F150 Aftermarket Audio - Noise Problem SOLVED!
04-18-2013, 12:11 PM
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F150 Aftermarket Audio - Noise Problem SOLVED!
Hi all,
I’m posting this to inform fellow F150 owners of a nasty audio problem that I finally sorted out.
I had a Rockford-Fosgate P400-4 amp and four Rockford-Fosgate P1462 speakers professionally installed in my 2010 SCAB. No real problems, just wished it was louder. I was a little disappointed when I later learned that the installer didn’t wire the speakers directly to the amp, but instead ran the amp wires forward to the dash so he could connect them to the factory speaker wires there.
About a year later I decide to myself install an Alpine CDE-HD138BT CD Receiver. That job wasn’t especially difficult, except that I ended up with lots of noise. I had engine whine, a buzz when my headlights turned on and a buzz when my heater fan turned on
. I upgraded the signal cables to Kicker twisted pairs and installed ground-loop isolators. The noise got much better but didn’t entirely go away. I lived with this for about a year, until I decided it was time for another upgrade to an Alpine INA-W910 DVD Navigation Receiver. Now the noise was back and worse than ever!
After days of testing wire-connections, searching for bad grounds, moving wires around – I happened to pull the HU out of the dash while it was playing music. As I moved the HU away from the firewall, the noise got quieter.
End of story = I was able to solve my noise problem by making sure the RCA connections were as far from the firewall and as close to the dashboard as possible
. I hope this post helps some poor schmuck like myself from spending countless hours of trouble-shooting.
Regards,
Mike
I’m posting this to inform fellow F150 owners of a nasty audio problem that I finally sorted out.
I had a Rockford-Fosgate P400-4 amp and four Rockford-Fosgate P1462 speakers professionally installed in my 2010 SCAB. No real problems, just wished it was louder. I was a little disappointed when I later learned that the installer didn’t wire the speakers directly to the amp, but instead ran the amp wires forward to the dash so he could connect them to the factory speaker wires there.
About a year later I decide to myself install an Alpine CDE-HD138BT CD Receiver. That job wasn’t especially difficult, except that I ended up with lots of noise. I had engine whine, a buzz when my headlights turned on and a buzz when my heater fan turned on
. I upgraded the signal cables to Kicker twisted pairs and installed ground-loop isolators. The noise got much better but didn’t entirely go away. I lived with this for about a year, until I decided it was time for another upgrade to an Alpine INA-W910 DVD Navigation Receiver. Now the noise was back and worse than ever!After days of testing wire-connections, searching for bad grounds, moving wires around – I happened to pull the HU out of the dash while it was playing music. As I moved the HU away from the firewall, the noise got quieter.
End of story = I was able to solve my noise problem by making sure the RCA connections were as far from the firewall and as close to the dashboard as possible
. I hope this post helps some poor schmuck like myself from spending countless hours of trouble-shooting.Regards,
Mike
04-18-2013, 01:20 PM
#2
Hi all,
I’m posting this to inform fellow F150 owners of a nasty audio problem that I finally sorted out.
I had a Rockford-Fosgate P400-4 amp and four Rockford-Fosgate P1462 speakers professionally installed in my 2010 SCAB. No real problems, just wished it was louder. I was a little disappointed when I later learned that the installer didn’t wire the speakers directly to the amp, but instead ran the amp wires forward to the dash so he could connect them to the factory speaker wires there.
About a year later I decide to myself install an Alpine CDE-HD138BT CD Receiver. That job wasn’t especially difficult, except that I ended up with lots of noise. I had engine whine, a buzz when my headlights turned on and a buzz when my heater fan turned on. I upgraded the signal cables to Kicker twisted pairs and installed ground-loop isolators. The noise got much better but didn’t entirely go away. I lived with this for about a year, until I decided it was time for another upgrade to an Alpine INA-W910 DVD Navigation Receiver. Now the noise was back and worse than ever!
After days of testing wire-connections, searching for bad grounds, moving wires around – I happened to pull the HU out of the dash while it was playing music. As I moved the HU away from the firewall, the noise got quieter.
End of story = I was able to solve my noise problem by making sure the RCA connections were as far from the firewall and as close to the dashboard as possible. I hope this post helps some poor schmuck like myself from spending countless hours of trouble-shooting.
Regards,
Mike
I’m posting this to inform fellow F150 owners of a nasty audio problem that I finally sorted out.
I had a Rockford-Fosgate P400-4 amp and four Rockford-Fosgate P1462 speakers professionally installed in my 2010 SCAB. No real problems, just wished it was louder. I was a little disappointed when I later learned that the installer didn’t wire the speakers directly to the amp, but instead ran the amp wires forward to the dash so he could connect them to the factory speaker wires there.
About a year later I decide to myself install an Alpine CDE-HD138BT CD Receiver. That job wasn’t especially difficult, except that I ended up with lots of noise. I had engine whine, a buzz when my headlights turned on and a buzz when my heater fan turned on
. I upgraded the signal cables to Kicker twisted pairs and installed ground-loop isolators. The noise got much better but didn’t entirely go away. I lived with this for about a year, until I decided it was time for another upgrade to an Alpine INA-W910 DVD Navigation Receiver. Now the noise was back and worse than ever!After days of testing wire-connections, searching for bad grounds, moving wires around – I happened to pull the HU out of the dash while it was playing music. As I moved the HU away from the firewall, the noise got quieter.
End of story = I was able to solve my noise problem by making sure the RCA connections were as far from the firewall and as close to the dashboard as possible
. I hope this post helps some poor schmuck like myself from spending countless hours of trouble-shooting.Regards,
Mike
04-19-2013, 06:22 AM
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One might assume that except...
1. The noise came in at the RCA connectors where there wouldn't be any shielding.
2. These were twisted pair cables, and very good quality (Kicker).
3. The same thing happened with another high-end brand of twisted pair cables.
There just seams to be lots of RF or EMF being generated near the F150 firewall.
1. The noise came in at the RCA connectors where there wouldn't be any shielding.
2. These were twisted pair cables, and very good quality (Kicker).
3. The same thing happened with another high-end brand of twisted pair cables.
There just seams to be lots of RF or EMF being generated near the F150 firewall.