Ambient Signal/Noise?

[beckSHO 10+ year member]

So, the other day I hooked my amp and sub up to my car. I turned it on and it sounded great! Nice deep tone, clear notes, everything was just super. Then, the next day I turn it on take it on a drive, and when I was in the middle of ordering some food, I turned the radio off. When I turned it off, all I got was a loud hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm from my subwoofer. But when I turned the radio back on, I got perfect signal and even if I turn the volume all the way down. I took it to a place near here and he said the RCA cable is picking up an ambient signal/noise. I know a simple fix for this would be to always leave the radio on, and just turn the volume down all the way. But, I would like to find and actual fix for this. Would sound deadening my entire trunk (where my amp is located) fix this? Would changing the RCA cable do me any good? What could be some other causes to this? I would appreciate any help. Thanks a lot guys.

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[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

Sound deadening isn't the answer here.

Seeing if it does it with different cables may be a good option...I'm thinking you may have a ground loop between components though.

Do you have the amp securely grounded to a point on the chassis that has little or no resistance back to the negative post on the battery? How is the head unit grounded?

 

[beckSHO 10+ year member]

Sound deadening isn't the answer here.
Seeing if it does it with different cables may be a good option...I'm thinking you may have a ground loop between components though.

Do you have the amp securely grounded to a point on the chassis that has little or no resistance back to the negative post on the battery? How is the head unit grounded?

Sorry, but could you elaborate on the grounded loop between components? I'm still on the noob side of audio installs here.... I'd help to explain it a little bit more.

I'll have to check the ground, I was in a hurry when I was putting it in. I don't have a head unit, however. I had to go with a line converter because I have a Taurus SHO. Due to the stock electronic climate controls, we can't put in an aftermarket head unit unless we do some serious modification.

I'll also try switching my RCA cable with my bro's.

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

Basically, the components try to complete a ground path through the RCA's instead of the proper way through the vehicle's chassis...

How do you have the remote wire run in your case? I'm just trying to get an idea how you have everything connected that might introduce noise in the low level signal.

 

[beckSHO 10+ year member]

Basically, the components try to complete a ground path through the RCA's instead of the proper way through the vehicle's chassis...
How do you have the remote wire run in your case? I'm just trying to get an idea how you have everything connected that might introduce noise in the low level signal.

I had it hooked up to the Antenna turn on. The way that it was hooked up, about 14 feet of my 17 foot RCA cable was all cramped in the lower corner of my trunk. Would that cause any trouble?