Head unit, curing engine noise/alternator whine

[ClayMan 10+ year member]

If I originally had a severe engine noise/alternator whine problem, could going from head unit X to head unit Y possibly do anything to affect this?

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[Acidburn 5,000+ posts]

i would think no

 

[Audiophile33 10+ year member]

Switching headunits shouldnt stop the alternator whine. Check to see whether or not you have a ground loop.

 

[ClayMan 10+ year member]

That's what I thought as well. But all the whine is gone after I switched from my old Clarion unit to an Alpine unit...

The only oither changed variable was the RCA interconnects. I have 2 of them, one for front components and one for sub. One (the purple KoolKonnectz) was run down the driver's side of the center tunnel, and the other (the blue KlearKonnectz) was run down the passenger's side of the tunnel.

I was originally using the supposedly higher-quality KlearKonnectz for the components (they are twisted pair, whereas the KoolKonnectz are only "shielded"). Now I've switched it up and I'm using the KoolKonnectz for the front components.

So the only possible explanations for what happened is:

-better head unit

-KlearKonnectz is worse than KoolKonnectz cables (contrary to marketing)

-huge difference of noise in the 6 inches of differnence between each side of the center tunnel

Just FYI, the car in question is a BMW E36, a car notoriously known for it's alternator whine.

 

[forbidden 10+ year member]

Yes changing the head units can solve a problem like this. A headunit is part of a ground loop and in most cd players the ground plane is just absolute garbage which is where a lot og noise related issues start from.