Alternator Noise
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 715
Likes: 0
From: Warner Robins GA
Alternator Noise
Hey guys,
I decided to go ahead and get my 88 ready for an amp that I'll mount under the passenger side seat. Before I just had straight speaker wire running from my head unit to my rear 6x9's. I don't have any speakers in my door right now. Eventually I will, but we can safely leave them out of the equation for now.
Anyway, I ran some Phoenix Gold RCA cables from my head unit to under my passenger seat, then ran some new speaker wire from my rear speakers to under my passenger seat. I don't yet have an amp I want to use, but I had an old Pyramid Arctic Series 101 sitting around so I decided to throw it in there to complete the circuit. I grounded it out on the metal where you bolt the seat down.
For me, the sound is fine. I'm not what you might call "Serious about my sound", so I have no complaints with the quality of my head unit or my speakers. What bugs me is the amp. Like I said, this is NOT the amp I'm going to keep in there.. however I'm hearing terrible alternator noise that makes me think it's not grounded properly. Do I need to find a new ground, or should this problem correct itself when I buy a real amp? I know Pyramid isn't exactly the pinnacle of quality. It's definitely louder and harder hitting with this amp, but you can easily hear the alternator whine during a quiet spot in music.
I decided to go ahead and get my 88 ready for an amp that I'll mount under the passenger side seat. Before I just had straight speaker wire running from my head unit to my rear 6x9's. I don't have any speakers in my door right now. Eventually I will, but we can safely leave them out of the equation for now.
Anyway, I ran some Phoenix Gold RCA cables from my head unit to under my passenger seat, then ran some new speaker wire from my rear speakers to under my passenger seat. I don't yet have an amp I want to use, but I had an old Pyramid Arctic Series 101 sitting around so I decided to throw it in there to complete the circuit. I grounded it out on the metal where you bolt the seat down.
For me, the sound is fine. I'm not what you might call "Serious about my sound", so I have no complaints with the quality of my head unit or my speakers. What bugs me is the amp. Like I said, this is NOT the amp I'm going to keep in there.. however I'm hearing terrible alternator noise that makes me think it's not grounded properly. Do I need to find a new ground, or should this problem correct itself when I buy a real amp? I know Pyramid isn't exactly the pinnacle of quality. It's definitely louder and harder hitting with this amp, but you can easily hear the alternator whine during a quiet spot in music.
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 4,537
Likes: 84
From: St. Joseph MO
Cruise-In III Veteran
Cruise-In IV Veteran
Re: Alternator Noise (Tourney3p0)
1.) try moving the rca's away from the power wire routing under the seat.
2.) if possible make a temporary ground wire for the head unit that grounds it to the same point as the amp.
3.) try a new amp/wait for a higher quality amp.
:cheers:
2.) if possible make a temporary ground wire for the head unit that grounds it to the same point as the amp.
3.) try a new amp/wait for a higher quality amp.
:cheers:
Race Director
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 14,137
Likes: 2,984
From: Iowa
St. Jude Donor '03 thru '26
Re: Alternator Noise (Tourney3p0)
You might also want to try these:
1. Run the same guage wire (as you have for the positive) from the amp's ground to the neg of the battery.
2. Turn the gain of the amp down.
Good luck. :cheers:
1. Run the same guage wire (as you have for the positive) from the amp's ground to the neg of the battery.
2. Turn the gain of the amp down.
Good luck. :cheers:
