whine in the audio system

[adam1.4biza]

Hello all

I have installed my own audio system but unfortunatly i am experiancing a whine from the system. i have tried an altinater suppressor but this did nothing.

i have my suspicions it is either my hi to low (rca) converters or my RCA leads..
are there any good (but not too expensive) hi to low converters out there and what good RCA cable can i buy ?

[Col]

Most problems like this are caused by a bad earth.

As a double check and fail safe, I'd run a separate (separate to the loom provided earth) to a known good earth point on the chassis.

[adam1.4biza]

i have earthed both my amps to the spare wheel stud in the boot. i thought this would have been a good place.

both the hi to low RCA converters are earthed under the dash on an earth i found.

[Col]

i have earthed both my amps to the spare wheel stud in the boot. i thought this would have been a good place.

both the hi to low RCA converters are earthed under the dash on an earth i found.

It is the earthing at the head unit end I am talking about. Obviously the amps should have their own good earths.

I'd run a separate earth from the head unit (including the cage if there is an earth tab) and the rca converters as well.

[adam1.4biza]

It is the earthing at the head unit end I am talking about. Obviously the amps should have their own good earths.

I'd run a separate earth from the head unit (including the cage if there is an earth tab) and the rca converters as well.


urm.. the HU has an earth..
rum well this is the standard HU in a seat ibiza Mk3 and it is a horrid little thing. i will have a look tomorrow some time for one though if not i will solder one to the outer casing...

one other thing is how do i ensure the earth is 'clean' ?

[Col]

Right-e-o

Thought it was an aftermarket unit.

In which case the whine is probably a combination of the head unit and the rca converters converting a dirty signal, which is then amplified !

[adam1.4biza]

Right-e-o

Thought it was an aftermarket unit.

In which case the whine is probably a combination of the head unit and the rca converters converting a dirty signal, which is then amplified !


any way to 'clean' the signal, or can i get screened rca converters?

[Eclipse car Audio]

It is more than likely to be the converters mate they normally introduce all sorts of noise, thumps, hiss etc

Normally the cheapy ones from ********* are the worst (I think they are made by autoleads

These ones are not too bad

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/celsus-adjustable-converter-p-6221.html?cadid=12ac64d29b7221048602e9400199db27


Also did you say you were using two?

[adam1.4biza]

It is more than likely to be the converters mate they normally introduce all sorts of noise, thumps, hiss etc

Normally the cheapy ones from ********* are the worst (I think they are made by autoleads

These ones are not too bad

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/celsus-adjustable-converter-p-6221.html?cadid=12ac64d29b7221048602e9400199db27


Also did you say you were using two?


yea im using 2... from the high output of standard HU i have 2 rca converters so all signal is taken to the boot via RCA leads. they are next to each other and yes they are the cheap ish ones from autoleads *hides head in shame*

[Eclipse car Audio]

They are more than likely your problem mate

You could always lose both and use something like this

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/celsus-turbo-line-driver-p-6220.html?cadid=413a8bdf895f9425cd9e276eefdcc3f3


Which will also boost the pre out voltage level and give you a much cleaner and clearer signal.

.

[adam1.4biza]

They are more than likely your problem mate

You could always lose both and use something like this

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/celsus-turbo-line-driver-p-6220.html?cadid=413a8bdf895f9425cd9e276eefdcc3f3


Which will also boost the pre out voltage level and give you a much cleaner and clearer signal.

.


they look swish... but £30 a peice ? i think i may have to buy some better RCA cable too as the stuff im using at the moment is non screened.

so its going to be around £90 ish, for all of that 2 x rca converter, then 2 x screened 5m rca cable.

better save up i think !

[Eclipse car Audio]

Or just get the one and a apir of splitters

But how much has the rest of the system cost you and is it worth letting it all down because of a couple of dodgy converters

A system is only as good as its weakest link:D


Sorry gone into sales pitch mode there:biglaugh:

Can probably get you a better price on most of it if your interested.

.

[adam1.4biza]

Or just get the one and a apir of splitters

But how much has the rest of the system cost you and is it worth letting it all down because of a couple of dodgy converters

A system is only as good as its weakest link:D


Sorry gone into sales pitch mode there:biglaugh:

Can probably get you a better price on most of it if your interested.

