Tungsten
10+ year member
Senior VIP Member
Hey guys, just wanted to share a positive experience with you all. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif
My system presently consists of a Kenwood eXcelen X859 head unit feeding an MTX 4244 amp driving a set of Kicker K57.2 component speakers up front and a pair of Kenwood 6808C 6x8 3ways in the back. The rear speakers will be going bye-bye soon as I add a pair of Alpine SWR-1021D subs.
All of this is installed in a 1998 Ford Mustang GT with power wires running down the driver's side of the car, signal wires running down the center tunnel (Monster MicroXLN) and speaker wires running up the passenger side of the vehicle.
Head unit ground was tied directly to the chassis rather than using the ground in the wiring harness and amplifier ground was tied to the rear chassis. In other words, everything was isolated very nicely and all normal precautions against alternator whine had been taken.
But there was still a noticeable whine. I isolated the amp using "isolator plugs" and confirmed that it was not the culprit. The only thing that would remove the noise from the system was powering the head unit (+12Vdc and ground) off of a seperate car battery completely removed from the car's ignition.
THE SOLUTION
I took a chance and ordered an American International S15A noise filter from Crutchfield (available from countless other sources, of course) for $13 and installed it in the car yesterday.
Installation was a piece of cake. I cut the +12Vdc Constant power line to the head unit (in the aftermarket harness) and spliced in the noise filter and tied it's supplied ground straight to the chassis along with the head unit ground.
The result? Absolutely no more alternator whine. Clean and clear! It's good when a $13 product solves such an annoying product. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif
In this day and age of snake oil remedies, I thought I'd pass along my success story in the hope that it might benefit others down the road. Of course I would highly recommend that you do all of the "freebie" fixes first before spending money on noise filters and things like that, but if all else fails it's definitely worth a shot.
My system presently consists of a Kenwood eXcelen X859 head unit feeding an MTX 4244 amp driving a set of Kicker K57.2 component speakers up front and a pair of Kenwood 6808C 6x8 3ways in the back. The rear speakers will be going bye-bye soon as I add a pair of Alpine SWR-1021D subs.
All of this is installed in a 1998 Ford Mustang GT with power wires running down the driver's side of the car, signal wires running down the center tunnel (Monster MicroXLN) and speaker wires running up the passenger side of the vehicle.
Head unit ground was tied directly to the chassis rather than using the ground in the wiring harness and amplifier ground was tied to the rear chassis. In other words, everything was isolated very nicely and all normal precautions against alternator whine had been taken.
But there was still a noticeable whine. I isolated the amp using "isolator plugs" and confirmed that it was not the culprit. The only thing that would remove the noise from the system was powering the head unit (+12Vdc and ground) off of a seperate car battery completely removed from the car's ignition.
THE SOLUTION
I took a chance and ordered an American International S15A noise filter from Crutchfield (available from countless other sources, of course) for $13 and installed it in the car yesterday.
Installation was a piece of cake. I cut the +12Vdc Constant power line to the head unit (in the aftermarket harness) and spliced in the noise filter and tied it's supplied ground straight to the chassis along with the head unit ground.
The result? Absolutely no more alternator whine. Clean and clear! It's good when a $13 product solves such an annoying product. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif
In this day and age of snake oil remedies, I thought I'd pass along my success story in the hope that it might benefit others down the road. Of course I would highly recommend that you do all of the "freebie" fixes first before spending money on noise filters and things like that, but if all else fails it's definitely worth a shot.
