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I have an amp hooked up to my speakers in the front and back and have the amp placed under the passenger seat. I recently put two layers of sound deadener in the whole car (not much improvement honestly) and now the speakers (I believe that it is only the front speakers) make a whining sound. I have a lot of extra RCA Cable running to the front speakers that is coiled underneath the middle of the console so it doesn't take up space, could this cause a problem. I do have a ground loop eliminator hooked up to the amp. If I take it off, it makes a buzzing sound, but when it is on, it makes a whining sound. It cuts on and off randomly, and sometimes my sub in the back makes a popping noise, not very loud but noticeable. I do not have the power wires running with the speaker wires except on the right side, where the right speaker wire cuts across the two power wires to my amp in one area. Sometimes I can make it quit by changing the position of the grould loop eliminator, but most of the time it won't stop and it is driving me mad!!! It is only bad when the car is turned on and doesn't make the noise when only the key is turned on. Please help, anything is appreciated.

 
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Check your grounding point and length of your ground cable. 12 inches or less if possible.

 
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What brand of amp? Higher quality amps (such as Alpine) do a much better job with noise filtration than cheaper brands - it's part of what you pay for.

What gauge (size) is your grounding wire and is your ground to BARE NON PAINTED metal? I used one of the rear seat belt bolts. Are you using quality shielded RCA cables?

The rule with wiring is not to cross power and RCA's - run your rear speaker wiring down one side and power down the other.

With quality equipment and clean installation, extra noise filters aren't needed - I learned this with my 2K1 Civic install.

Good luck !

 
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Try this:

Run your ground wire parallel on the same side as your power wire, using the same gauge. This will cancel out any interference.

Make sure your RCA's aren't crossing your power wires. If you don't have shielded RCA's, get some.

Place your ground loop isolator on your deck.

Get some sandpaper and sand down your grounding point until bare metal is exposed.

One thing that helped me out a little was attaching another ground wire from the (-) battery terminal to the body. A clarion rep told me that for every power wire running off the battery, a ground wire should be added.

 
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Ok, So I went out and Bought some New RCA Cables, Streetwires "zero Noise 2", but not surprisingly, they still have noise, But I will say this, the speakers up front have seemed to gain a little loudness and clarity, that is, they now are louder than the back and I didn't even adjust the amp or anything. But, I am going to try to adjust the ground as best as possible. I did grind it down before, but it may have become oxidized over time and rusted or gotten a little loose.

Oh, and its a Jenson Amp, cheap, but I got it in a trade. It gets the job done anyways. And about the battery thing. i thought that the negative batery terminal was already attached to the body of the vehicle. If this isn't so, where does it go. Thanks, Jay

 
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the negative is already attached to the body, obviously to give the car a negative grounding point. But, since your taking ANOTHER power line to your amp, add ANOTHER grounding point.

 
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Oh, and one last thing. I went to an audio shop to get these wires and they told me that they take the ground from the CD Player and attach it back to the ground where the amp is and this helps. Anyone heard of this before?

 
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Oh yea, and don't underestimate Jensen amps, my buddy used one to power 2 JL subs for a house party and man did that amp put out!

 
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Ok, thanks ashtonp

 
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Yeah I've heard of this being done before, future shop does it for in-dash installs. They upgrade the ground and power lines to a bigger gauge

 
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[QUOTE=coop]Higher quality amps (such as Alpine) do a much better job with noise filtration than cheaper brands - it's part of what you pay for.
QUOTE]

ohh soo true...I went from boss to legacy to pioneer....a world of difference

 
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Ok, so I redid the ground on the amp, I made sure it had a good connection and was down very securely. I also regrounded the battery negative two more times because I have two power wires coming off of the battery. I even moved the ground loop isolator to the other set of RCA's, but I still have a whine sometimes. It cuts on and off when I am driving, like a wire is loose, but I I don't know what could be loose. Is it possible that the RCA going to my sub amp could be interfering with the CD player? I don't know but if you have anymore suggestions, I would appreciate it. Thanks, Jay

 
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are u sure none of your rca's are crossing your power wires?

 
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Ok, i know none of the RCA's going to the amp under my seat cross a power wire at all (unless its power wire in the car that doesn't go to my amp and wasn't installed by me) but I am not sure bout the RCA going to the amp in the rear, it may cross the power wire so I may have to check it out and get back with you later. Would this cause any interference? Also, the whine always stops when I take one of the RCA's out in my 4 channel amp, but it continures when I put it back in. It doesn't matter which set a I take out, front or rear input into the amp, but it stops immediately. I have also switched the GLI and it seems to make a difference at first but the whining starts back up again later. Also I seem to be hearing a slight "popping" noise coming from the sub in the back every once in a while. N E one know what this could be? Its goin into the shop to get the windshield fixed and the hood from a big rock and an 18 wheeler.

So I may have to check this stuff later in the week but thanks ne ways, Jay

 
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ya crossing rca cables with power wires will cause interference no matter where its crossed. The popping sub noise is probably unrelated to your alternator whine problem, but it could be due to many many things, for example, your voice coil could be blown or you could have to re-solder the + and - wires because they've fallen apart internally (been there, done that)