new audio system in place --- with minor problems though

[kting28]

Hi !

I finally installed my 4-channel Alpine MRV-F540 amp. The installation store did a very good job, the only problem is that whenever I startup the deck or change CD tracks, the speakers (all 4) pop a little bit. This happens also when I step up the volume from 0->1->2.

My deck is Clarion DXZ745MP (this year's model ~) and speakers are infinity kappas...

The system sounds perfect when playing music, I can't hear any static noise but only those pops I described above. The strange thing is that if I let the deck to finish one track and proceed to next, there is no pop ...

What do you suggest ? I want to fix this but the store claims that it is the imperfection of the deck ... Am I being too anal about this ????

Any recommendation welcomed

 

[Greg S]

If it's doing it when you turn up the volume then most likely it is the Clarion deck. I'd always run in to some wierd problems with Clarion stuff for the last few years, so it wouldn't suprise me.

 

[kting28]

damn ... I spent good money ($3xx from ebay) on that deck, .. Any other opinion (or defenders of Clarion ?)

(uhm)

 

[DZnutz]

clarion sux!

 

[SP33D]

clarion sux!

eclipse > clarion

 

[MisterT]

Try contacting Clarion and see if they believe it is the deck that is the problem. If a store installed the stereo, then they may be able to troubleshoot (or they should) as part of their warranty on the install. Most have lifetime warranty of their installs.

 

[servoeyes]

Best suggestion...follow this advice. Just use a logical troubleshooting pattern and hopefully one of the manufacturers can give you a good answer.

 

[sndsgood]

its not a problem with the headunit unless there is an actual defect in the unit, i'd start off by calling the shop that did it a bunch of asses. i hate when a shop will install a product, but won't fix it if they installed it and got any sort of noise in the system.

i'd start by checking your grounds on the headunit and amp. and the - from the battery to the frame of the car. make sure they are the proper sized wires, that they are secure, and there is bare wire or clip touching bare metal, not painted metal. u also may need to try a few diffrent spots to see if u get better results in a diffrent location. also check how the gain is adjusted if your gain is set to high youlle start getting more noise into the system as well.

 

[kting28]

Well .. .no luck contacting Clarion, can't find a number that I can talk to a human operator (bang)

Since I bought all the parts (my amp and deck) online, the installation store simply refuse to troubleshoot ... other than convincing me that its a bad deck and if I want to fix it I should buy a new one from them DAMN...

So what are the chances that the clarion deck is really bad ?

 

[Poseur]

Contact the place you bought your deck from, generally with e-tailers that's the only way to get thigns solved anyway. I've had nothing but good luck with my Clarion, but I did purchase it locally with factory warranty, etc. Ideally it shoudl be the vendor you purchased it through who will take care of this issue if it is, indeed the deck, but I too would suspect a grounding issue. Now I'm assuming the installer put int he deck, so with this, I would just ask your installer if he could at the very least please just try re-grounding your deck. To the car and not through the harness. It really shouldn't take him all that long to do. If he refuses to do that, I'd reccomend complaining a bit, but ultimately a deck-install is generally fairly simple. and it's quite likely something you could do yourself. These are the reasons many of us put our own stuff in. I don't blame anyone for being a bit pissy about installing stuff you didn't buy from them, and actually, quite often they won't even do it in the first place, so atleast you were taken care of there. Still a bit crappy that he won't stand behind his work. THe easiest thing to do would be if you know any ppl with similar clarion hu's who'd be willing to lose their settings and you could plug yours into their car and see if it still did it. YOU don't happen to be in WA bychance do you? I'd gladly do this with you.

 

[kting28]

(stash) thanks a lot for the suggestions..

well, I contacted the online store (www.hookedontronics.com) they are happy to take it back and send to factory. But I will be without a deck for around a month .....

I'm interested in trying to redo the ground, I installed the deck myself without amp at first and then since I'm kind of out of time and patience I just found a store to do the amp installation.

The deck is grounded through the harness. There was no problem before installing the amp when I was still running through deck amp.

How do I ground the deck to the car ? A seat bot etc ?

Regards .. (by the way I'm in Madison, WI)

Kai

 

[kting28]

its not a problem with the headunit unless there is an actual defect in the unit, i'd start off by calling the shop that did it a bunch of asses. i hate when a shop will install a product, but won't fix it if they installed it and got any sort of noise in the system.

i'd start by checking your grounds on the headunit and amp. and the - from the battery to the frame of the car. make sure they are the proper sized wires, that they are secure, and there is bare wire or clip touching bare metal, not painted metal. u also may need to try a few diffrent spots to see if u get better results in a diffrent location. also check how the gain is adjusted if your gain is set to high youlle start getting more noise into the system as well.

I checked all over again following your instructions. Turns out the shopping did a pretty neat job, no loose wires, everything zip-tied, the ground spot is polished. They used 4 guage wires too ~

It might be what Poseur suggested, i.e the deck is not grounded properly through the harness ...

 

[Poseur]

Alright, well this changes anything, I take back any nasty installer notes I'd made. This is prettymuch into the realm of beyond what's his responsibility. Still could've been nicer about it, though...

As far as grounding, no I wouldn't go for a seat mounting bolt for your deck, instead, pull off as many trim panels from aroudn the area as you comfortably can. The best way is to just yank the whole center console, then the rest up the sides around it are easy. From there, it should be pretty easy to find a bolt or 5 holding things in place that goes into the one of the metal supports under your dash. Just find something that looks liek good solid metal, nad again, scuff off the area, and attach your ground there. I'd higly reccomend getting either a terminal hoop, or a spade like the one that came attached to the wiring harness for this. YOu might need to use another short piece of wire and crimp it to your ground instead of sending that through the harness...

Actually, while You're at it, inspect ALL of your connections. I'm assuming you used a harness and plugged it into the factory one, yes? Did you crimp connections? Make sure they're all secure, give 'em all a little tug, and see if they wiggle or anything, perhaps crimp them all down just a tad more if possible. If you soldered them, again, check 'em for security And make sure nothing's exposed, everything either electrical taped over securely, or plastic covered from crimps, etc. And also if your RCA's aren't covered in some way, I'd either tape over them or shrink-wrap them at the connections. Try to keep the RCA's away form the other wires on the back of your HU if at all possible as well. One thing that many have found works well is to put some weathersealing or evne just tape on the vertical metal brace behind your deck. sometiems things can ground out against that and it seems to cause ALOT lof noise. Good luck, hope it works. And that's kinda crappy that they want to send yours back, and won't just replace it, but I suspect this isn't an equiptment problem.

 

[sndsgood]

what happens is the noise is so small that with the deck power its not enough for your speakers to really play it loud enough to hear it, but now that u have an amp your sending that signal with the noise to the amp and that noise along with the music is now amplified and so it spits out the noise. even if they didnt own the equipment, if it was truly the deck, all u need to do is pull the deck out and stick a new deck in there, if the noise stops, it may be a deck issue, and it could be. with any electrical stuff you get theres always the slight few pieces that are just bum from the factory. what i do with this type of thing, is to get a long piece of wire, like a 12 gauge, and hook it to the radio, then start looking for spots around the car to tie it into. i'll try several diffrent spots and then when i find a good one i'll put in a permanent wire.