Amplifier interference

[Clip]

hey guys,

got my rockford amp and sub in this morning and it sounded great. i had the car wired for almost two years with no amp/sub setup, so i was able to just hook up the power, ground and patch cables and go. this evening i decided to run the wire for the amplifier remote bass control and install that. After I installed the wire and got everything back together, the sub would rumble whenever i put a cd in, switched tracks or jarred the car (shut the door or tapped on the amp).

the ground to the amp was loose so i took it out and used the bench grinder's wire wheel to clean up the ground cable's terminal, then scraped down to bare metal where it attached. this quieted the rumbling some, but it still growls every time i switch tracks on the cd, turn the car off or switch cds.

i've tried hooking up my laptop with a mini to rca cable, and the same with a portable cd player and the sub did great.

is it possible that my cd player has something wrong internally (it's been through hell over the last five years)? the sub did great this morning when the cd player hadn't been touched for a while, but started acting up after i removed it and reinstalled it.

 

[Pernilongo]

hey guys,

got my rockford amp and sub in this morning and it sounded great. i had the car wired for almost two years with no amp/sub setup, so i was able to just hook up the power, ground and patch cables and go. this evening i decided to run the wire for the amplifier remote bass control and install that. After I installed the wire and got everything back together, the sub would rumble whenever i put a cd in, switched tracks or jarred the car (shut the door or tapped on the amp).

the ground to the amp was loose so i took it out and used the bench grinder's wire wheel to clean up the ground cable's terminal, then scraped down to bare metal where it attached. this quieted the rumbling some, but it still growls every time i switch tracks on the cd, turn the car off or switch cds.

i've tried hooking up my laptop with a mini to rca cable, and the same with a portable cd player and the sub did great.

is it possible that my cd player has something wrong internally (it's been through hell over the last five years)? the sub did great this morning when the cd player hadn't been touched for a while, but started acting up after i removed it and reinstalled it.

Is it possible that something is wrong with your CD unit? Yes, its possible.

It is also possible that you have grounding issues of the head unit. Or, something is touching the RCAs behind the unit, perhaps, an uninsulated speaker wire, since it reacts to vibration. Do you have an amp for speakers also or just for the sub?

 

[Clip]

just an amp for the sub. i suppose it is possible for the head unit to be grounded improperly, i soldered the connections maybe four years ago. i'll put that on the list to check

 

[Who]

You should run the power cables and the rca cables down different paths in you car. For example the power cables running to the back subs and amps under the rt hand side door jambs and the rca cables, and wire that carries the signal on the left hand.

 

[Clip]

You should run the power cables and the rca cables down different paths in you car. For example the power cables running to the back subs and amps under the rt hand side door jambs and the rca cables, and wire that carries the signal on the left hand.

already been done, the only change i made to the wiring was to run the amp's remote control cable down the driver side with the rca cables. power comes in through the glove box and goes down the passenger side

 

[Clip]

update: i ran another composite cable over the seats to test it and it was still rumbling at me when i changed tracks or inserted at cd. i switched from the sub output to the rear preamp outputs and everything was crystal clear, but didn't give me enough bass nor control over the bass.

i crimped the ground out of the head unit, and it made no difference. at this point i'm thinking something is wrong with my preamp output going to the sub. ideas?

 

[Pernilongo]

update: i ran another composite cable over the seats to test it and it was still rumbling at me when i changed tracks or inserted at cd. i switched from the sub output to the rear preamp outputs and everything was crystal clear, but didn't give me enough bass nor control over the bass.

i crimped the ground out of the head unit, and it made no difference. at this point i'm thinking something is wrong with my preamp output going to the sub. ideas?

Well, then, you found your problem. Time for a new head unit. Connect a different head unit to make sure.

Shouldn't this be in "audio" section?

 

[Clip]

suppose it should, got a friends unit coming tomorrow to confirm. thanks for the help!

can a mod please move this thread?

 

[Clip]

found out something else while driving around today, when i rev from idle to about 3500 rpm (or i can't hear it any more) the sub/amp produces a progressively louder rumble/feedback that responds to the revs. while it sounds like i've got a great exhaust, it's irritating that its not working right. ideas?