Thread: Engine whine RANT

I just have to rant.

I put together my carputer using a POS Pyramid amp (see pic in link in sig) that I got on ebay for $20 just so it would make noise. The guy that installed the wiring for me said it was a crap amp so he put in a ground loop isolator to help with alternator whine. Which didn't do **** because whenever the computer wasn't on, I got TERRIBLE whine. When the carputer was on, it was alright.

Then I upgraded the audio by adding a pair of 12" fosgate subs with an audiopipe amp. Then the whine got really bad. I showed it to an audiophile buddy of mine and he said it was probably caused by a combination of the crappy amp and the fact that I was using a 'secondary' ground location and the paint hadn't been sanded away.

So I saved up and got a JL Audio 300/4 slash series amp, and I moved the ground location to a 'primary' site and grinded the paint away. All excited about the new amp I run and start the car... and the cursed whine is STILL THERE.

So now I'm racking my brain. WTF is going on. I tried unplugging the RCA from the amp, whine went away. So that made me realize it was coming from somewhere 'upstream' of the amp, which caught me by surprise. The only thing between the source (carputer) and the amp was that ground loop isolator. So I removed it.

Whine gone.

I THOUGHT GROUND LOOP ISOLATORS REMOVE ALTERNATOR WHINE, NOT INTRODUCE IT. And the damn thing doesn't even havea connection to the electrical system, it's just RCA in from carputer, RCA out to amp. I dont even see how it could introduce alternator whine.

It was an Audiopipe NR-16 Ground Loop Isolator.

Now its guts are scattered around my room and its plastic case is melted in the back yard. Cursed device.

</rant>