.


im not the greatest at car audio and only wanted something better than stock system (speakers where crap)

basically i have replaced every single speaker in the car (cost me under £100) i have 2 amps (cost me £80) and a sub from a mate (£30) so i guess yea £200 ish quid maybe more.

just to help here is a quick drawing of how my system is at the moment
http://a297.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/83/l_0901a941a7621d56024e1f421fc8d648.jpg


basically im not after a show system, i just want a noise free system and at the moment my sound system is driving me up the wall.

the RCA leads im using are just standard audio cheap (ish) stuff. rca converters where very cheap at £5 a pop.

if you could give me a good price i may just take you up on your sales pitch :p:D

Adam

[Eclipse car Audio]

Will do later for you mate as I came out this morning and left my book on the sofa.

Thats what you get for doing your invoicing at 2 am and not putting it all back in the car for the next day:aargh4:.

.

[adam1.4biza]

Will do later for you mate as I came out this morning and left my book on the sofa.

Thats what you get for doing your invoicing at 2 am and not putting it all back in the car for the next day:aargh4:.

.

:banghead: DOH... well that will serve you right for doing invoices so late ;)

look forward to see what you can come up with.
Cheers

Adam

[adam1.4biza]

any joy with a quotation yet ?

[Eclipse car Audio]

I was working it out as you sent that - quite spooky really

Right for two of the line driver/converters and two 5m screened RCA's plus delivery comes out at £70 mate.

Let me know what you think mate

[adam1.4biza]

I was working it out as you sent that - quite spooky really

Right for two of the line driver/converters and two 5m screened RCA's plus delivery comes out at £70 mate.

Let me know what you think mate


so lets get that in to (dumb) for me.... im very very slow this eve after a very hard day at work.:1zhelp:

two of the line driver/converters
these will convert high input to RCA output.

and i know what the screened rca cable is though.... which i guess is a start. :D

[Eclipse car Audio]

Right the line driver/converters convert your speaker output of the head unit to RCA (like the ones you got now) the line driver part of it boosts the voltage of the output to give a cleaner/clearer signal to the amps

Or if you dont want the line driver part there are better quality converters than the ones you got which with the leads would be about £60

TBH for the extra tenner I would have the line driver ones.

But the choice as they say is yours:D

[adam1.4biza]

well i guess i will go with the £70 pack. i hope it will not be too difficult to wire up.. will it ?

also i have to run the RCA leads past the fuse box under the dash... i presume the screened RCA cables will help eliminate noise from down there too ?

either PM me with your billing details or list them on here.. and i will reply with my postal details :D

thanks for your help

[Eclipse car Audio]

No Mate its basically the same as what you got now - should be ok running past the fuse box mate

PM sent

[adam1.4biza]

ok mate. PM's seem to take ages on this forum... will post back in here once i receive it.

[adam1.4biza]

ok.. the £70 is sent via paypal to the given addy.

let me know when you get it :)

[Eclipse car Audio]

Got it mate thanks very much

Do you want it sent to the address given on Paypal

[adam1.4biza]

urm yea, i think that is the correct address. it will either be here or at my g/f's house. i hope this will sort my problems out.

also one last thing. im geting a slight whine from my speakers (think its comming from the amps) its just a single high pitch note, once the volume is up it is not noticable but when the volume is below 5 it is.

anyway to stop that ? or it that from the amp, amping no signal.

[Eclipse car Audio]

Again mate it could be down to your converters - I had one the other day where you could hear the CD player changing tracks (the laser moving) through the speakers - horrible bloody noise

Also mate as mentioned earlier make sure your earth to the amps is nice and clean - bare metal where the ring terminal touches the bodywork.

[adam1.4biza]

where is the best place to earth the 2 amps in the boot ? i currently have both of them earthed to my spare wheel stud.

[Eclipse car Audio]

That should be OK mate as long as it is touching bare metal another good place is the seatbelt mounts or where the seats bolt in.

.

