| Author |
Thread: Ground problem ??? |
    
almost there Unregistered guest |
| Posted on Sunday, September 26, 2004 - 10:05 pm: |
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ok i have a 300 watt amp that is hooked up to a 500 watt pioneer 10inch woofer. i had the basic setup and the amp turns on properly. i can hear the sound on the woofer too...but there is this feeling that the sound is not clear and a little choked up.....i had to add rca converter to the amp cause it is attached to the factory head unit. the rca converter had 2 wires for right speaker..2 for left speaker and 2 brown wire that says ground on it..the instruction says "if sound is not audible attach grd wire to source unit's ground"...i feel like those brown wire needs to be attached somewhere for a clear sound..where would i attached them..i tried on the amp ground..no change! i tried chasiss but no change!! would it be the rca wires are screwed up + -....should i attached the grd wire to factory head unit ground ??..is this a ground problem? |
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Silver Member Username: Fishy
Tamarac,
FL
USA
Post Number: 230
Registered: Sep-04
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| Posted on Monday, September 27, 2004 - 03:42 am: |
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Its probably your line converter thats the problem. If you've got the specs handy you might want to compare them to this "expensive" model.
http://www.linkmeup.com/prod03.htm
These things are basically matching transformers that step down the voltage of your oem speaker outputs to a level that the rca inputs on your amp can deal with. As you can see from the specs even this "high end" line converter adds distortion and loses frequency response(choked up sound?). If you've got an inexpensive one the situation could be much worse.
I'm not sure, but those ground wires may be there for use with cars that utilize a common speaker ground(the chassis. I think there's few like that still around) so they may not be of much help.
We probably ought to get an installer's perspective from someone like Jonathan, but I think you may be stuck with what you've got. I'm not even sure I'd recommend dropping any extra cash on a better line out converter. Thats money which might be better spent towards an aftermarket head unit with some dedicated preouts.
Jonathan?
-Fishy
[note] if that line out converter has "gain" adjustments you might try different combos of line out and amplifier gain to improve your sound quality. |
almost there Unregistered guest |
| Posted on Monday, September 27, 2004 - 07:43 am: |
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thanks fishy...ya i think i'll just play around with what i have and see if that makes any difference cause i dont want to spend much either..thanks for your reply.. |
Bronze Member Username: Sas
Post Number: 41
Registered: Sep-04
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| Posted on Wednesday, September 29, 2004 - 12:56 am: |
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are there any line level gain on your converter?
they should look like a amp gain on a amp,m if so mess with the setting s on it |
Gold Member Username: Jonathan_f
GA
USA
Post Number: 1919
Registered: May-04
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| Posted on Wednesday, September 29, 2004 - 01:03 am: |
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Personally I think you should invest in an aftermarket head unit if possible. I know you don't want to hear it, but LOCs limit frequency range and increase distortion and noise. I doubt reversing the phase of the RCAs would change anything, but you can try it and see if it works. |
Gold Member Username: Jonathan_f
GA
USA
Post Number: 1920
Registered: May-04
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| Posted on Wednesday, September 29, 2004 - 01:04 am: |
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Plus, you're relying on the SQ of the head unit's internal amp, which isn't that great, to produce a signal to your sub. That has enough distortion and noise in itself compared to a good RCA line. |
New member Username: Followyoursole
Post Number: 4
Registered: Sep-04
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| Posted on Wednesday, September 29, 2004 - 01:56 am: |
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Did you splice the wires on the convertor to your speakers directly on the back of the headunit? Or did you do it near the speakers themselves? That may be a problem, im not sure though. Im installing a pyramid hi low convertor into my car tomorrow. I have those adjustments also. I orignally wanted to use the high level inputs on my amp but I heard thats worst then a convertor, so convertor it is. |
Bronze Member Username: Slap_johnson
Arizona
Post Number: 56
Registered: Aug-04
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| Posted on Wednesday, September 29, 2004 - 02:44 am: |
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i agree with jonathan, stock just plain out sucks, just get a lower model alpine deck and you'll be fine |
