Hey guys, I've been searching for a while but can't find the exact info I need. I've recently installed a 4 channel amp, currently the first 2 channels are running my front 6.5" splits and the rear channels bridged running my sub. I'm suffering from quite a bit of engine noise and would like to get 1 (or 2 if need be?) noise filter.

My questions are:

Where exactly do I put the noise filter? power cable? but where?
and
What amperage filter should I get? Jaycar sell 5, 20 and 40 amp noise filters, which one?

Thanks guys

just upgrade your ground buddy

just upgrade your ground buddy

yep exactly what liver said... just upgrade the grounding of the amp.. and it **SHOULD** be sweet..

Yeah sounds like u have ****ty grounds....

Strange, here I was thinking that engine noise was due to running (usually cheaper) RCA's next to your power cable.

Check where your wiring is before you buy these noise filters. Run your RCA's on the opposite side of the car to your power cable.

just upgrade your ground buddy

the amp ground? my amp is located in the back right of my wagon, i've bolted the ground to a sanded piece of metal... anything else i should do?

ill fix up all the leads as well

any other things i can do minimise noise? I hate noise :(

First run your RCA's well away from your power cable.

Then see if you have engine noise, 99.9% chance you wont.

the amp ground? my amp is located in the back right of my wagon, i've bolted the ground to a sanded piece of metal... anything else i should do?

ill fix up all the leads as well

any other things i can do minimise noise? I hate noise :(

the irony about hating noise in a thread about your sound system :P

yeah, maybe go with ERS, he seems to be somewhat of a audio wiz.

Strange, here I was thinking that engine noise was due to running (usually cheaper) RCA's next to your power cable.

Check where your wiring is before you buy these noise filters. Run your RCA's on the opposite side of the car to your power cable.
Yeah i'm with this guy, had the same problem with cheap RCA's and the fact they ran along with the powercable didn't help

If you are after a quick cbfed fix, AERPRO make those noise filters you are talking about "Ground Loop Isolaters" which run inline with the RCA's. They are about $15 each for a 2 channel

EDIT : found them http://www.aerpro.com.au/list.php?pcode=AP305&cat_name=New+Products&cat_no=&product_name=RCA+Ground+Loop+Isolator&cat_sno=

First run your RCA's well away from your power cable.

Then see if you have engine noise, 99.9% chance you wont.

agreed! are they cheap RCA's you bought?

I run RCA's called Iridium - ryda.com stock them, along with lifestyle store. Made by the same factory that makes all stinger RCA's, only difference is the colour. Platinum coated, and are reasonably priced.

I dont believe in paying $100 per RCA lead, these are around $35 per RCA - well worth the the money, as mine run around 1m along the powercable (unavoidable) - no noise.

Forgot to add.....

Does this engine noise increase with RPM?

Forgot to add.....

Does this engine noise increase with RPM?

There are two types of noise. One is a constant high-pitched ringing, it dies down when I turn my headlights on but still remains. This noise exists whenever I have the stereo on.

The second type sounds like a supercharger whooshing increasingly with engine RPM.

You should feel special, you have two problems.

Ok second problem sounds like engine noise, due to where you have presumably run your RCA's. To get rid of that problem, run your RCA's on the opposite side of the car, or atleast run the power cable down one side, then the RCA down the transmission tunnel.

First problem could be a ground loop issue.

There's a few ways you can tackle this, the cheapest but longest is to clean your earths on major electrical components (like the headlights, ECU, -ve to chassis aswell).

Then again, its not 100% that this will fix the ground loop, or that it is a ground loop issue.

I'd check the main earths (-ve to chassis, headlights etc, things that wont have you pulling a loom apart) clean if required, see if this begins to lessen the noise.

Then since you will probably get tired of cleaning earth points, buy the noise filters (which are actually just ground loop isolators). Shouldnt need major amp rated one's, RCA's will only see low voltage and low amperage.

5amps *should* be about right.

The only other thing I can think of is your HU not being earthed properly, it shouldnt be an issue, since majority of HU's earth through their chassis.....

***EDIT: just thought of another thing.

Have the stereo on, turn the car off but leave on ACC to play the stereo, does the noise go away? The high pitched noise that is.

thanks for the detailed answer, appreciate it man :D ill get onto it this weekend and let everyone know the results

First before checking earths, look at my ninja edit:

Does the high pitched noise go away with the car off?

You can then try to turn various things on/off to see if the noise starts (like lights/fan/etc).

High pitched whine could still be noise due to the position of the RCA's, if there's any luck thats all it is.

Yeah one of my speaker wires is running alongside the power cable, the cable from the front left speaker to the amp.

High pitched noise is on regardless of car on or off, so any stereo is on, ringing is there. EDIT: but turning headlights on lowers the ringing for some reason

Never had an issue with running speaker cable next to the power wire, its already amplified. Reason why RCA's generally like being run next to the power cable is the frequency of the alternator charging is amplified, then fed through your speakers.

Anywho....

If its a ground issue it could be a few things, main one that comes to mind is the Headunit not being grounded properly, or the rca tracks having a poor earth inside the headunit.

Could be easily tested by plugging an ipod into the amp (either via direct ipod adaptor or via ipod-rca connector). and seeing if the high pitched whine is still there.

I have suffered ground-loops by using an Ipod power-adaptor and having IPod direct-wired to an Aux-In socket on HU.
When this occurred, the dash-lights Rheostat (dimmer) also affected the noise through stereo. Just in case that helps.

In a TJ Exec, I added an Aerpro noise filter (which didn't claim to be a ground-loop isolator, Aerpro seem to offer both products) and it reduced the volume of noise but did not eliminate it. In that case, I fitted the noise filter to the power wire feeding the IPod power-adaptor.

