I have a 92 civic hatch. My Audio system consists of:

Clutchfield Headunit
Dunno the 4 Speakers or 4 Tweeters
And these Bazooka 6" subs.
A Jensen Amplifier and seperate Amps for the tweeters in the door

My Amp is in the Spare tire well and the wires run under the back seats, then around them to the trunk where the subs are mounted. Everytime i turn on the engine, one of the subs picks up on the engine noise and i get this worling sound. Its kinda hard to explain. So i decided today to do a little moveing around to figure where the noise was comming from. That set-up listed above is where everything lays now. I found that its only comming from one sub. So i whiched the wires of the 2 subs and now its the other sub. So i concluded that it is that perticular wire.

I havent fully traced the wire so i dunno its cut somewhere or its touching the frame. Also, the battery is very old and i already killed it once so im getting a new battery tomorrow. Heres my question:

Whats causing this worling noise? When i rev the engine, the noise revs with it. ALso, the wires seam kinda cheep. Do you think, if i replace the wires and battery, the noice will go away? I also heard something about spark plugs haveing resistors on them that would kill the sound. Any truth to it? I dunno what else to do.

ANy input guys would be helpful and if you need any pics or info please let me know, i really want to solve this problem.

Thanks audio guys

 

What you describe sounds like alternator whine. It should change pitch with engine rpms. It is usually caused by amps being grounded at more than one point causing a voltage differential called a "ground loop." ALWAYS ground your amps at the same point. Alternator whine can also be caused by unshielded rca cables or a bad amp, but 99 percent of the time it is a ground loop.

 

make sure you have a really good ground... like chip off the paint where you ground it. also make sure that your RCA cables arnt close to your power wire... if that doesnt fix it, it may be your amp... jensen doesnt exactly make the best stuff in the world... you can also try buying and using a noise filter.

 

ur signal cables can be near power cables but make sure they cross perpendicular to each other. not parallel.

ur situation sounds like a crappy amp most likely. or a busted sub.

 

Subs are fine
Ground is fine

It was one of the connections from the amp to something else. I didnt wire the system, i just bought the car. It was a simple loose connection.

Thanks guys

 

Go to radio shack, or somewhere, and get this little wonder of modern electronics called a 'ground loop isolator'. You plug your RCAs into it, and then it plugs into your amp. It does exactly what it sounds like: isolates any ground loop you got going on. Putting them right before your amp-in cuts down any possible interference between the GLI and the amp. The reason they make them is becuase their is no way to predict when or where a ground loop may arise. Their nature depends on everything from the electric fields within your car, to the makeup of your wire insulation, to the location of certain components in your car. I think a GLI will cost like 15 or 20 bucks or some ****. Isn't technology grand?