Hey guys, I've got a 98 civic LX with an aftermarket (higher end sony headunit, infinity kappa comps, pioneer sub, MA audio mono, higher end dual 2ch) sound system I installed.

My problem: FM radio reception is poor. I work at my college radio station and would love to be able to listen to my friends DJing, but my car seems to have a hard time keeping a clean stream of FM playing. My roommates 07 carolla sounds better (with the radio) than my car does. Even with the antenna up, reception is poor.

My thoughts: I have what sounds to be a tiny ground loop (it used to be a whine that would vary with the engine speed but I redid my ground and now it is just a little light popping when there is nothing being played on the speakers.) Could said ground loop really affect the quality of the radio broadcast that much? CDs and things plugged into aux sound awesome. It is just the radio that kinda sucks.

 

First...is the whole FM band come in crappy? different stations all have reception issues? or is it just college station? Metra makes a universal Powered antenna amplifier that is concealable. I got it because i got rid of the rc car antenna look. lol.

 

It is pretty much any radio stations. It will come in and out, even being pretty close to the stations antenna. I'll look into that metra antenna, sounds like a good plan. Thanks!

 

http://www.metraonline.com/part/Afte...ntenna_44-UA20