Audio Upgrade Follow-Up
Questions and Answers, Part 7


> I just had a Diamond 5.25/tweet combo. put up front, and two SoundStream
> Exact 10's in asealed box put in the trunk. They're all powered off a, you
> guessed it, SoundStream Ref. 405. The front channels are bridged, so the
> seperates up front have plenty of power.
>
> PROBLEMS!! I've got some obnoxious noise coming out of one side of the amp.
> The install shop says they've narrowed it down to the amp. I'm doubting this
> because the amp. just came from my old car, where it was running fine for a
> year. When I use the power window buttons, I get pops from the speakers.
> I'm just not impressed. I have another SS amp. I can have them try, but . . .

It sounds like the install shop is trying to put the blame on youor your equipment, instead of their work or anything that they sold you....

I didn't have a noise problem like you, although I too get pops sometimes when I operate the windows. I thought about opening the front doors again to dress the wires a bit and reduce/eliminate the problem, but it hasn't been that severe. I suspect that the motor is coupling noise into the cables in the doors, or the crossover coils themselves. Are your crossovers in the doors? We probably would have had better success if the crossovers were somewhere in the kick panels. If the pops are severe enough, you might consider shielding the cables in the door, and the crossover itself. This will not be that cheap though. Here's one way... If you get some hollow braid (I've seen this stuff in rolls, it's like the type that people use to dress underhood cables) run your wires (those in the doors only) through the braid. Then, at one point only, connect all the braids together and to the door frame. Also make sure that the wire does not have any loops in the door. You can also try shielding the crossover. Copper tape is perfect, but aluminum foil may also work.

It may just be easier to pull the the crossovers out of the doors and put them somewhere under the dash.

> Did you have any noise on your system? If so, what did you do to fix it, or any
> recommendations on how to go about fixing it.
>
> The amp was run using 4 guage wire. It runs down the passenger side, and the
> speaker wire runs down the driver's. The line-level converters are up front,
> with a long twisted-pair type of RCA cable (MTX brand) running back to the amp.

As far as the noise problem you're having on one side of the amp, you're using good RCA cables, so it's probably not that. I would look at the level converter. Make sure that there's no ground loops introduced. I've had good success with NOT grounding the line converter or its case. Also make sure that the shield on the RCA cables is not touching the case of the converter.

That's all I can think of. Good luck.