Car Audio Help! Annoying Whine?

[ipr_rob]

Hi guys, here's my situation, please help me out if u can. This is kind of long, so please bear with me. Thank you.

I was in the process of upgrading my cd receiver in my 1993 Toyota Supra. I replaced the factory deck with an Aiwa deck, MP3
capable. While wiring the harnesses together, I found out the front right channel doesn't work coming from the deck via the
harness. So I bought a Rockford Fosgate amp, 400a4, to solve that problem by using RCA cables. Right now, all wires are
hooked up for testing, so I haven't start running it yet.

Here's how the wires are hooked up. From the deck, RCA cables are going to the amp, and to my Bazooka (RS10A, amplified). I
hooked up the front two channels to the amp, and the bazooka also to the amp. The rear two channels are running off the deck.

Now, after i turn on the power, and whining noise appears, even with the volume turned all the way down. It sounds like a
whine/whistle, or a turbo spool. When I step on the gas, the noise gets louder. The thing is though, only the front two channels
(which are hooked up to the amp) have this whine, the rears doesn't.

I called Rockford, and they told me to check my ground, which seems to be okay. I am using an 8-gauge wire for both power and
ground. The amp is grounded to the bolts that hold down the rear shocks. They've also told me to run the RCA wires on the
opposite side of the power wire. I've seperated the two wires as far as I can, but the noise still exists.

I'm completely confused on what the problem is coming from. At first I thought the problem was a bad amp, but when I hooked it
up to my friend's system, there are no whinning noises. Could it be a bad deck? What else can cause the "whine"? Please help!
Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks again!!!

[Ice-9]

That's very odd. They told you to check the standard stuff, and fixing the ground is what fixed this exact same problem in my mom's car.

You might want to try getting an extension cable, maybe use a jumper cable or something, and test your ground. Try running it all the way up to where your battery is grounded and ground there. Some cars have strange finishes and paints that prevent things from grounding properly.

What kind of RCA cables are you using? If they're longer than 15 feet or if they're a super-cheap brand, they're going to pick up interference regardless of where you run them or how you ground. You might want to audition some of the higher-end Monster Cable or Streetwires (from a place that'll let you return them if it doesn't help), since their shielding is much better than Radio Shack junk.

My friend, who also had this problem but couldn't find the source, finally just moved his amp up to under his front seat, shortening the cable runs significantly, and the problem went away ALMOST entirely. Without looking at your car myself, I don't know what else to tell you. Good luck!

[ipr_rob]

Thanks for your reply Ice-9. I will try using the battery's ground. If that doesn't work, I'll give moving up the amp a shot. Btw, my speaker wires, power wire, and ground wire are all from Monster Cables. The RCA's are around 10 feet I think. Again, thanks for helping out!

[KoalaFD]

It sounds like your deck/radio setup is picking up RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) from your engine ignition system (hence the whining getting louder as you get on the gas).

Reducing your overall cable and such would probably help the situation a lot, especially with as long of a wire that you have, as was suggested.

It may not be coming from there but perhaps your ignition wires are not well shielded enough and your radio is picking up their signal. If you're gonna replace the wires, don't buy cheapo crapo that doesn't work.