[adam1.4biza]

ok. i may end up taking a file to the stud then and getting some better fitting washers to clamp the o ring in place. and add lots of grease to stop rust.

well im deffinatly picking your brains ;) getting my 5pence worth :)

[Eclipse car Audio]

No problem mate you pick away :D

If you can get oines big enough try to get the star washers (i think thats what they are called) as they cut into the metal as you tighten up the bolt.

.

[adam1.4biza]

you mean the ones that look like little turbine blades on a washer ? they cut in to the metal they are screwed down against.

[Eclipse car Audio]

Thats the kiddys mate

[adam1.4biza]

hello there

It all arrived in the post today :)

slightly puzzled though as i though i was going to recive these:http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/celsus-adjustable-converter-p-6221.html?cadid=12ac64d29b7221048602e9400199db27

but recived thesehttp://www.celsusice.co.uk/product_details.aspx?Product_code=LC2A

i hope they will fix the problem though, but will find out later if they do or not :)

Cheers for that and the very fast delivery

[Eclipse car Audio]

I did ask for the first ones mate dont know why they sent them - they should still do the job though (same thing different packaging they are the LC2A whereas the ones I showed you and ordered are LC2), if not let me know and I'll get on to them.

Cheers

Tony

[adam1.4biza]

I did ask for the first ones mate dont know why they sent them - they should still do the job though (same thing different packaging they are the LC2A whereas the ones I showed you and ordered are LC2), if not let me know and I'll get on to them.

Cheers

Tony


ok , reason why i wanted the others is because of their metal surround.. (block out interferance) but i will try and use the plastic ones im sure i can try and make em look unused and send them back.

[adam1.4biza]

Tony. your a god :biglaugh:

i replaced :

converters
RCA cable
and remade my earth connection and its as quiet as a mouse when volume is at 0 and car is running...

thank you thank you thank you!!!!

if you even come down to portsmouth i will buy you a pint or two!

cheers

Adam

[Eclipse car Audio]

My In laws live in Southampton mate so may take you up on that offer one day:biglaugh:

Not a problem Adam - glad to help :beerchug:

[adam1.4biza]

My In laws live in Southampton mate so may take you up on that offer one day:biglaugh:

Not a problem Adam - glad to help :beerchug:
hello again!

i managed to blow up my amp so i have got a new (better) one. JBL... i know its not the best but i dotn have a large budget.

anywho i was wondering if you could give me a bit of advice ?

i am looking at chanigng the set up of how my sub gets its signal and where i put everything.

at the moment i have a RCA converter running off the amped side of the rear back speakers ( i think a contributing factor to the amp blowing).

at the back of my HU i have the RCA converters that you sent to me wired up and it all works great. would i be harming the HU if i ran 2 RCA converters off 4 wires (rear speakers)

so in other words i have 4 wires:
+ rear left
- rear left these are wired up to 1 RCA converter
+ rear right that goes to a 4ch amp
- rear right

would it damage my HU is i ran 2 RCA converters off the 4 wires above ?

this would mean that rca converter #1 would be taking the signal to my 4ch amp for my rear 2 speakers..
and RCA converter #2 would be taking the signal to the amp i have running my sub.

if this is fine and would not runi my HU would you give me a quote for the 1 x 5m sheilded cable and 1 x rca converter with adjustable gain (same products as i got last time)

thanks...

[Eclipse car Audio]

Hi Adam

It probabaly wouldnt do it any good mate, your best way would be to have 1 converter running off the rear speaker leads and using a pair of splitter cables so instead of having one pair of RCA's to connect to the amp you now have two pairs so you can have one pair for your rear speaker amp and one pair for your sub amp. you may also need a couple of short RCA cables as the splitters are not very long and it depends where your RCA converter is in relation to the amps.

Hope this makes sense.

Cheers

Tony

[adam1.4biza]

Hi Adam

It probabaly wouldnt do it any good mate, your best way would be to have 1 converter running off the rear speaker leads and using a pair of splitter cables so instead of having one pair of RCA's to connect to the amp you now have two pairs so you can have one pair for your rear speaker amp and one pair for your sub amp. you may also need a couple of short RCA cables as the splitters are not very long and it depends where your RCA converter is in relation to the amps.

Hope this makes sense.

