road noise (whining noise corresponds to acceleration) in front components

[bum 10+ year member]

i bought a new Kicker KX 200.2 from ebay, and had it hooked up to my front stage (CDT audio CL-61s)... i have road noise (that's what the install guy said)... everytime i accelerate, my front stage emits a high-frequency whine that corresponds to accelaration. when the car is off it's not there. if i fade it to the rear speakers which are powered by the head unit, it's not there. they tried using filters but it didn't work. dude said he thinks it's the amp.

any input?

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[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

i bought a new Kicker KX 200.2 from ebay, and had it hooked up to my front stage (CDT audio CL-61s)... i have road noise (that's what the install guy said)... everytime i accelerate, my front stage emits a high-frequency whine that corresponds to accelaration. when the car is off it's not there. if i fade it to the rear speakers which are powered by the head unit, it's not there. they tried using filters but it didn't work. dude said he thinks it's the amp.
any input?

It could possibly be caused by an internal malfunction within the amp but normally with a new amp this isn't the case.

More often than not it is a result of poor grounding somewhere in the signal chain. If you do not get it in the rear speakers powered by the head unit then that more or less eliminates that as being the culprit. I would say most likely it is a bad ground connection on the amp itself. Where did you have it installed or by who if it wasn't a shop or a business of some sort?

 

[bum 10+ year member]

local shop installed it...

how should i approach it then? talk to kicker? or ask the install guy to check his grounding?

 

[Chevyaudio 5,000+ posts]

Yes tell him to reground the amps...and the HU.

 

[dkguitarist 5,000+ posts]

take it back to the shop. before you mess with anything. that way if they mess anything up, they replace it.

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

local shop installed it...
how should i approach it then? talk to kicker? or ask the install guy to check his grounding?

If the install guy is immediately trying to blame the amp it doesn't sound as if he'll be of any use in getting him to stand behind his work. Where did he ground the amp if you can tell?

 

[bum 10+ year member]

well he did mess with it.. he said he tried filters and that didn't work and tested to see if it was just the front speakers and it was.. so he figured it was the amp and not the speakers.

here's where/how he grounded it: http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e24/snasrallah/DSCN1399.jpg

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

You can't have a ground loop when only one component is in the signal chain. The interconnect is part of the "loop' so if it isn't in the chain for the speakers in question the ground loop noise won't be present. The problem is most likely a bad ground on either the HU or amp as mentioned above. More times than not it is the HU with the bad ground. What HU do you have? Pioneers are notorious for having internal grounding problems that cause alt whine noise. The fix for that prob is to send it to Pioneer to get fixed or to ground the barrel of the RCA to the chassis of the HU.

 

[bum 10+ year member]

it could be the HU even if it doesn't make the noise on the rear speakers?

i have a pioneer....

 

[bean-a-reano 10+ year member]

well he did mess with it.. he said he tried filters and that didn't work and tested to see if it was just the front speakers and it was.. so he figured it was the amp and not the speakers.
here's where/how he grounded it: http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e24/snasrallah/DSCN1399.jpg

That is a terrible ground. Drill a hole on the chassis and remove all the paint. Then bolt your ground to it. Check to make sure you have no resistance.

 

[bum 10+ year member]

i'm going to fully call this dude out for a shitty ground job if that's what is causing this.

there's a NEW problem by the way. even at 0 volume, the tweeters are staticy.. odd static though.... maybe same problem?

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

Sounds like a loose connection somewhere.

 

[Decipha 10+ year member]

check the gain on the amp... make sure its not trying to push more than its capable of