My speakers are whining when I accelerate, help

[Red Bimmer]

I've heard people say using the stock amp w/ a aftermarket headunit will F__k it up, but I also heard this was Bull. BUt recently the sound has been deteriorating and last week the speakers have begun to whine when i accelerate. I have a (sony xplod) headunit, the sound actually imporved when i installed it at first, but not anymore. What can i do, if anything. Thanks

[LBKornhusker]

Well, your first problem is having a Sony headunit...

Was it professionally installed or a DIY job? Also, are you running stock plug wires? If interference is being caused by the electricity from the ignition system, some higher quality wires (MSD or Magnecor) may prevent this interference from messing with the audio system. Good luck.

[M3StateGuy]

I used to have this problem in my 318i...I had to search the whole wiring system and shift wires around so that they were not touching any others. This was the biggest b**ch to do, it took me hours to sort everything out and find which wires were the problem. Not only are ignitions wires the problem, but any wireds that carry power from the battery. My problem ended up being a speaker wire that was too close to a powerwire underneath the trim. Good luck on finding the problem.

[Red Bimmer]

YA I kninda didnt like the Sony at first but then again it's red and plays MP3 (for 300bucks), anyway, even if there is a wire touching can this cause any harm. Because it was a "proffesional" install, but all they did was attach the adapter and anetenna, not other wires were changed or tampered with. And im not too confortable w/ messing with the iginition wires cause it was EWS. THanks

[LBKornhusker]

Originally posted by Red Bimmer
YA I kninda didnt like the Sony at first but then again it's red...

Well, if it's RED...

[Mike///M]

I think you may have a ground loop

[Joe]

I ended up having my wiring harness connector too close to my antenna wire and RCA's. Take out your stereo. Look back there at the connections for your antenna, your RCA's and your factory wiring harness. I did the following: Tuck the fat-ass wiring-harness-connector behind the piece of plastic that the rear of the factory headunit rested on. Take your RCA's and move them to one side, and move your antenna wires to another side. Slowly tuck in your stereo until it clicks, and pray that it's all good.

If you're using the stock amp and stock wiring to your speakers, you really shouldn't have a ground loop problem. Check your speaker connections, and do what I said above in the dash... ..you should be alright.

[Red Bimmer]

THanks, IM going to try that tommorrow.

[SSD STYLE]

make sure to check the crossovers aren't to close to the wires going to your battery. The interference for the ground wires could be causing the whine.

[Red Bimmer]

I tried it and still it whines. I just remembered removing the rear seat (where the air bad sensor is revealed) and replaceing it, are there any speaker or culprit wires going under the rear seat? thanks And where exactly would the crossovers be, excuse my ignorance i dont know what crossovers are (i think they separate bass and treble right)?

[Deejay Falco]

I know EXACTLY what it is. I hate that shit. As you rev does the pitch of the whining get higher, and when you drop the clutch to change gears it goes away and comes back when you put the new gear in?

Its the sound of you batteries through a pair of your speakers.

To see which speakers they are stop the car with the sound pretty loud and go to each speaker put your ear to it and find out which speaker(s) it is you cant hear out of. Most likely it will be two speakers that are on the same channel on your amp.

The reason you get the whinning sound is because you are losing "signal" or good "reception" for lack of a better word -- your RCAs have to be in a perfect position for the speakers not to faulter ... its like you have the connection hanging by a thread.

Solution #1-- push them together REALLY hard until you can physically hear the other speakers "turn on" -- yes, turn on, the speakers are connected and powered but there is no audio coming from them beacuse you are hearing the batteries noise instead due to the weak "signal/reception" between the RCAs -- then tape it down with electrical tape very tightly so it doesnt move from that position.

Solution #2--get MONSTOR cables or expensive RCAs from RADIO SHACK--just ask them for the best RCAs they have that prevent them from losing "signal/reception."

You may have to rewire it all the way to the front of the car if it is connected to the battery, or you may only have to change the splitter if you're using one. In my case i had to change both, but because I was too lazy to rewire it to the front of the car at first, I used the tape method and it worked pretty well.

If you need more explaination on how to do it let me know PM me or E-Mail me.

Good luck!

John

[Red Bimmer]

Yup you described it exactly, as I rev the whine's pitch gets louder. As to the solution, is this what I should do? I should have someone rev the car while I try to hear where the whineing is coming from (whcih speaker) and then ISolate that speaker by taking the speaker wires and wrapping electrical tape around it right. Im not really into rewiring the whole car cause IM planning on getting an m3 and would not want to spend the $$$ on a system for this e36.

I dont even want to buy an amp (might need a component sys for the m3) but I do have a 10in sub. So I removed both speakers in the rear deck, seperated the wires from the adapter (4wires, 2for tweeter and 2 for the speaker for bass). I used the wires from both the left and right side from the supposed speaker for bass and joind them going into the subwoofer which is in a box. I revomned the twetters from the 4t box and fastened them to the speaker grill free dangling. So, I have the opening for the bass sound to come into the cabin and the tweeters. I think this might be my problem. I was just wondering if this would be causing any harm to my car in general. Thanks

[JimBob]

I have a completely stock system with the CD changer in the back -where the heck do I even start to look for a problem? And why would it would it just start up now? Too wierd.

[DiscoStu]

I had the same problem, none of the solution proposed worked. I had $100 Monster cables, ground loop isolators and some really high end stuff; stil had noise. It turned ou that I had the input sensitivity turned up way too much on my amps.
Give it a try.