Cheers

Tony

hi Tony

right......

my RCA converters are under the dash and they re appear in the boot. (is this the best place to use the splitter? in the boot)

both amps are in the rear of the car and both RCA converters are at the front.

the sub amp is less that 1m worth of cable away from the 4ch amp powering my speakers.

what do you suggest ?

Adam

[Eclipse car Audio]

Hi Adam

How have you got the converters wired mate I know you said they are off the rear speakers but you should have four wires (left+, Left-, right+,right-) going into one converter and a pair of RCA;s coming out if thats the case then what is your other converter connected to?

[adam1.4biza]

Hi Adam

How have you got the converters wired mate I know you said they are off the rear speakers but you should have four wires (left+, Left-, right+,right-) going into one converter and a pair of RCA;s coming out if thats the case then what is your other converter connected to?


i have 3 converters in my car at this moment:
(1 and 2 are at the back of the HU where the speaker cables come out, so these are both under the dash!)
1st Converter does rear right + and - and rear left + and -
2nd converter does front right + and - and front left + and -
(these are the 2 i purchased from you a little while ago)

Those 2 converters have RCA cables running down the side fo the car to my 4ch amp.
(RCA cables i purchased from you)

On the OUTPUT of my 4ch amp i have 8 wires comming out: these are:
4 cables go to the front speaker left and right + and -.
the other 4 cables go to the rear speakers left and right + and -

Just after the amp output for the rear speakers i have my 3rd converter (this is in the boot)

(3rd converter) this is connected up to the amped signal cables that come out the 4ch amp. the converter is paired in to the REAR right and left + and - speaker inputs.

this then has an RCA cable going to the SUB amp.


is that a bit clearer? its difficult to explain !

[Eclipse car Audio]

Right OK

Does your four channel amp have an RCA OUTPUT (another set of RCA sockets) - If so then the easiest (and least wiring) way will be to put a short RCA cable from the output to the input on the Sub amp. If not then I would think it would be best to use a pair of splitters and a short RCA to go from one of your RCA cables as it comes into the boot (doesnt really matter which one) to the sub amp - the only problem with this is if you fade your Head unit from front to back you will also fade the sub in or out but then I think you would have had this problem with how you have it wired now.



Cheers

Tony

[adam1.4biza]

Right OK

Does your four channel amp have an RCA OUTPUT (another set of RCA sockets) - If so then the easiest (and least wiring) way will be to put a short RCA cable from the output to the input on the Sub amp. If not then I would think it would be best to use a pair of splitters and a short RCA to go from one of your RCA cables as it comes into the boot (doesnt really matter which one) to the sub amp - the only problem with this is if you fade your Head unit from front to back you will also fade the sub in or out but then I think you would have had this problem with how you have it wired now.



Cheers

Tony

Tony
My new Amp for my car speakers is a JBL GTO1004. it may not be the best amp but it gave me the power i needed for my speakers.

It does have an RCA output BUT, would this not reduce the power going to my speakers ? (in effect adding another speaker on to the amp) or since its an RCA the level is so low and the next amp does all the work?

reason is im trying to keep as much power going to my speakers as possible as they sound so much better with more power behind them. also the new JBL amp is such an improvement over my old one (even though this JBL one is still 'cheap' .

if i can just take another RCA lead from my JBL to my 2nd amp could you do me a price on a 1m or 1.5m sheilded phono cable ? since those phono cables you got me work so well and i like the blue i may aswell keep the overall look that same.

Cheers

Adam

[Eclipse car Audio]

Like you say mate the output level is low and the second amp will do the work to up it

A 1m lead is a tenner they dont do a 1.5 the same as your other ones ony 1m, 3m or 5m.


Let me know if you want me to get it for you.

[adam1.4biza]

Like you say mate the output level is low and the second amp will do the work to up it

A 1m lead is a tenner they dont do a 1.5 the same as your other ones ony 1m, 3m or 5m.


Let me know if you want me to get it for you.


fair enough i will do that.

is that £10 inc postage ?
you may have to give me payment details again :).

oh btw. thats a few more pints i owe you now :beerchug:

[Eclipse car Audio]

Woohoo I'll leave the car at home :beerchug:


I'll PM you the my Paypal address mate can you let me know your address again as well mate

And yes thats including postage.

[adam1.4biza]

sent you a pm with a query