Alexis,,,,

[RON WOODGEARD]

Or any other real stereo installers, troubleshooters.

I'm setting my stereo back up, It's all new, Alpine 9805, a Pyramid Electronic Crossover ( I know that's not a good one) 2-8" Subs, ( Rockford fosgates) 2-Infinity Tweeters, 4-4" Pyramid Mid ranges, 2- 6 1/2" Blaunkpunkt speakers, and I don't have the 6X9" for the doors yet, but they will be there also...

Ok, none of this really has to do with my question

What does ?????,,,,, Every since I bought this dang truck, I have had a electronic interference problem, Now I'm not Ignorant about most installs , But I guess I am with This thing...

I argued one day for ten minutes with a tech. (yea right) at Crutchfield. This Kid told me the interference I was explaining was from the Alternator, I informed him I didn't believe it was, AS the Alternator was not turning and was disconnected....
He insisted that was the problem..

The Interference has something to do with the Ignition, When the engine is running, You can hear the revs, through the Speakers..

OK, Here's what I have done, I have ran numerous Filters, Including a BIG red filter a guy at a CB store sold me,inline with the Alternator. (There's that alternator thing again) I had one installer tell me it was my HEI distributor... I took it out and went Points, ( I have since then went with Pertronic ignition ) I have changed Plug wires, I am now running Accel 8.8 MM race wire, ( the Suppressor ones) I run suppression Plugs....
My stereo is hot wired to the Battery,.. ( along with all other stereo accessories )The ground is grounded to the body within 12" I am also running a Ground strap from the engine to the frame, to the body..

OH yea. If you are talking on a Cordless phone in the truck,( one that comes from the house, I said Cordless, Not Cell ) it also comes through it.... Now if I remember my stereo install basics, That Interference is emitting from the Ant.... I have gotten rid of the stock Mast antenna, and am going to a Powered Hidden,,,, How the heck do I get rid of THE NOISE ????????

If you need any other info, just ask.. I swore when I put it back on the road I was going to be able to listen to Sounds other then Exhaust, Cam Gear drive, and road noise..

AND,,,,,It's getting closer !!!!

[BobbyK]

I heard if the speaker wires are run parallel along side of any power wire you will get the interferance.
I was going to suggest a ground but you seem to have that covered.But just to make sure.You should have a ground strap/cable from:
-neg. side of Bat. to block
-block to frame
-frame to chassis( in several different locations)I have four of them.
Chassis to block,frame to chassis,rocker boxes to frame and wheel wells to frame.

[stickshift_or_walk]

Ron,

I had the trouble BobbyK is talking about with my '02 GMC. I had a whine in the speakers. It might have been the alt, not sure with all the electronic gear on this truck. I couldn't kill the whine with filters, perfect grounds, etc.

The final problem was that the RCA cables for the preamp signal were got too close to the power wires for the amp. In my future installs, I will fix it so these are AT LEAST a foot from each other at all times, until they hook to the amp. Parallel contact is the worst, and if they MUST come together somewhere, make it a 90 degree crossing only.

Since you are pretty sure yours is ignition related, this might not be the cause, but is worth checking out.

Second, disconnect your main system ground, hook it to a jumper cable, then hook the other end of the jumper cable to your battery ground post. That will eliminate any other potential for a ground problem.

I have one other suggestion - have you checked for your noise with the antenna unplugged? I've seen units try to ground though the antenna, which can cause all kinds of interference. Again, it's an easy one to check.

Those are my top three suspicions....SSOW

[Alexis]

check you're PM

[Grim Reaper]

Bypass they pirajunk and see if it goes away. Them things are famous for engine noise.

You not running that pyramid for amp are you? I see no amp listed. Some of those thing claim 100 watts of power...well it's spike power and not real wattage.

Run a good ground from the block to the cab.

[RON WOODGEARD]

Originally Posted by Alexis

check you're PM

Thanks Alexis,, I have this weekend off, I'll call you then... What's the best time ??

