Whine in System, But not through speakers...

[xguntherc 10+ year member]

Update; sound coming from passsenger front speaker ONLY. so front right speaker. Idea's

Hey everyone, I did a search and I read tons about Whines in peoples system, but mine seems different than most that Ive read about. After installing the 4 channel 300/4 and pushing my 4 doors I now Have a whine in my system. But its not through the speakers.

When I power the car n system up I hear a whine, and it increases with the rpm's but I dont hear a thing from the speakers, Almost sounds like it is coming from the Head Unit. But it never did it before.

When I power off my HU, the whine stops completely. Ive checked all my grounds and tested them with a DMM. I checked my RCA's with a DMM as well. ive yet to try unplugging the RCA's tho to see if it continues. I got some 2 AWG wire today so i'll do the BIG 3 next and get a better ground for Battery, and I have a bolt to ground the ALT and engine block both in 1 so i'll try that also.

Any idea's on a whine that is NOT through the speakers, that stops completely when the HU is powered down? Thanks!

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[fasfocus00 5,000+ posts]

so you're saying that the car is not moving and that a no sound producing object in the car is producing sound?

 

[xguntherc 10+ year member]

lol. Im saying there is No music playing, and the car is started, weather Im driving, or sitting still I hear a whine, Its not the ALT whine that normally is there, its not coming through the speakers. I hear the whine and then when I power off the HU after about a second or 2 the sound stops.

Its not coming from the speakers thats all Im saying. Could the HU be whining?

 

[Toone 10+ year member]

so you're saying that the car is not moving and that a no sound producing object in the car is producing sound?

electronics do make sounds //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif older things usually though

 

[fasfocus00 5,000+ posts]

lol. Im saying there is No music playing, and the car is started, weather Im driving, or sitting still I hear a whine, Its not the ALT whine that normally is there, its not coming through the speakers. I hear the whine and then when I power off the HU after about a second or 2 the sound stops.
Its not coming from the speakers thats all Im saying. Could the HU be whining?

i have to say you have alt whine and it is going through your speakers. just to prove it, turn on your car and than unplug each speaker and you'll see that the sound goes away. if your headunit is making a noise like that, it's probably gonna blow up.

 

[xguntherc 10+ year member]

Nothin in my system is over a year old but the JL sub and amp.

So when U say try unplugging speakers, U mean from the amp.. Well I lean over and put my ear next to the speakers and I dont hear ANYTHING. that is why I dont think its coming from the speakers, but it could. But I dont think im hearin anything from my speakers

 

[Klugster 10+ year member]

Hmmm let me know what fix's that for you cause I have the same exact Whine. I've spent several hours listening/looking for that whine this weekend. Everything is checking out ok. I'm out of idea's.

 

[alibies 10+ year member]

disconnect the remote wire from your 4ch amp and see if the sound goes away... if it does then your ground is too long, or there is a voltage differential between the 4ch and hu ground. you may find that running the head unit's ground all the way back to your 4ch helps with the sound issue.

also you may need to turn your gains down a bit.

 

[xguntherc 10+ year member]

Well I do think my gains are to high as I can't turn my HU above 22 or so and it goes to 50. lol. I need to set those correctly. but I'll have to do both amps right?

So your saying disconnect the remote shut off wire and see if sound stops. and how does that mean the ground is to long if the remote shutoff wire being removed stops the wine? I'm a little confused.

 

[alibies 10+ year member]

Well I do think my gains are to high as I can't turn my HU above 22 or so and it goes to 50. lol. I need to set those correctly. but I'll have to do both amps right?
So your saying disconnect the remote shut off wire and see if sound stops. and how does that mean the ground is to long if the remote shutoff wire being removed stops the wine? I'm a little confused.

the remote wire turns the amp on and off, so disconnecting it will let you determine if the sound is coming from the amplified speakers.

your speaker amps or your mid and high range amps need to have a ground that is less than 1.5 ft. (installer standard) and your head unit's ground should be ran back to where you have your speaker amps grounded.

your gains are probably your issue. turn your gains all the way down - then turn your head unit almost all the way up. start to turn the gain up until you hear some distortion coming from the speakers... you will hear the speakers start to sound stressed out. stop turning the gain up and back off from where the speakers started distorting. This will help you get the best sound and flexibility from your car audio system

 

[xguntherc 10+ year member]

Ya I'm using small grounds that came in kits, and I'll be adding the BIG 3 tomorrow so that should help with a few things. Hopefully cut down on the alternator whine in general also, but that's not my issue right now. It's this sound that doesn't seem to come from speakers. I'll try unplugging the REM wire and see what happens. but I'm pretty sure that it will stop, cuz when I power down the HU, witch cuts power to the amps. the sound stops..

I'll see where it's coming from, and I'll try to fix my gains as well. Thanks alibies

 

[AVRevolution 10+ year member]

Alibies is leading you down the right path! Turn all your gains all the way down, then turn the radio up to 75% of full volume. Slowly turn up the the gains on the amp until it produces a clean sound with no distortion, once you are at that point, I suggest turning it down just a little. If your in a great mood with some money in your pocket your more than likely going to turn it up past 75% and run the risk of blowing your speakers. IMO.

 

[xguntherc 10+ year member]

Ok.. well guys I have an update, I didnt do gains thing. I will do that tomorrow on my day Off. But I figured this out sort of.

I have a loud, and sometimes worse than others loud whine that increases with the RPM. in the FRONT RIGHT speaker only. so the passenger front speaker is where the sound is front. I dont hear it in any others? can that single down my fix? I also ran my sub 4 awg power wire on left side, but I ran my new 4 channels 8 awg power wire down the right side with both the sub, amp, and speaker wires all down it. so I should probably move it to the left.

Other than that, any idea's for singling this out on that ONE speaker?

thanks for the last 3 very helpful posts guys

 

[xguntherc 10+ year member]

I redid the ground from the HU with a decently larger 8 awg wire and also added a larger battery to chassis and engine to chassis both with a 2 awg wire and between those upgrades and the new HU ground I think I have rid my system of the whine. I couldn't get the wire off the alt to do that part of the big 3 but will try again on my next day off

so thanks for ideas. Seems it might be gone now