speakers aren't broken, I'd just replace the tweeters if I were you.
Maybe stick with some alpine tweeters, or rockford fosgate

 
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FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! So I decided on some JL audio components. guess what!? STATIC IN THE DAMN SPEAKERS! I can't even see straight.

I'm on my way to the auto shop and I'm going to send a dedicated ground from the power pack to the battery, skipping the chassis all together.... If this doesn't work.....

 
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So the cross over was too close to my amps power leads. I rewired the amps power leads so it's as far away from the crossover as possible and it fixed everything except the aux noise.

I just purchased the Alpine iDA-X305S. I'm about to do the install myself. Is there any advice on hooking up the HU, keeping in mind that the only factory wires being used on the harnes are the dim, red, and blue wires. all the others are being bypassed by my own wiring job

 
Rep Power: 292

Remember to remove the neg on the battery? lol