projectsc

The reason why you are getting a humming noise when those accessories come on is that there is "audio" wiring near those accessory wires and it coming out of the speakers. When does the humming sound come on? Does it come on when the cd player is at a low volume when you rev the engine? It seems like you could have a ground loop in there causing the humming noise. Hope this helps.

pcmw

Easy deal Legend, the installer tapped into the wrong wires on the stock amplifier plug in the rear of the car. Have him double check the wiring and try it again. The ground for the speakers/line-level outputs is common but it is NOT THE GROUND WIRE. So he needs to attach the signal ground to the common ground on the harness.

The sub fits with no problems. You just need to cut out a simple ring out of 3/4 material. The factory sub has a 3/4" surround OVER the woofer that the factory speaker cover fits over with no issues. So the speaker being a bit higher is not an issue either.

No offense, but it sounds like you are having an installer incompetence issue more than an equipment/what-fits issue. Slap the kid on the noggin and tell him "no play, no pay". The wiring diagram is on someones site and posted here somewhere. The speaker install pics are here too. If he says he cannot do it, tell him, "several people have accomplished this task in their garage..."

MW

Legends6spd

finally got the car bak. what can i say. seems a bit disappointed. first of all, it still has the hissing noise - exactly as projectsc described.
when volume is low and i step on the gas (rev engine), i hear a whinning noise come on. sounds kinda annoying so i definitely gota go bak and get it fixed.
secondly, how good should be expecting the sound? when radio's on, it didnt feel too much better than stock. but w/ CD's it was alot better, however i feel like the bass isn't all that great. at high volumes, it also feel a bit distorted. I realize that I still have my stock headunit, would this condition improve with an aftermarket headunit?
finally, the installer told me to drive around w/the car in it's default setting and tell me to come back and let him know what kinda settings I want for the amplifier. I feel like I need a bit more bass and the treble's too loud (as if the Boston Pro's sound too crispy)... I know this varies from person to person but what kind of settings do you have on the amp?

projectsc

There is a power wire near the speaker wire? Did they put the speaker wires and the Power wire for the amp on different sides? Since it is picking up alternator wine.

pcmw

Legend,

You need to purchase a line driver. This will bring the signal up to a level that the amplifier can correctly process without the massive distortion that the wide open gains cause. The whine is simply the need for a more solid ground. You should find spots that are double metal or welds.

MW

Legends6spd

Thanks guys, I'll look into the fix for the hissing. I've searched on this board and found similiar posts about the hissing.

I got a couple buddies to hear it out tonight and they gave me the same opinion on the overall system- distortion when the volume's turned up (like at 12 oclock).
The bass from the IB4 sounds like it's choking as if there's not enuff bass there. Maybe I'll give that 'remove metal plate mod' a shot.
Right now, I almost feel as if they are sabotagin the system so I'll be forced to get the headunit from them as well.
Maybe I was just expectating too much for $1500.

lex400sc

Legend, I might have missed something, but did you buy an amplifier for your free-air? That may help the 'choking' in your bass. Also, if you aren't happy with the sound, the next step is to take out the weakest link in the system: the stock head unit. After all, your stereo system will only sound as good as the worst component (cardinal rule). We used to say "If you have a $10,000 processor and $20 speakers, you have a $20 sound system". The first thing I installed in my car was the Kenwood head unit, and that one component alone gave the stock speakers a whole new breathe of clarity.

Legends6spd

lex400sc,

I know what you mean. I may have to get that headunit after all. What would you recommend? I've read on here that most will not fit probably. Maybe I can go the monitor route? I just think the stock look is so much classier than anything aftermarket.

Yes I did get AMP for my car. It's the JL 300/4. One of my friend suggested that maybe the amp wasn't powerful enough to power the speakers? Is that possible since distortion only occurs at high volume?

legendary

Can anyone point me at the thread for the gentleman that installed the box on the left side of his trunk for the 1 sub? I have searched and searched and no dice....I don't remember his name.

Lex Luthor

marcman18

legendary

Thank you LL

lex400sc

I'm not up on the current CD receivers out there, but if you just looking for a cheap replacement ($200-400), Alpine decks are pretty solid. Kenwoods are good too. Pretty much all decks will fit in the SC, but you will have an extra 1.5 din slots open. You can fill 1 din with a pocket, and the remaining 0.5 din with a filler. The stock unit IS much classier, but pretty much anything over $300 puts out a stronger, cleaner signal for your amps. It's just too bad the trend of car audio and headed towards the flashy glitzy crap that it is today.

I have the 300/4 also, it's plenty powerful. You're putting out 75wpc, whereas the stock amp was probably 21wpc (if that). I can crank out ear-bleeding music without any audible distortion, so the amp is not the problem (unless it's defective). When I asked if you were using an amp, I was referring to your subwoofer. That requires a seperate amplifier. The 300/4 is a four-channel for your four main speakers. You should look at a 500/1 or 250/1 at least for that 10IB4 woofer.

Legends6spd

lex400sc,

Thanks for the info. My JL 300/4 is powering BOTH the Boston 5.5 speakers AND the 10IB4 subwoofers.
Is that not enough to do BOTH and hence the lack of power?
From what I've read on the board and also recommendations, it seemed as if 300/4 can power both.
I actually had a 500/1 but that'd seem overkill for a 10IB4.

lex400sc

I would actually recommend 500/1 or 250/1 for the 10IB4. No less than 250 watts to it. Whoever told you that the 300/4 could power all four speakers AND the sub doesn't know what they are talking about. That's just BS (as in bad science!)...

pcmw

lex400sc,

I think he is running the front channel to the 5.5s and the rear channel bridged to the sub. That should be plenty of power fo that setup. I run less than that to my setup. Not to mention, I think I am the Bad Science that told him that would be fine.

JL's site tells you that is a great way to hook it up and sells that amp to be used in that fashion. I don't understand why that would be bad at all.

Legend,

The critical thing here is that you need to get that amp a decent input voltage. For some reason our factory setups are relatively low. It takes almost 50% volume to even reach .5v of signal output. I used a line driver to clean it all up. They are only $100.

MW