[Alexis]

Fri and sat 7am - 8:30 am. or after 8pmm i have to work at my normal job. Sunday I'm off so you can call me anytime.

[RON WOODGEARD]

Originally Posted by Grim Reaper

Bypass they pirajunk and see if it goes away. Them things are famous for engine noise.

You not running that pyramid for amp are you? I see no amp listed. Some of those thing claim 100 watts of power...well it's spike power and not real wattage.

Run a good ground from the block to the cab.

Grim,,

You're right, I forgot the Amps.. They are a Jenson 40 watt 4 channel, and a 35 watt 4 channel Pioneer.
It just isn't the Pyramids that advertise misleading information, It's many, or most of the companies. I won't be Cranking this much, so I don't need much power. Yes I'm aware of clean Power, and as time, money, and other more important items on the "to do list" get done, I'll concentrate on upgrading one item at a time.

Today, I hooked up the Amps, Crossover, Tweeters, Subs, and the Blaunpunkt speakers. I still have more to hook up, but this really rounded the sound out in itself. I'm having a hard time deciding where to mount the tweeters to get the best Imaging, and bring the sound up to ear level... But that will come together after I get everything else in place and hooked up.

[Alexis]

how old are these amps? what gauge wire are you sending to them? A rule is to Run the power-wire on one side car and the rca's on the other. Speaker wire shouldn't be your main worry but do keep them in a fair distance from the power wire. I have had noise come from a car just because the power cable for the amps was running too close to the coil. Also sometimes radios don't ground the RCAs as well as they should so i sometimes just sneak in a wire on the outter lip of the RCA and ground the wire. Wire loom is a must in the engine bay. it's illegal in this state to not put wire-loom on wires we run in the engine bay.

You got such an arrary of speakers and components, why not just stick to one brand? How many RCAs outputs does the radio have? RCA brand? Are you running one power cable in and a fused spliter box to run single cables to each amp?

[68C10]

Ron ... You are usually pretty logical in your thought processes. You need to be frightfully systematic in your approach to this. After you've checked all the above stuff again I would start disconnecting components and see if the whine goes away. Hopefully you can isolate the guilty party that way. Get down to the absolute minimum components then start adding things again.

I used to do a lot of stereo stuff in my younger years. If you don't have a super high energy ignition (it doesn't sound like you do) and you have a good ground (sounds like that too) then there has to be an energy leak somewhere that is broadcasting or receiving the interference. If it's not in the wires then it might be in one of the amps or the receiver. Can you borrow a spare from a friend for testing?

I've never had the training to figure this stuff out with meters but I've had pretty good luck with mechanical isolation techniques.

Good luck. Let us know when you solve the problem.

[LUV2XCLR8]

A Lil If Not All Of What Everyone Else Said, I Competed For 6 Years
In Iasca And Usac, I Always Got Perfect Scores For Lack Of Noise /
No Noise Present, I Always Used Double The Ground Size On Wires,
Example, I Was Running O Gauge Power And Two O Guage Grounds,
Some People Called It Garden Hose Because It Is Big Stuff, I Ran My
Power Through Flexable, Non-metal Lined Conduit Under The Body
Along The Frame Rails, I Ran All My Rca's Down The Passenger Side
And All Of My Speaker Wires Down The Drivers Side And I Even Ran
The Remote Turn On Wire Down The Center Of The Car, Hopefully
This May Help Out Some, Like I Said, I Had Zero Noise, Which Was
Kinda Amazing Considering I Was Running Everything Listed Below
( Keep In Mind This Was Also In Like 1992 So This Is Old Stuff )

