High pitched white noise from tweeters

[BlueStone]

Hello, I'm having a problem with some high pitched white noise coming from the tweeters which becomes irritating after a while, almost like tinnitus. Turning up the volume will mostly drown out the noise but you can still faintly hear it in the background or quiet sections. There is a very very faint noise also coming from the woofers but it is hard to hear anything.

Brief background:
I have recently added a new under seat sub, amp and new 5.25" component speakers
Sub - Kicker 11HS8
AMP - Kicker Key 180.4 with dsp
Component Speakers - Rockford Fosgate 5.25" T-152-s
It is a Suzuki with the stock head unit, with speaker level outputs only.

I have the amp setup as bi-amp mode with the inputs coming from the stock head unit (front L+R speaker level outputs of HU) and the amp turn on set to DC mode, so it will turn on when it detects an input from the HU. The outputs of the amp are run directly to the speakers (I have not installed the passive crossovers supplied with the speakers as suggested in the amp instructions).

The problem I have is that there is a constant white noise coming from the tweeters that I can hear from about 2 feet away. The noise is there as soon as the amp turns on even with the headunit on mute or with nothing playing. It will be there with the car in ACC, on and running. Revving the engine does not change the noise. Increasing the gain on the amp increases the noise but even with the gain set to the lowest position the noise is still there.

I thought it may have had something to with grounding but I have checked the grounds for the amp and measured 0.1 ohms between ground and battery. The headunit had a resistant of 0.6 ohms between ground and battery so I cut the existing HU ground and ran a new ground wire to the amps grounding point (now having a resistance of 0.1 ohms as well). The noise is still there though..

Any help would be appreciated, cheers

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[jrouter76 10+ year member]

Hello, I'm having a problem with some high pitched white noise coming from the tweeters which becomes irritating after a while, almost like tinnitus. Turning up the volume will mostly drown out the noise but you can still faintly hear it in the background or quiet sections. There is a very very faint noise also coming from the woofers but it is hard to hear anything.

Brief background:
I have recently added a new under seat sub, amp and new 5.25" component speakers
Sub - Kicker 11HS8
AMP - Kicker Key 180.4 with dsp
Component Speakers - Rockford Fosgate 5.25" T-152-s
It is a Suzuki with the stock head unit, with speaker level outputs only.

I have the amp setup as bi-amp mode with the inputs coming from the stock head unit (front L+R speaker level outputs of HU) and the amp turn on set to DC mode, so it will turn on when it detects an input from the HU. The outputs of the amp are run directly to the speakers (I have not installed the passive crossovers supplied with the speakers as suggested in the amp instructions).

The problem I have is that there is a constant white noise coming from the tweeters that I can hear from about 2 feet away. The noise is there as soon as the amp turns on even with the headunit on mute or with nothing playing. It will be there with the car in ACC, on and running. Revving the engine does not change the noise. Increasing the gain on the amp increases the noise but even with the gain set to the lowest position the noise is still there.

I thought it may have had something to with grounding but I have checked the grounds for the amp and measured 0.1 ohms between ground and battery. The headunit had a resistant of 0.6 ohms between ground and battery so I cut the existing HU ground and ran a new ground wire to the amps grounding point (now having a resistance of 0.1 ohms as well). The noise is still there though..

Any help would be appreciated, cheers

Sounds like your factory hu outputs,if you can get a LOC that should solve your problem,if you can get a spare after market hu to hook up to your amp and see if the white noise goes away if so either a LOC or change out the factory hu for a after market hu

 

[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

Any help would be appreciated, cheers

If revs do not change pitch, then it may be the rca cable run picking up noise along its route. Try running a spare set over the seats for testing. Also try grounding the radio chassis to bare metal, it may help.

 

[Lasherž]

Hello, I'm having a problem with some high pitched white noise coming from the tweeters which becomes irritating after a while, almost like tinnitus. Turning up the volume will mostly drown out the noise but you can still faintly hear it in the background or quiet sections. There is a very very faint noise also coming from the woofers but it is hard to hear anything.

Brief background:
I have recently added a new under seat sub, amp and new 5.25" component speakers
Sub - Kicker 11HS8
AMP - Kicker Key 180.4 with dsp
Component Speakers - Rockford Fosgate 5.25" T-152-s
It is a Suzuki with the stock head unit, with speaker level outputs only.

I have the amp setup as bi-amp mode with the inputs coming from the stock head unit (front L+R speaker level outputs of HU) and the amp turn on set to DC mode, so it will turn on when it detects an input from the HU. The outputs of the amp are run directly to the speakers (I have not installed the passive crossovers supplied with the speakers as suggested in the amp instructions).

The problem I have is that there is a constant white noise coming from the tweeters that I can hear from about 2 feet away. The noise is there as soon as the amp turns on even with the headunit on mute or with nothing playing. It will be there with the car in ACC, on and running. Revving the engine does not change the noise. Increasing the gain on the amp increases the noise but even with the gain set to the lowest position the noise is still there.

I thought it may have had something to with grounding but I have checked the grounds for the amp and measured 0.1 ohms between ground and battery. The headunit had a resistant of 0.6 ohms between ground and battery so I cut the existing HU ground and ran a new ground wire to the amps grounding point (now having a resistance of 0.1 ohms as well). The noise is still there though..

Any help would be appreciated, cheers

You've covered the basics. Have you tried using the crossover's bi-amp mode instead of the amps? I wouldn't take out the crossover considering its bi-amp mode can be disabled. I assume you removed the crossovers because the amp's sounded better to you, but was there any difference in the noise?

 

[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

You've covered the basics.

Good catch. I just looked up the specs and saw that rcas need not apply. Impressive little unit, kudos to Pioneer. As you pointed out, OP has done everything right. Might it be the unit itself?

 

[NytFlyt]

The only good thing about my tinnitus is that I would never notice such an issue.

 

[Lasherž]

Good catch. I just looked up the specs and saw that rcas need not apply. Impressive little unit, kudos to Pioneer. As you pointed out, OP has done everything right. Might it be the unit itself?

My guess would be the amp or the power wiring for it if the crossover doesn't play a part. It's probably worth moving the ground again just to see and maybe record the different locations and how bad the ring is. If it changes at all it's a grounding issue. If it doesn't then it's time to pull the amp and test it outside of the dash with other input sources and direct power connections on the battery.