When I'm installing my car stereo, can I run all my amp power wires together?

[BigToque]

I've got 2 amps and I've got 2 power wires coming from the battery as well as, down underneath the center console towards the trunk.

Unfortunately I've also got a high pitched whine now every time the engine revs.

Would this be because all the power lines are together, or because the amps are not grounded properly?

 

[Red]

Did you run your RCAs on the opposite side of the car from the power wires?

 

[ViviTheMage]

it has to do with the RCAs being crappy. I had this issue in my car, just swapped em and the whine was gone.

 

[edro]

12-14vdc power lines will not generate noise on the RCA lines.
It is probably the low quality of RCA cables.

Google found this:
Alternator Whine, due to poor grounding.

 

[Canai]

I always heard that it was from the wires being too close to power wires. I'm not sure though, in my last car I did everything my self and had no problems. When I grounded mine, I just ran it to the same place the dash ground went to.

 

[BigToque]

Originally posted by: Red
Did you run your RCAs on the opposite side of the car from the power wires?

The RCA's are currently following the same path, although the noise still exists even when the RCA's are not connected.

The sound mostly disappears when I cut power to the amp, although I can still hear it.

Edit: What could be causing alternator whine with no stereo equipment connected?

 

[Miklebud]

Bad ground for the amp? Make sure you scrape all paint off of the point where your ground is located.

 

[rasczak]

Originally posted by: BigToque

Originally posted by: Red
Did you run your RCAs on the opposite side of the car from the power wires?

The RCA's are currently following the same path, although the noise still exists even when the RCA's are not connected.

The sound mostly disappears when I disappears when I cut power to the amp, although I can still hear it.

visit your local car stereo shop and ask for a small device taht kills engine noise. I can't remember the name of it at the moment.

 

[OUCaptain]

Re-route all rca's away from power wires. This includes the 12v switched that turned the amps on. What you're hearing is noise from the alternator bleeding into the low-level signal. Good quality RCA cables will also help. You could even go so far as to get shielded and grounded cables but most likely, re-routing the cables will eliminate the noise. Also, test for noise with EVERYTHING connected as it will be when you ride low down the road.

Both cents come from personal experience battling the same issue.

 

[voodoochylde]

I keep my power on the driver's side, my RCA's in the middle (under center console), and my speaker wire on the passenger side. Even a half-decent set of RCA's won't be affected by power wires but doing it straight down the middle, helps me stay organized and shortens the path of my cables.

Whining is very possibly a bad ground - either at the amp, at the head unit, or both. Did you scrape/sand the paint off whichever part of the car you grounded to? Also, especially on your amp, make sure you're ground wire isn't too close to your fuel pump/sending unit or other electronics.

Good luck!

 

[DaTT]

This also happens with cheap amps. Could also be a bad ground.....and keep your RCA's as far away as possible from the +12V source

 

[Spineshank]

Yea, ive heard it with crappy amps. What kind of setup are you using?

 

[CptCrunch]

I had this issue with my bonneville, nothing out of the ordinary except the addition of a 12 disc cd changer. Occurred until I took a grounding bolt near the battery and cleaned it with a metal brush. Then it would go away for about 5 months.

In this instance, could be crap/cheap amps, or bad grounding for the amp

 

[alkemyst]

i am picking up alt noise through my passive crossovers.

For the most part the running power and RCA's on the same side cauing noise is more folklore than proven. Still it's better to separate them if possible and cross at 90 degrees when you can.

 

[Raduque]

Run a bigger power cable, then split it closer to the amps to smaller cable. I don't know if you should do the same for the ground wires. I do and don't have any adverse effects.

 

[BigToque]

I just removed all my equipment from my car and I've still got whine from the alternator when the engine revs, although it's pretty faint.

Is this normal? I imagine that I'm just being overly sensitive at this point.

 

[MrWizzard]

The wine is a signature of a genuine GHETTO BLASTER system. Be proud. :thumbsup:

 

[radioouman]

Originally posted by: BigToque
I just removed all my equipment from my car and I've still got whine from the alternator when the engine revs, although it's pretty faint.

Is this normal? I imagine that I'm just being overly sensitive at this point.

Bad alternator.

 

[Gibson486]

You have a ground loop. Lots of things can cause this. It is NOT youe wires, though.

 

[Synomenon]

I've been battling this problem with a new system as well. It's an Alpine iDA-X100, PDX 4.100 amp. and Infinity Kappa speakers. I've run the speaker cables down the passenger side, RCAs down the middle and power under the carpet along the edge on the passenger side (the power cable is at least 6-inches away from the speaker cable). My amps' ground is connected to one of the bolts for the passenger seat. I did scrape all the paint off.

Whenever my car and head unit are on, I hear a faint whining / hissing. It doesn't change when I press on the gas pedal. It's just a constant, low hiss.

So far I've tried ground loop isolators and one of those power noise filters that you connect to the head unit's 12v line.

None of these has helped. Could it be the gains on my amp. being set too high? When I set my component speaker's crossovers' switch to 0db instead of +3db some of the hissing went away, but there's still hissing left.

 

[davestar]

Originally posted by: Gibson486
You have a ground loop. Lots of things can cause this. It is NOT your wires, though.

absohootly correct

 

[Mxylplyx]

The whining in my old car was caused by a corroded negative battery terminal. Based on all the responses, it's sure to be a grounding issue.