where to earth an amp

[smokeyjoe03]

You said that you have the speaker cable running down one side of the car and the power wires running down the other. Try running the speaker cable down the centre of the car, thats what I had to do to get rid of my interference. I had PHONO leads down one side and power/remote down the other and my speaker cables didn't like being next to either. Obviously this will be different for you as you have no phono leads.

Another thing to check is that your wires aren't touching any metal part of the car, make sure the plastic insulation didn't get torn when it was fed through any gaps......this can cause shorts/interference.

The only other thing is the Gain, have your ignition on, and the stereo and lower the gain until the interfence stops. If it stops eventually thats the problem, if not it could be any of the afore mentioned problems.

As mentioned HI-Level inputs aren't great, RCA's are better but if you use one correctly you still shouldn't get interference. I think Idaho uses a HI-LINE input as he has the standard HU amped but he gets no interference so thats probably not the problem.

Also what speakers are they? You say they are components (which means a seperate woofer and tweeter) but you say further down that you havn't installed your crossovers. Surely all the wrong frequencies are being sent to each driver. If they are indeed comps then you NEED the crossovers.

 

[volxstu]

Thought i would just ask a question in this thread saving starting another one about earthing.

Is it alright to earth 2 amps to the same point?

thanks

Yeah its fine just try to not over lead one cable too much. I have had over 4K going into one distro block over 3 amps and its fine with just 1 0 gauge to ground.

 

[nickkk]

You said that you have the speaker cable running down one side of the car and the power wires running down the other. Try running the speaker cable down the centre of the car, thats what I had to do to get rid of my interference. I had PHONO leads down one side and power/remote down the other and my speaker cables didn't like being next to either. Obviously this will be different for you as you have no phono leads.

Another thing to check is that your wires aren't touching any metal part of the car, make sure the plastic insulation didn't get torn when it was fed through any gaps......this can cause shorts/interference.

The only other thing is the Gain, have your ignition on, and the stereo and lower the gain until the interfence stops. If it stops eventually thats the problem, if not it could be any of the afore mentioned problems.

As mentioned HI-Level inputs aren't great, RCA's are better but if you use one correctly you still shouldn't get interference. I think Idaho uses a HI-LINE input as he has the standard HU amped but he gets no interference so thats probably not the problem.

Also what speakers are they? You say they are components (which means a seperate woofer and tweeter) but you say further down that you havn't installed your crossovers. Surely all the wrong frequencies are being sent to each driver. If they are indeed comps then you NEED the crossovers.

good advice, i didnt bother with the cross over, or the tweeter, thats why i didnt see much point in the crossover.
could this really cause interference though?

no cables are shortinh with the metal.

the comps are hifonics, titanium i think, can remember of the top of my head.

this weekend ill try moving the the cables again, if that fails, add the cross overs, still no luck, ill try one of those rca converter things from the head unit then use rca cables. then i can earth the barrels and get ground loop things for the rca cables!

 

[volxstu]

OMG did you just say that you have bought components but havnt installed the x-over and tweeter. That has to be the single most poinless ICE install I have ever heard of. Why on earth would you do that.

 

[karbineftw]

OMG did you just say that you have bought components but havnt installed the x-over and tweeter. That has to be the single most poinless ICE install I have ever heard of. Why on earth would you do that.

LOL:bang:
Like having car a with no wheels

 

[Puntodriver1991]

Might aswell of just bought a set of co-axials

 

[gp3000000]

Might aswell of just bought a set of co-axials

...and then ripped out the tweeter.

Have a read here. The crossovers seperate the high and mid frequencies so that the tweeter gets the extreme highs, and the woofer gets everything else. This is the advantage of components over co-axials. The seperate speakers handle the seperate frequencies (usually with a sub handling the extreme lows so the woofer doesn't have to handle those too).

Though I wouldn't expect leaving out the crossover to cause massive interference problems.

 

[volxstu]

...and then ripped out the tweeter.

Have a read here. The crossovers seperate the high and mid frequencies so that the tweeter gets the extreme highs, and the woofer gets everything else. This is the advantage of components over co-axials. The seperate speakers handle the seperate frequencies (usually with a sub handling the extreme lows so the woofer doesn't have to handle those too).

Though I wouldn't expect leaving out the crossover to cause massive interference problems.

Just to take our point one step further. Another point of a separate Mid Bass and tweeter is the wave path. Lower notes are Audible from a further distance and Higher notes shorter. By moving the tweeter higher you are improving path capability to keep up with the lower mid bass. So to put it simply the closer to the ear the louder it is.
Then there is path direction, if the tweeter is part of a coaxial then it is in the door. The Sound source of certain frequencies needs to be on Axis (facing directionally towards the listener) so being in the door just isnt going to have you any directional path, with seats people and other things geting in the way.

Then there is something called staging to consider. The vocals and other highs should sound like they are coming from dead centre of the bonnet. This is only achieved by a few geniuses but strategically placing the tweets around the a pillar area is your best bet.
When doing this you are trying to create an even balance of sound taking into consideration all of the above, so all of the sound hits the left and the right ear at the same time. This is of course pretty much impossible but the closer you get the better it will be.

If you can explain better than me please do, i have tried to explain but im useless lol.

 

[gp3000000]

Thanks for that Stu, I'm still learning too! Practically all my knowledge of this comes from the Electronics side of things, i.e. frequencies low/band/high pass filters, I (semi) knew about staging but all that about the positioning of the tweeters makes sense enough the way you explained it

 

[nickkk]

Lol I didn't relise this was such a waste! So can I use the original tweeters with the hifonics cross over?

 

[volxstu]

The standard tweets are :yuck:. Stick em in as well, its not that difficult. When you do it and here the difference you will think what the hell was i playing at.

 

[nickkk]

ive spent some more time agen this weekend trying to get it sorted, still no luck lol.

i moved the cables agen and earth points, brought a speaker-rca converter, phono ground loop inslator, wired up using my x-overs, brought a new amp just to try in case it was the amp playing up and still had no luck!

so i got my old pioneer headunit out and connected that up and no interference! even with the high level input insted of rca cables!:worship:

so im gessing the problem was the headunit! The aftermarket head unit and the cross overs made a 100% improvment so im going to continue to use them!

halfrauds did say it was my starter motor causing the interference (i think he ment the alternator though) and gave me this to try...
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_189944_langId_-1_categoryId_165626

dont think i will bother now as its working fine!
ice is adictive though! im looking for a sub now!

 

[smokeyjoe03]

Yes its addictive. I think we're in the same boat. I just sorted out my interference (speaker wire touching the metal bodywork) and I need a new sub asap too. Something 12" and about 400rms. All a matter of finance though which is c**p atm.

 

[nickkk]

ive got a fusion sub and amp for sale, its 1000w though, takes up alot of room in the boot, thats why i dont wanna use it cus i carry tools in the boot!
it was £250 quid, not the cheaper one from halfrauds! pm me if your interested!