buzzing/distortion coming from only one speaker?

[copene]

Hey guys, I'm praying you can help me with this. I have a 2006 Acura CSX (basically a super Honda Civic) and I'm about a month into my first system and things are going to hell pretty quick. First off the head unit (CX501) has started magically making a loud whining hiss through all the speakers. I haven't added nor subtracted ANYTHING from the car. I've narrowed it down to the HU by hooking the HU directly up to a recording device, hand held, eliminating ground loop possibilities and taking the amps out of the equation and boom, same sound coming out of the speakers is now coming through the device and through the headphones. So it's not a ground loop (99%). OK so I thought, grab a new deck which I did (Pioneer X8500BS) and made a appt for next week with the installers. But during all these tests to get to the bottom of the whining hiss I picked up a new problem. The front left speaker (component CDT HD61) has a audible noise coming from the mid as well as the tweeter. It is basically just that, noise. If the car is silent you can hear it grinding away. I've tried unhooking the RCA's from the HU, no change. I've tried switching the left and right speaker output from the amp (PPI 900.4) no change, still noise from the front left speaker. My gains are set at maybe 30% so I am not introducing the noise myself by cranking the gains. From what I can tell, the power and audio are separated for the run to the front, only zipped at one point where the amps are. I don't know what else to do, I can't get to the back of the head unit because I'd have to take the front of the car apart and I am not by any means a car guy when it comes to knowing what's what. I know audio and I know how impossible some of these things can be, but I know this from a home theater background, not a car one. It's a whole new ball game here.

Any ideas at all?

(I posted this in the wiring section too, mods please delete if this is the wrong place)

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[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

Where are the crossovers for the front speakers?

 

[copene]

I remember him saying "under the dash" when I asked him before. Does that make sense?

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

If the crossover for the left front speakers is picking up RF interference that's why the speakers are making noise.

 

[copene]

But wouldn't that noise have jumped speakers though when I swapped the L/R speaker line output?

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

But wouldn't that noise have jumped speakers though when I swapped the L/R speaker line output?

The crossover can pick up noise from your blower fan motor and other things. This means the noise could be coming from between the amp and the speakers, so it doesn't matter how the speaker wires are plugged into the amp.

 

[copene]

sounds like I'm going to have to learn how to take a car apart to enjoy music while driving. Ah well, I guess I asked for it having a perfect sounding system for three weeks.

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

There's only so much that can be done to diagnose problems via keyboard. Many times things have to be verified and inspected in person. I hope the installer(s) didn't rush your vehicle.

 

[copene]

what I don't get is how things can go to **** in three weeks after everything being great. Absolutely nothing has changed. The day after I ran the test tones was a kick in the face.

 

[Side Show 10+ year member]

did your battery go flat?

 

[copene]

battery? Na man it's fine. Should I maybe get a few Skar amps and subs? Would that help? Maybe some $600 RCA's?

 

[maylar 10+ year member]

what I don't get is how things can go to **** in three weeks after everything being great. Absolutely nothing has changed. The day after I ran the test tones was a kick in the face.

This does sound odd that it happened all of a sudden. Throwing out a long shot though, things can change in an install due to hitting bumps and such while driving. Ground wires at the head unit can come loose and possibly the crossover for that speaker moved closer to a noise source (car computer or something). But yeah, you're gonna have to become familiar with how your dash is built. I would suggest bringing to the shop first and asking questions there.

Good luck.

 

[copene]

So I got the Pioneer deck installed and it killed the high pitch whining sound 100%. It was the CX501 head unit, who knows what happened but it's toast. But the weird distortion sound is still coming out of the front left speaker/tweeter. It's not noticable while driving but knowing it's there is killing me. It's not there the first turn of the key but when it's turned to the middle when the air conditioning and all that pops on before the engine, it's present. Here's the really weird thing, I noticed that with the key not in the ignition whatsoever, when the door light comes on when the car door is opened and closed, I can hear the loud high pitch sound coming from the front left speaker and it dies when the light fades off. Is it a ghost or is it a **** up from the installer? These guys really seem to have their head's on straight though...

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

So I got the Pioneer deck installed and it killed the high pitch whining sound 100%. It was the CX501 head unit, who knows what happened but it's toast. But the weird distortion sound is still coming out of the front left speaker/tweeter. It's not noticable while driving but knowing it's there is killing me. It's not there the first turn of the key but when it's turned to the middle when the air conditioning and all that pops on before the engine, it's present. Here's the really weird thing, I noticed that with the key not in the ignition whatsoever, when the door light comes on when the car door is opened and closed, I can hear the loud high pitch sound coming from the front left speaker and it dies when the light fades off. Is it a ghost or is it a **** up from the installer? These guys really seem to have their head's on straight though...

My money is on interference from the electrical system affecting the left side crossover. There's no shielding on passive crossovers, and they will be affected by magnetic fields. Did the installer look into this problem when they had your car for the head unit swap?

 

[copene]

but wouldn't that have switched to the right speaker when I flipped the speaker line out from the amp?