Done some research on this subject but have come accross some different points of view on what could be the cause of my engine noise. I fiddled around with my RCA wires a while ago, but it seemed no matter what i did i got engine noise in at least one speaker, so i gave up :P

Here is a diagram of my setup:
http://au.geocities.com/vltimmy/images/stereo_outline.jpg

The first amp is a 4 channel Eclipse running fronts and rears and is under the passenger seat. The second amp in the boot is an Alpine monoblock running 2 12's. Both amps are grounded on pre-existing bolts, not in the same place. The H/U is a double DIN Kenwood MD/CD player, fairly old, only 2 sets of pre-outs obiously. The blue wires in the pic represent RCA wires. The green is the splitters.

At the moment the engine noise comes only from the rear 6x9s, so disconnecting them fixes it, but i do like SOME noise coming from the rear, as my fronts arent good enough by themselves.

So am i doing something wrong? What should i look at first?

umm upgrade your rca's to the zero engine noise the streetwires rca are a really good brand abit expensive but worht it not one lil bit off static or engine noise. but just check b4 you do swap the rcas over could be just the one pair of rcas that causing the problem. i hated it i checked my earths and everything ive got 4guage earths at one point no longer than 30cm long and still. i guess the grounds in my car are just plain ****.

switch the front and rear channel on the amp around and see if the engine noise switch from the rear to the front

IF so its maybe the HU rear RCA tracks have burnt

IF NOT then check amp, switch the front and rear spk outputs and see what happens

Yeh only way to find out is to eliminate all possible sources.

read over this (http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24067)
A matter of elimination in the end.

So what you guys are saying is that its more likely the rca`s..?? :D

Could be heaps of things, most likely rca's. Not rca quality, but rca location. Could also be low voltage out, ground issues at battery, altenator, headunit, amp. Not an easy thing to locate.

Could be heaps of things, most likely rca's. Not rca quality, but rca location. Could also be low voltage out, ground issues at battery, altenator, headunit, amp. Not an easy thing to locate.


Yeah well ive had this in my stereo for years.. just gave up on it.. RCA`s is the only thing it could be or head unit.. but its been doing it since day 1.. :D

switch the front and rear channel on the amp around and see if the engine noise switch from the rear to the front

IF so its maybe the HU rear RCA tracks have burnt

IF NOT then check amp, switch the front and rear spk outputs and see what happens

yeh by switching the front and rear channels on the amp the engine noise goes from only the 6x9s to only the front.

Most annoying is that when changing radio station or new track on a CD a loud staticy *POP* can be heard.

I know it can be lots of things, which is why it p!sses me off so much :P

The Head Unit is fairly old and i have alse been told that Kenwood* decks can sometimes suffer from this "popping" noise. I love the deck apart from that so i dont really want to replace it just yet.

*(Magnat STFU)