Sony Changer With The Remote Tuner Control Module, Not A Rf
Rockford Fosgate Symettry Adjustable Crossover / Control System
0 Gauge Power And Ground Wire With Phoenix Gold Connectors
4 Gauge Speaker Wires To The Subs / 8 Gauge To All Other Speakers
Rockford Fosgate 4" Audiophile Mid Bass In The Dashboard
Sony 1" High Capacity Tweeter System Also In The Dashboard
Rockford Fosgate 8" Midbass In The Rear Pillars ( 90 Formula )
Rockford Fosgate 10" Pro Subs In A Custom Box I Designed & Built
Aeroport Custom Ports For The Box Tuned To 37 Htz
Autotek 150w X 150w Amps ( 5 ) One Bridged To Each Subwoofer
Two 1,000,000 Microfared Capaciters With Extra Battery In Trunk
Battery Isolater With O Gauge Between The Battery's ( 3 )

Only Hit 137.5 Db, But Man You Talk About Clean Soundin.

( P.S. - SYSTEM DESIGNED, BUILT, AND INSTALLED BY ME )

[RON WOODGEARD]

Originally Posted by LUV2XCLR8

A Lil If Not All Of What Everyone Else Said, I Competed For 6 Years
In Iasca And Usac, I Always Got Perfect Scores For Lack Of Noise /
No Noise Present, I Always Used Double The Ground Size On Wires,
Example, I Was Running O Gauge Power And Two O Guage Grounds,
Some People Called It Garden Hose Because It Is Big Stuff, I Ran My
Power Through Flexable, Non-metal Lined Conduit Under The Body
Along The Frame Rails, I Ran All My Rca's Down The Passenger Side
And All Of My Speaker Wires Down The Drivers Side And I Even Ran
The Remote Turn On Wire Down The Center Of The Car, Hopefully
This May Help Out Some, Like I Said, I Had Zero Noise, Which Was
Kinda Amazing Considering I Was Running Everything Listed Below
( Keep In Mind This Was Also In Like 1992 So This Is Old Stuff )

Sony Changer With The Remote Tuner Control Module, Not A Rf
Rockford Fosgate Symettry Adjustable Crossover / Control System
0 Gauge Power And Ground Wire With Phoenix Gold Connectors
4 Gauge Speaker Wires To The Subs / 8 Gauge To All Other Speakers
Rockford Fosgate 4" Audiophile Mid Bass In The Dashboard
Sony 1" High Capacity Tweeter System Also In The Dashboard
Rockford Fosgate 8" Midbass In The Rear Pillars ( 90 Formula )
Rockford Fosgate 10" Pro Subs In A Custom Box I Designed & Built
Aeroport Custom Ports For The Box Tuned To 37 Htz
Autotek 150w X 150w Amps ( 5 ) One Bridged To Each Subwoofer
Two 1,000,000 Microfared Capaciters With Extra Battery In Trunk
Battery Isolater With O Gauge Between The Battery's ( 3 )

Only Hit 137.5 Db, But Man You Talk About Clean Soundin.

( P.S. - SYSTEM DESIGNED, BUILT, AND INSTALLED BY ME )

Danged,, what an outfit....Clear, Clean sound is all I want, not ground poundin/Thumpin blow your ear drums, Volume...

OK Update. I guess I typed before I tried !!!

I bought this truck in the Mid 80's and stereo interference has "always" been a problem, Even with the stock factory Radio.. So I automatically figured it was going to be prevelant again.. After hooking some of this stuff together, And reading "Stickshift or walk"s post on trying it without the antenna, I did just that and fired the truck up with the stereo playing,, And To my GREAT Relief.. there at this point is >>>>>>NO-Noise<<<<<<<<
SO now as I run the RCA Cables, and Wires under the carpet, I'll check it with each move I make...

The reason I have such a varied tossed together system... This is stuff I have had in other vehicles, It all worked well when I took it apart to sell the cars/trucks. Somewhere here in a box, I have a 12 CD Pioneer Changer. I hadn't planned on installing it with this set up, But who Knows... Maybe ?????

Thank you Everybody for your input and help.. Alexis,, I will still have a couple of questions on Capicitors.. ( something I know nothing about !!!)

The Alpine has 4 RCA outputs, front-rear + two for an additional component. a total of 6... 4 watts on their output...