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Amplifier sound problem

N

NoCoastFocus

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Aurora, CO
I had a mono amp wired to an 8" sub for about a year and a half. It sounded good but I decided to change things up a bit. I had a 4 channel amp, profile california, sitting in the closet for about 3 years so I decided to give it a try. I wired a couple infinity 6.5" components in the sound bar to help out when the doors are off. However, there is some distortion. With the sound off, you can hear some distortion almost like a soft heart beat. I have the amp wired with RCA's from the deck. The amp has a filter and with the hi pass or no filter selected you can hear the noise, but with low pass selected you can't hear it, but I didn't wire these speakers for bass so I am not sure what I need to do.

Any ideas anyone?

I verified the speakers are wired correctly. Do I need a crossover or an equalizer or something? Thanks in advance.
 
make sure you have a good clean metal to metal connection with the ground for the amp. 99% of audio noise problems can be tracedto a bad ground. when i say metal to metal i dont mean just through the screw holding the wire down, i mean the terminal on the end of the ground wire needs to touch bare metal.

good luck
 
I did check the ground. It seems to be a good ground, no paint or anything in the way. Would it matter that I am just popping the terminals on my battery and not tightening them down all the way? The doors are off and everything comes on so I am trying to minimize battery loss. I am going to hook up the old amp tomorrow and see if I get them same results.
 
Well, i didn't install the old amp because it doesn't have a Hi and Low pass filter. I only am getting the noise with the hi pas filter selected. I tested a bunch of things. My ground was good and I tested it a few other places just in case, same results. I hooked up some different speakers just to make sure the speakers weren't bad or something and it has something to do with the amp for sure. Not sure what else to do short of buying a new 4 channel amp.
 
Did you try turning down the gain on the amp, sometimes even a small noise will be made to sound awful. Some amps have high total harmonic distortion db's say 5% (cheapo amp) as opposed to .5% or lower in a better amp, it could just be a crappy amp.
 
i would swap it out with a buddy who has an amp and keep all the same wiring you are using now, just to see if its the amp itself. if the sound goes away find a new amp.

its not uncommon for amps to have an internal short, especially if exposed to moist air or excessive vibration. from an installers point of view what i would do if you brought me it was check the grounds, if that was fine check the speakers as you did, then if it was still there swap the amp for a known good one.

some shops can repair internal shorts that are causing noise, i would ask some of the local stereo installers if they know of anywhere. if its a nice amp it might be worth fixing. if its a cheapo 100$ wal-mart special just replace it.

good luck
 
GrimmJeeper said:
some shops can repair internal shorts that are causing noise, i would ask some of the local stereo installers if they know of anywhere. if its a nice amp it might be worth fixing. if its a cheapo 100$ wal-mart special just replace it.

good luck
Click to expand...

^ I followed your instructions to the tee and had no luck. I am going to swap amps when I get a chance.

And yes, this amp was purchased for less than $50 refurbished 3 or 4 years ago. It has been sitting all this time never used. I am sure that it is NOT a quality amp. Well, hopefully a new amp does the trick.

Thanks for all the feedback.
 
Did you run the RCA's along the opposite side that the power wire is ran?
 
They are shielded and I ran them on the same side. I verified tonight and it is a crappy amp. I picked up a used infinity amp 4 channel and it sounds great now. Thanks all for the help...I hate electrical, but it was worth the headache.
 
GrimmJeeper said:
this could also be the problem if they are unshielded RCA cables.
Click to expand...
Thats what I was getting at.

NoCoastFocus said:
They are shielded and I ran them on the same side. I verified tonight and it is a crappy amp. I picked up a used infinity amp 4 channel and it sounds great now. Thanks all for the help...I hate electrical, but it was worth the headache.
Click to expand...

Yeah Crappy amps can ruin the sound!
 
glad you got it all worked out. thanks for taking the time to come back and update the thread once you got the problem solved, now if someone else has the same problem they can search and find your solution.

:cheers:
 
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