Is crossing RCA's with Power Wire Bad?

[spankumbottom 10+ year member]

I have heard a couple people say that it is harmfull if you cross the rca cables with the power /ground wire cables. I just want to know if this is true.

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[Randy Savage 5,000+ posts]

Yes. It causes all sorts of fun and entertaining noises and other surprises. I wire them on the complete other side of the car, only time they com eeven remotely close is when they are hooked up to the amp.

 

[MikeofTulsa Moderator]

you'll hear many different version of this.....i can say that ive never had any problems w/ inducted noise because i have ran the power and rca on opposite sides of the car.....however.....if u do have to have them cross....they should do so at a 90 degree angle......ive never actually ran them together tho so i couldnt say frome xperience as to if there is any inducted noise one way or another......

 

[spankumbottom 10+ year member]

I never knew why, but I was told never to do it. So I always did it. Now I know why. This will be easier to explain to people now, instead of not having an answer when people ask me why. Thanks

 

[jbl_marshall21 10+ year member]

my rcas and power run down the same side. never had any problems. maybe cuz i can't tell the difference between the good and bad sounds. tell me what kind of sounds ur getting

 

[ridered36 10+ year member]

Yes, i have always been told to keep the at least 6 inches from the power cables.

 

[evo2k3 10+ year member]

Its actully more like 18"...idealy what you want to do is:

-interconnects (rca's) down the middle of the car

-Speaker wires on one side (and a small amout for the speakers on the other side)

-power on the other side.

Heres a practicle way around it. Buy very well sheild rca's and power, belive it or not it is going to help a ton if you absolutley have to run them both on the same side. In theory you may still get noise, but in practice you CAN get away with it...now saying that its the best way though.

 

[maylar 10+ year member]

This discussion runs regularly on the car audio forums. Common sense says that the signal wires should be run as far as possible from anything carrying noise.

What isn't obvious though is that there's no way in hell that power wires to your amp could have enough noise current to induce a signal into shielded RCA cables. Until some credible installer comes out and says he has personal experience to the contrary, I contend that this is myth.

More of an issue would be power window and door lock wires. DC motors and solenoids make ~lots~ of noise. Yet no one ever warns us about running RCA's down the floor channels where those wires are. Hmmm...

 

[ridered36 10+ year member]

Originally posted by maylar This discussion runs regularly on the car audio forums. Common sense says that the signal wires should be run as far as possible from anything carrying noise.

 

What isn't obvious though is that there's no way in hell that power wires to your amp could have enough noise current to induce a signal into shielded RCA cables. Until some credible installer comes out and says he has personal experience to the contrary, I contend that this is myth.

 

More of an issue would be power window and door lock wires. DC motors and solenoids make ~lots~ of noise. Yet no one ever warns us about running RCA's down the floor channels where those wires are. Hmmm...

Good point man.

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

Originally posted by spankumbottom I have heard a couple people say that it is harmfull if you cross the rca cables with the power /ground wire cables. I just want to know if this is true.

No. No effect. None whatsoever.

 

[lesesneje 10+ year member]

i've heard that it can cause distortion to cross rca's with power wire. wire the rca's on the right side of the car and the power on the left (might want to do the opposite if your battery is on the right). Another good thing to have is a ground loop isolater that couples with your rca cables. cuts any other possibilities of distortion out alot. and im sure everyone knows not to touch the power to the ground on the amp.....i really hope everyone knows that cause thats just asking to blow fuses and screw shit up.

 

[johnecon2001 5,000+ posts]

i've heard that it can cause distortion to cross rca's with power wire. wire the rca's on the right side of the car and the power on the left (might want to do the opposite if your battery is on the right). Another good thing to have is a ground loop isolater that couples with your rca cables. cuts any other possibilities of distortion out alot. and im sure everyone knows not to touch the power to the ground on the amp.....i really hope everyone knows that cause thats just asking to blow fuses and screw shit up.

time to start checking the date on the top of the original post smarty.

This one is over two years old.