Whining and clicking sound advice...I did read the sticky. Please take a look!

[PPD3195 10+ year member]

Okay...classic whining noise and clicking sound coming through the speakers. Here's the gear and what I've done so far...

2012 Beetle

Kenwood 995 head unit

Fosgate Punch 400 4 channel and 300 in mono on the sub

Left the stock separates in for now...actually handling the power well so far

Okay, first thing I did was re-ground the head unit. I've heard that stock grounds through the harness sometimes can't handle the aftermarket. Didn't think it was a problem since I'm not drawing any power through it for the speakers, but did it anyway. There was a perfect piece of frame back in there.

Second, I have my 4awg power going down one side of the car and car audio specific shielded RCA's and speaker wire going down the other. They never cross paths.

Third, and this is where I'm hoping the problem is...I pulled the trunk liner up and pulled the spare out of the way. Right where the metal starts to turn down to where the spare is sitting, I sanded to metal and scraped the metal to rough it up. I used 8awg from each amp and grounded them both there in one screw. Could that be my problem?

I can't find a piece of solid frame back there, and obviously I'm not gonna find any "Detroit steel"...it's German Before I go plundering back there for a solid spot, I figured I'd check here and see if where it's at should be doing fine. The ground is about 2 ft for both amps, so it's not picking anything up there.

I had this gear in the last car and it didn't have this problem, so I don't think I need to wrap the rca's in wire like the sticky said. Anyone know if Kenwoods have that problem?

Appreciate your ideas!

Thanks //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

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[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

I think your ground isnt solid.I use that spare tire bolt on just about every car I have ever owned.I take and clean the surface with s drimel and expose the metal nicely...Then i put an oversized washer on, then a nut, and tighten that up, then another big washer, then the terminal for grounding with a min of 4ga(what I use)then another big washer, and then a nut, and tighten the hell out of it, and spray with black Rustolium to keep exposed from rusting,Then put my spare tire back in, as normal, and never had any issues.Sometimes i have even ran the rest of the ground to a Dist block to use for multiple ground.Hopefully its your ground.Recommend you use same size ground, as used for the power.

 

[PPD3195 10+ year member]

I am going to try that ASAP! Thanks for the info //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Does it matter what type of wire I use for ground? If I get a 4awg that's your typical hundreds of tiny threads wire, or something from home depot that's less but thicker strands?

 

[murph 10+ year member]

either your ground or you ran your rca's with your power wire

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

either your ground or you ran your rca's with your power wire

He said he ran opposite sides, for the power ect, so Im thinking ground not stabilized/bad contact.

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

I am going to try that ASAP! Thanks for the info //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif
Does it matter what type of wire I use for ground? If I get a 4awg that's your typical hundreds of tiny threads wire, or something from home depot that's less but thicker strands?

Wiring from home depot is pure copper if you get the wire Im thinking about.Hit like Car Toys, of local stereo shop or a friend up and get some reg Car stereo 4ga/ofc,2-3ft will be plenty sounds like for you.I have used a car battery neg battery connection from AutoZone before too?Its a ground?Worked fine, and was cheap, like $6.

 

[PPD3195 10+ year member]

Okay, Bahn...I picked up some good stuff from my local dealer. 4awg ground and ends, and ran each ground to a bolt on either side of the metal bracket that holds the middle of the two back folding seats in. Bracket is steel, and the bolts go right into the frame. Sanded down to bare metal, stainless washers on top of the ends. I also tried that wrapping wire around the rca outs on the deck.

Still there! It's coming out of all four speaker sets so if the rca's are bad, it's both pairs. I'm at a complete loss. Am I looking at a bad amp? Head unit??

Thanks for the help

 

[PPD3195 10+ year member]

How can I isolate the source to determine if it's the head unit ground, amp ground or rca's? If run a wire from the head unit ground back to where the amp is ground, would that help me eliminate one of the options? Also, should I have the sub and 4 channel amp grounded on the same bolt, or does it matter since it's the same bracket?

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

Only other thing i would try to rule an amp out, would be to swap amps on the highs, just to test, to see if you have any issues with the existing amp.I know its time consuming, but worth a shot, or take the 4ch out, and get it tested.Shouldnt take but a few min to swap out the rcas, and speaker wire on a couple speakers since everything is there.Could be a bad amp, but can it be both?I would think not if you test the other amp this way, which would have me think that the issue would lye within the hu possibly.Just another way to rule out another source,without being there.Try that, see how it goes.Sounded like a bad ground at the first of the posting, and seems to possibly be ruled out at this point, so taken the next step is what i would do to rule out another source.

 

[PPD3195 10+ year member]

Okay, I've tried a few more things in the last few weeks with no luck. First, I ran the ground from the deck back to the amp ground location...didn't work.

Then I ran a different set of RCA's from the deck, over the seats, to the amps so as to be as far from any interference sources as possible...didn't work.

I did notice that if I unplug the rca's, the noise stops. Is that telling me the source is before the amps? And since I trouble shot the rca's, am I looking at a bad head unit?

I'm not sure what else I could do with the ground other than run the amps and deck grounds directly the neg battery terminal to 100% close the loop. Is that my next step? Also, will I need to do the same thing for head unit power as well?

Thanks!

 

[KTMrida4life 10+ year member]

My headunit/speakers makes all kinds of noises.. thats with the volume on 0 too. It sounds like Im getting radio interference.. being totally serious. Cant hear it when the music is turned up, or if your window is down.. no idea what is causing it. Amps are grounded in the spare tire well, RCAs are rockford fosgate and run through the car beside the speaker wire. Could that be whats causing it?

It only started when I put my new JVC headunit in... with my old Sony I didnt have it.

 

[nismos14 5,000+ posts]

How high are your gains? It is possible that there is something bad in the amp. Also is possible that rca's are bad, but it seems you've tried that already. Gains could be too high for the input voltage, that will cause this kind of issue.

 

[PPD3195 10+ year member]

How high are your gains? It is possible that there is something bad in the amp. Also is possible that rca's are bad, but it seems you've tried that already. Gains could be too high for the input voltage, that will cause this kind of issue.

I'll have to check that. If I lower my gains, do I just turn the volume higher on the deck and it even's out?

 

[nismos14 5,000+ posts]

Kinda sorta yea

 

[PPD3195 10+ year member]

I can't test this right now as I have the whole car torn apart waiting for my speakers to show up. In the meantime, I'm wondering...if I put a higher output 4 channel amp in there, would it allow me to turn the gain down more and still have the save volume levels?