AOEM-MAZ2 issue

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NorCal
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'16.5 Tour AWD
Installed this in my 2016.5 Mazda CX-5 without Bose last week, to add an accessory amp (Sony XM-S400D). No subwoofer. Got everything hooked up after @theblooms showed me where to splice in for speakers.

Everything works, but there's a loud "PAP!" every few seconds from the speakers. I checked the connections I made, and there are no opens or shorts. Running clean 12V from the battery terminal with 12 AWG wire, and have solid ground. Using the remote turn-on from the amp, not the interface, and it's wired to an unused location on the interior fuse panel.

Also, did a bench test on the amp, and it's working properly. Is the interface unit defective?
 
How big is the amp? Because 12 gauge power wire is TINY for most amps. The popping could be the amp going in and out of protection due to lack of voltage.

Generally speaking, I never use less than 8 gauge power wire, and the vast majority of the time, I use 4 gauge or even bigger.

Also, you did put a fuse or circuit breaker near the battery, right?
 
How big is the amp? Because 12 gauge power wire is TINY for most amps. The popping could be the amp going in and out of protection due to lack of voltage.

Also, you did put a fuse or circuit breaker near the battery, right?
It's a tiny amp, both in size and output. 7" x 1 1/2" x 2 1/2", 45w x 4. The amp is definitely not going in and out of protection. It also worked fine on a bench test.

Yes, 15A fuse inline near the battery.
 
Is it all of the speakers making the same pop, or just one or two?

If it's all of them, unhook an RCA one by one, see if you can isolate a problem line.

Also, get a 1/8" headphone jack to RCA adapter, and plug your phone straight into the amp while it's still in the car, and play a song that way. See if the popping remains.
 
Is it all of the speakers making the same pop, or just one or two?

If it's all of them, unhook an RCA one by one, see if you can isolate a problem line.

Also, get a 1/8" headphone jack to RCA adapter, and plug your phone straight into the amp while it's still in the car, and play a song that way. See if the popping remains.
I think it's all of them. I'll have to wait 'til my daughter gets home with the car this afternoon to hook the amp back up and check, and then I can post.

Already did the headphone jack to tablet and RCAs to the amp test. No popping.
 
Yeah, but need to check to make sure there's no popping while installed in the car.

What method did you use to match the gains of the amplifier? That could possibly cause this as well.

What amplifier is it? Make and model.
 
Yeah, but need to check to make sure there's no popping while installed in the car.

What method did you use to match the gains of the amplifier? That could possibly cause this as well.

What amplifier is it? Make and model.
I did the first test in the car, with the Crutchfield tech on the phone guiding me. Bypassed the factory radio. Then tested it on an actual workbench :) Used a 12V battery for power, Android tablet, and a Polk speaker.

I have no idea what you mean by "match the gains". Beyond my level of technical expertise. So, no method used.

Again, amp is Sony XM-S400D. Specs: 4 Channel Class D Amplifier
 
Is it all of the speakers making the same pop, or just one or two?

If it's all of them, unhook an RCA one by one, see if you can isolate a problem line.
Sorry, forgot to mention - it's all of them. Disconnecting an RCA just silences that specific speaker.
 
What gain matching is, is making sure that the signal that the head unit is feeding the amplifier is the correct voltage. This very well could be 100% of your issues. If you're over-driving the input stages of the amplifier because the signal is too hot, the amp is definitely going to make all kinds of terrible noises in the speakers, and very well may blow them up!

You can use a $5 piezo tweeter to correctly set your gains, it's easy.

 
Thanks for these. With the stock head unit, I wouldn't think I was overdriving the amp by any stretch, but I could be mistaken. FWIW, the volume of the pop is the same regardless of where volume is set.

Working with Pac Audio tech support, as well. Hopefully they'll be able to figure it out. Thanks again for all of your advice!
 
After speaking with PAC Tech Support, found out I was supposed to cut the speaker wires coming from the head unit; the factory amp and the auxiliary amp don't like to play together, apparently. Cut the head unit wires like so:

harness 1.jpg


Entire harness looks like this:

harness 2.jpg


Wire nuts are temporary; I'll solder and heat shrink. Good news is, no more popping of any sort! Bad news is, no sound of any sort! Amp is powering up as it's supposed to. What have I done wrong now?
 
Speaker output of the radio (the white plug) should go to the blue box like you have it, then the blue box should connect to the amp via RCA cables, not the speaker wires.

The speaker wires coming from the amp should then connect to the speaker wires going into the car (on the orange plug).
 
I had the box connected to the amp via RCAs, as well.

So, I should connect the speaker outputs from the amp to the wires I cut off on the orange plug side, after disconnecting from the white plug going into the box?
 
The red wire coming from the orange connector. Basically, you're tying the red and blue wires together on the back of the radio.
 
The red wire coming from the orange connector. Basically, you're tying the red and blue wires together on the back of the radio.
Well, that certainly would've been easier than what I ended up doing :) I ran the blue wire to the fuse box, and installed a fuse tap on a 7.5 amp circuit. It's all good.

Thanks for all your help. I really appreciate it!
 
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