Accessory pop, but not your standard problem!

[Yvarg 10+ year member]

Okay, so I'm coming to all the knowledgeable folks on this forum because my subwoofer is driving me crazy!

Long explanation of my problem:

Let me give you an idea of what my stereo looks like first in case something else is causing the problem. I'm driving a 2005 Honda CRV (automatic transmission, for those who didn't know) and started out just upgrading the stock head unit with a Pioneer stereo (don't know the model number offhand, but can look it up if it's important). Immediately there was a big improvement because, well, the stock stereo was locked and I didn't have the code (bought it used and the dealer never gave it to me; whatever). Being a picky listener of music, I soon grew frustrated at how poorly some songs always seemed to sound, so I bought a super cheap 10 band graphic EQ (Pyramid 903G, I believe), and installed that (and whatever the DIY radioshack parts fix for the accompanying alternator whine problem is). That set up has served me well for a couple years now, but back in Summer when my buddy bought a used Subaru with a gutted sound system and started working on that I told him we should both build our own subwoofer enclosures together. So I built a Bill Fitzmaurice "Autotuba" for my car. To power it I bought an incredibly cheap single channel amp (Visonik something or other). I'm running two 12ga. wires from the battery to the amp to power it because I didn't have any really heavy wire on hand (like a responsible DIYer, I put a fuse between the battery and the amp). Everything else is pretty standard running to the amp (remote start wire to the accessory remote start wire on the back of the Pioneer unit; ground to a nearby chassis bolt (stripped of all paint); RCA inputs from the sub out on the Pioneer to the input on the amp). So anyway, when I turn on my car, everything starts up (with the normal "pop" of everything turning on) and sounds great. But every once in a while the subwoofer lets out another "pop" like when it first turns on. I've quadruple checked all the wires, no bad connections. I think the pops line up with the transmission changing gears (or when the engine idles), which leads me to believe maybe somehow it's getting bleed through from the rest of the electrical system. I tried putting a small capacitor between the power wire and the ground going into the subwoofer amp to try and shunt any voltage spikes to the the ground, but that made absolutely no difference. This occurs even when the gain on the amp is turned down all the way.

Short explanation of my problem:

I put a new amp and subwoofer in my car and it occasionally makes irritating popping noises while I drive, despite otherwise working normally.

Any and all help with this problem would be greatly appreciated. I'm completely at a loss as to how to solve this myself. Thanks a lot to anyone willing to help me out with this!

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[kramer_212 10+ year member]

not 100% sure whats going on, but i would check your ground, use a ddm from your live power to ground make sure there is no ohm reading if there is move it.

either way check it to make sure its proper.

could be from lack of power wire, or bad signal, or some interference entering the system through the rcas, or the stereo ic could be going out (had this problem with an older pioneer).

 

[Yvarg 10+ year member]

I can pull out my multimeter tomorrow and check to see if there's any resistance between the two wires. Should I be testing them with the car on or off (or does it not matter)?

I'm not sure what you mean by lack of power wire; that it's not a high enough gage to be drawing the power the amp wants? I don't even know what I could do if it's the RCA's . . . maybe buy a better shielded cable? I'd think that a lesser quality shielding would be more likely to pick up radio frequencies than popping noises, but I'm no expert am I? I don't think it's the stereo, as it's not that old; I bought it mid 2009 if I remember correctly and everything else sounds fine when I unplug the cable from my subwoofer itself. Thanks for the ideas, these are all exactly the kind of things I'm looking for!

 

[kramer_212 10+ year member]

well, it could also be to low of an impedance on the amp, audible clipping, try running a new set of rcas through the middle of the car as a test i would almost bet that thats the problem, and i would also run a thicker gauge of wire don't see much current passing through 12 gauge.

and test for both, should come up 0 for both.

 

[Yvarg 10+ year member]

Thanks, I'll try those ideas! The power wire is not as bad as it sounds, I'm using heavy speaker cable that has two individual 12 gage wires but I've soldered them together at the stripped ends so it's acting as a thicker wire together.

 

[Yvarg 10+ year member]

Okay, I've been trying some of the suggestions you gave me, kramer_212. The power and ground wires read 0 resistance between the two. So I swapped the RCA and powered it up, then turned on the AC (one of the triggers that usually gives me popping) and there's no problems. Swapped the old RCA back and did the same thing and it popped like usual. Then it hit me: I'm running the power wire right alongside the RCA cable underneath the panelling. That's probably my problem, huh? The only thing is, where would I move the power to? It'd be WAY out of the way to go around the other side of the car, and the only other place would be underneath the floor mat at the driver's seat (but is that safe?).

 

[All_Logix 10+ year member]

As long as the floor mate is thick enough you shouldnt have a problem. It really only needs to be about a foot and a half away from the power wires, power that small doesnt produce a big electromagnetic field anyway

 

[Yvarg 10+ year member]

Alright, well I can definitely reroute the power to under my floormat. I was mostly worried about the wires causing slipping problems with the mat which could prove dangerous while driving, but the more I think about it the less likely I realize that is. Hopefully this will solve my problem! Thanks guys!

 

[Yvarg 10+ year member]

Sorry to continually bother everyone here (and continually double-post), but I moved the power wire under the floormat a good foot and a half away from any of the other cables, yet I'm still getting that irritating popping noise! My next theory (since a different RCA cable solved the problem) is that maybe the current RCA is picking something up from the dash, seeing as I routed the wires from the stereo through the mass of wires for the dash and out from that panel by the door. Is this a (likely) possibility?

 

[>>SQL<< 10+ year member]

Are you still running the cheap EQ?

Also would you explain this to us?

I have never heard of Bill Fitzmaurice "Autotuba"

 

[Yvarg 10+ year member]

Yes, I'm still running the cheap EQ, but even when it's turned off the popping occurs.

It's just a folded horn subwoofer. It's best explained here: AutoTuba

 

[Germ305 10+ year member]

If you stated all your popping problems went away when you connected the other RCA's...That leads me to believe your RCA's are bad...Run the new ones properly if that is the case. Or maybe i missed something ?? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif

 

[Yvarg 10+ year member]

No, that's probably the problem. I just wanted to find out if it was possible that I was not routing them in a smart way or something. The RCAs were brand new when I installed them, so I don't know what the problem could be. In any case, I need to go buy another cable to do so, because the one I tested it with isn't long enough to send through the dash and under all the panelling to my amp.

 

[Yvarg 10+ year member]

My apologies for resurrecting this thread, but my problem has not gone away; even after I swapped out the RCAs for much heavier duty ones. My next thought is that maybe this is some odd form of alternator whine (I know, a longshot, but I don't have much else to work with). Any more ideas/things to check would be hugely appreciated. Thanks a lot!

 

[Shilo 10+ year member]

I have had the same problems that you are talking about. I actually just last night got it all taken care of. Does your car have a factory amp installed somewhere and are you using a wiring harness in the dash that simplifies your setup? if you do have a factory amp still in there somewhere and are using a wiri. good harness then this is your problem. I had to rewire each speaker to my own amp and unplugged the factory infinity amp. Stereo rocks like never before.