Hi, im new and hope i can get some help with my car sound system here. i have set up my system and im getting a pop from all speakers when my head unit is turned on and i can also hear noise when i skip track (screeching as HU reads disc). ive tried two head units same issue.
My equipment : aftermarket HU. and a spare, both have front, rear and sub pre-outs. Fli 4 channel amp, 100w rms per channel. infinity front component speakers (woofer,tweeters and crossover) pioneer 6x9s 4 awg/gauge power/ground wire. rca cables
i have checked my amps ground and it is fine, i have run power cables and speaker wires on separate sides of my car. i have played my ipod direct from amp and theres no issue, which suggests a problem with the HU however i have tried a few HU's.
one of my HU's does ground via the antenna wire and even rca cables when antenna is not connected which is strange however my new sony HU does not have this issue and the noise i get is still there but alot quieter. ive tried grounding the HU's but cant stop the problem. i get the pop when i turn on my HU even when the rca is unplugged from the amp. i also have HU balance control issues on both HU's if i turn balance to the left the right speaker still plays however balance to the right and the left stops which is correct. ive tried new rca cables aswell. PLEASE SOMEBODY HELP! ive tried everything i can think of and everything i could find on google. thanks in advance to anyone who can help me any advice or ideas would be appreciated. thanks, tom
The first test I would do is running a ground cable straight from the battery, this cable should be connected both to the chassis (of the head unit) and the negative (black) power terminal (of the head unit). To listen in I would use some portable player which has RCA inputs. If that first test is successful you can then try to connect to the amp. ALSO the yellow (always on) power terminal (of the head unit) should get +12V even when your car is turned off.
Hi Joe, today i grounded my head units outer case with wire to the inside of my dashboard (chassis metal) and that has stopped most issues so thanks for the advice. i have found out that with my remote lead unplugged i dont get a turn on pop, therefore my amp must cause my speakers to pop when powered on by the HU. why is this? and how can i fix this?
The first step is to know that its really the amp so you could disconnect the RCAs and connect the remote, if you hear the same thump you know its the amp, many old school designs lacked internal circuitry to prevent that thump, there are many options to fix this, including contacting the manufacturer to see if it is normal, if it is, you can add very simple circuitry so that the speakers remain disconnected for a few seconds after turn on.