dreaded alternator whine/turn-on thump

[RobF130]

I am so sick of the high pitched whine in my system ever since I got a second amp (4 ch) for my speakers. It was there before slightly, but I was running a crappy amp and I thought that was the problem. Now I have 2 amps each worth $200, and it's worse! When I turn on the system the speakers draw in and release, producing a solid THUMP. And of course there is the high pitched squeel that follows my RPMs and gets worse when the lights/AC/wipers are running. It's UNBEARABLE, not to mention embarassing. Here is what I've tried so far:

- Sanded ground locations for both amps and reconnected
- Grounded both amps directly to negative terminal of battery
- Used higher quality "Monster" RCA cable
- Grounded the headunit directly to the chassis
- Grounded the headunit directly to the negative terminal of battery
- Used a ground loop isolator by scosche

I've heard of some kooky fix ideas...like using $200-$300 transformers, connecting the alternator to positive battery terminal, and negative terminal to the engine block with 1/0 guage wire. Or replacing the sparkplugs, alternator, and battery itself.

BTW...Yes, the RCA's are on the opposite side of the power. Right now I'm very frustrated. I've invested almost $1000 on amps, subs, speakers, etc and the system sounds like ass. I know ppl with crappy equipment whose systems sound great. I am considering buying a couple ultra high quality amp install kits and twisted double shielded stinger RCAs, pulling the entire system, and reinstalling, but I'm afraid it will just be a waste of time and money.

ANYONE HAVE ANY IDEAS??

[maxassassin]

ground loop isolater for rca cables should solve alot of it. as well soudn filters for your speakers.

[maxassassin]

oh yea a head unit that doesnt suck ass.

[dx3j]

I have the same problems. It has existed through two cars and I changed out everything but the amps in my system. They are JBL 360's not the newest and greatest but the sound good. Are you running a good quality amp? Just because it cost $200 doesn't make it a good piece of equipment. I got an 800 watt Kenforth (not Kenwood) amp for $200 that sounded like total crap. Are all the RCA's ground loop isolated? one of the thing I tried but that did not work was isolating one set of RCA's at a time to try and track down the problem. When I isolated one set of RCA's the whine got worse in the other two sets. I still have the whine though. Until I get it fixed I just break out the cheese.

[RobF130]

I'll admit, my head unit DOES suck ass...it's a pioneer one I bought about 3-4 years ago. I guess I will give that a try if I get desperate enough.

The amps are Audiobahn A4002T and A6004T. I think they're pretty decent. When I had only the A4002T installed for my sub, it sounded amazing, except that my sub was getting way more juice than my speakers. I know someone else with the same amp and it works fine for him. I've also heard other people say good things about them so I don't think the amps are the problem.

I already tried the ground loop isolator and it didn't do anything except made the sound worse. But it seemed like a cheap isolator. It didn't even say how many watts it was made for. I only bought one of them because I was skeptical. I completely disconnected one amp and hooked up the isolator to the other one and it didn't make any difference.

BTW, any recommendations on head units?

[donalduck_69]

check your speaker wire and where it's running. if it runs past any fuses, or the computer, or anything along those lines, try moving the wires away from them and see what happens. honda cars are notorious for having extremely noisy computers. i had the same problem with my passive crossovers, it was sitting next to my fuse box, so i moved it to the middle hump and it's been perfect ever since. good luck, hope you figure it out. by the way, you could try and look on the Car Audio and Electronics magazine website, and look in their troubleshooting section. try that too.
have fun.

[donalduck_69]

alpine or eclipse head units are always nice. if you don't want to spend that kind of money, you could try a good jvc or panasonic. once again, good luck.

[94hondaacc]

try lowering the output of your amp. i think you might have it set for max power and this causes it. since you checked everthing this is only suggestion i could give you.

[RobF130]

Good suggestions, I appreciate it. Right now I have the entire system, wiring, amps, speakers and everything out of the car and I'm waiting for a free day that isn't 100 degrees so i can try some of these ideas.

btw...yes my front speaker wires, as well as RCA's, DO run directly next to a huge fuse center under the steering wheel and my crossover was situated closeby too. I'll definitely give that a try.