Now I get around the problem by using cassette-adaptors to feed IPod into HU's.
(Hmmm, need little sticker saying "IPod" to cover the "tape" button on HU!!).

Just went for a drive from my place to girlfriend's, noticed that whilst driving the noises would increase in loudness if I turned on the rear demister... odd!

so therefore:

headlights off = increase in high pitched ringing, headlights on = decrease
rear demister on = increase in RPM and engine noise, demister off = decrease

what the hell!

move your RCA's away from power.. do you have crossovers?

move your RCA's away from power.. do you have crossovers?

RCAs are away from power except for maybe a metre where they go to connect to the amp... whats the best way to shield them?

and yes I have crossovers, woofer and tweeter are connected to it

Cant really shield RCA's from what I know :-/

Part of your problem sounds like engine noise (rca interferance with power cable, re: increase in noise with RPM)

The other part sounds like a ground loop issue, as I said I wouldnt use a ground loop isolator at first, I'd try and solve the ground loop.

It could also be a ground issue (seperate from ground loop), such as your RCA's not being properly grounded, or your headunit.

my RCAs are meant to be grounded...? :oops: they're just going straight from my amp to my headunit

headunit wiring was just connected to the harness installed in the aftermarket headunit that was in my car when I bought it... no noise with that headunit so I would it assume that the headunit is grounded fine?

RCA's are earthed through the H/U...long story and right now im trying to fix my stupid laptop....

Google 'ground loop', and high pitched whine.

Yeah haha dont attach the RCA's to the car body!! lol

RCA's are earthed through the H/U...long story and right now im trying to fix my stupid laptop....

Google 'ground loop', and high pitched whine.

safe mode d00d :D good luck!

cheers

try moving your crossovers around. my ex gfs car had the same problem, couldnt figure it out till i started moving the crossovers..

Crossovers being mounted near power cables/amps/magnets (oops) can cause some noise aswell...

ill move my crossover further away from the power cable, too easy!

ill get it this done on the weekend and report in

I know this is a minor thread mine but I'm wondering how you went? I don't really want to start another thread.

I recently got a 4ch amp installed and have the exact same problem. A high pitch noise is coming through every speaker (including the 4inch stock ones), and the noise reduces when the headlights/parkers are on, but its still there.

Its not the RCA's as I've tried different sets and moved them (at the moment they are running down the middle of my car lol). I really don't know what to do as I don't know much about car audio.

I do have a pioneer HU so maybe its the internal RCA fuse that has blown or something? (how will I know this?)

I've also changed the ground of the amp to a few different places but the noise remains the same.

any help/advice would be appreciated!

anyoneeee?

ayne;1171618']anyoneeee?
Best to just buy some ground loop filters and try them. If they don't make a difference then return them.
My cheap eBay HID ballasts cause some wicked RF noise that my RCA's pick up.
I changed the RCA's to double insulated twisted pair, didn't help much. Installed ground loop filters and nice and quiet again :)

zzzz!
I've also now noticed that soon as apply the brakes a small popping sound comes through the speakers!
WTFFFF!

to fix my engine noise (did it yesterday) i had realy cheap rca's i went and bought some better quality rockford fosgates (yes my rcas were on the oposite side to the power) and re ran the new rcas. this preaty much completely fixed my engine noise. but second bet is your power and earth. them little noise removers dont do a thing to the engine noise i tryed 2 :(

well my problem is now fixed
:)
& i now have music in my car

the problem was a blown fuse on the RCA tracks of the HU (extremely common problem with pioneer HU's)
hope this helps anyone else with similar issues

EDIT: just to add it only cost $50 for pioneer to fix the problem which I thought was reasonable, they also give the HU a full service and clean.

ayne;1185225']well my problem is now fixed
:)
& i now have music in my car

the problem was a blown fuse on the RCA tracks of the HU (extremely common problem with pioneer HU's)
hope this helps anyone else with similar issues

EDIT: just to add it only cost $50 for pioneer to fix the problem which I thought was reasonable, they also give the HU a full service and clean.

Where did you take it? I may have the same problem... Getting horrible engine noise and noise when engine off also. Will try the filters but i think i may have damaged the HU when i shorted it :S

my engine noise was because the power line was ran through the firewall with all the other cables and it was picking up noise from there, because ive tryed,
different source (headunit)
100$ rcas
new earths
cleaned battery terminals
everything!!
so im guessing mines the power ive gave up

my engine noise was because the power line was ran through the firewall with all the other cables and it was picking up noise from there, because ive tryed,
different source (headunit)
100$ rcas
new earths
cleaned battery terminals
everything!!
so im guessing mines the power ive gave up

Battery terminals wont cause what you've described but good to see you've done that anyway (would of been filthy)
The RCA's thing is a myth of sorts. You can run power with your RCA's as long as your RCA cables are shielded. My guess is your RCA's were not shielded?
I've never once had an "alternator whine" issue with any of the stereo install's I've done.

Best to make sure that all RCA's are running down the separate side of the car to the power cable, then upgrade all the ground on the amps (go a bigger gauge size if you must). If that doesn't work then you should make sure your RCA's are not running near the cars computer because on a very rare case this can also induce engine noise, i havent had it happen to me but you've got nothing to lose and it does happen.

If all that fails then i would best take it to a Audio Expert to have them had a look at it, then have them tell you what you did wrong, or what the car was doing wrong, and yes the noise filter COULD have helped but when you get a newer car and install audio in that yourself you would want to make sure that you dont make the same mistake. Prevention is better than a cure.

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