I just got my CDT components installed today at a local shop and the sound would be absolutely awesome except that there's what I believe to be engine noise and alternator noise.

From the moment I turn on the radio I get a fast clicking sound from my right front speakers (primarily the tweeter).

And if I accelerate I get the alternator whine. And the clicking accelerates as well.

The shop said that they tried their best to remedy the problem, but said it happens a lot especially with systems that involve a factory amp. (I kept mine to power rears and sub...added an aftermarket amp to power the fronts) They insisted that an aftermarket headunit would fix the problem. Of course, I told them I wasn't interested in purchasing an aftermarket headunit...

I also noticed that even after the car is off, there's a very faint hum that comes from my right speakers that disappears after like 30seconds. I'm thinking that the amp is still on, even if the car is off, and then it clicks off. Is this common? I installed a US Acoustics USB2080 2 channel amp.

Any suggestions and info regarding my dilemma would be appreciated.

My guess is that this noise is most likely being introduced from your aftermarket amp. Did you wire it up? Disconnect it and see if the problem still exists. You may have a bad ground, a bad amp or the wires providing signal to the amp or from the amp to the speakers may be shielded poorly.

Your installer should NOT be trying to upsell you in this situation - you should consider getting a second opinion elsewhere and if necessary have it fixed there and provide your original installer with the receipt so they can reimburse you.

Take deep breaths, take small steps, use process of elimination. Noise is fairly easy to test for and isolate by simply turning off/on various components.

Good luck.

This is a common issue when using a factory head with an aftermarket amp. The problem usually lies with the lack of RCA outs on the head and the need to splice an RCA connectors to the common speaker wires. Sometimes this isn't done correctly and isn't shielded properly.

This is a common issue when using a factory head with an aftermarket amp. The problem usually lies with the lack of RCA outs on the head and the need to splice an RCA connectors to the common speaker wires. Sometimes this isn't done correctly and isn't shielded properly.

Thanks for the responses guys. I don't think the shop I took it to was trying to rip me off or anything. The shop is pretty well known in our area, even if it is being run by a bunch of guys who are part of the import scene. But that place is like never empty.

And after work today, I made a couple phone calls, talked to different people and even to Crutchfield tech. And I tore up some of the panels in my E and inspected the wiring...and so far everything looks fine and in the right place. So I guess they didn't do as poor a job as I initially thought they might have.

At first I thought it was the wire routing because after I popped off the door sills I noticed that the power cable was running parallel to the speaker wires and speaker-level inputs. Immediately I thought this was the biggest problem, but even after separating the wires by at least a foot and a half, the noise was still there. And various people also told me that it's very difficult to induce noise into high level inputs. So I ruled that out as the problem.

Next I inspected the grounding point. My amp is connected on the rear left corner in the trunk area, vertically placed on the inside of the E right behind where the removable plastic panel is. (the panel you have to remove to completely remove the rear seat from it's side bracket.) The grounding point was next to one of the bolts holding the side bracket. I got some sandpaper and removed the thin paint around the grounding point to expose the metal underneathe. But that didn't help. So I don't think it's necessarily poor grounding.

I then started disconnecting certain parts. First I disconnected the speaker wires from the amp. Turned the car and radio on and didn't hear any noise.

I then reattached the speaker wires and disconnected the speaker-level inputs. Turned the car and radio on - and no noise

Now I'm kind of leaning towards the possibility that it has something to do with the speaker level inputs. Maybe the connection or splicing was done incorrectly or something....just like Chums mentioned.

What's strange though is that all the noise is coming from the right components. The left is fine except for the hum that comes from the increased power of the amp. I'm not sure how that's going to help me in my noise-chasing, though.

Tomorrow night after work will be another evening full of investigation. This time I'm going to inspect the connection points for the speaker level input as well as how well the tweeters and crossovers were placed. Hopefully by Saturday morning I will have solved my problem and prevailed!

oh, btw, can someone tell me how to remove the glovebox?

The installer installed the right speakers' crossover behind the glovebox and I'd like to access it as well as the factory amp for inspection.

Thanks!

well, it took me almost 2 days, but I'm proud to say I've pretty much cured my system. There is a tad bit of alternator whine if you listen carefully, but I can live with it.

All it took was:

1.) tearing up the door sills, kick panels, glovebox, and removing the radio.
2.) rerouting the speaker-level inputs and the righ speaker wires
3.) rewiring the crossovers (unbelievably, they put the wrong wires in the wrong terminals...i even think they might have overscrewed one of the terminals and broke it...but it may have been me in my rush. can't prove anything.)
4.) lowering the gain on my amplifier.
5.) driving with speaker wires and speaker level inputs all over the floor =)

At least I can say the CDTs sound incredible. I play a lot classical cd's because my gf is a pianist...and she says she can tell the difference between a Steinway piano and a regular piano just from the sound that comes from these speakers. So that means a lot (to me that's like getting a professional certification from her)

But for all the hassle I went through and the money I spent, I would've been happier spending less money and time for an easy swap-in from crutchfield. I can at least say that now having gone through all this.

So for everyone else who wants to upgrade: do your research, get the best references, and make sure of what you really want from a system before you buy.

I had a similar problem with my carpc. Not a lot of noise but just enough to drive me crazy (I had no experience with car audio at all). The fix was to install a ground loop isolater from Radio Shack. Worked like a charm.

hmm...an interesting idea...i'll have to look into that. maybe it'll let me increase the gain on my amplifier that way.