I have a set of alpine subs in my trunk, with an pioneer amp. Sound is comming out really staticy. I took the aux input from my stereo off and hooked my ipod up to it, still same static. anyone have any suggestions?

 

Start with confirming the ground to the amp is good.

 

Ground seems to be fine, sanded surface, and moved it to a beter location but still static
P.S. its a really heavy static, like when you have your am radio on under a train track.

 

When you hooked up your ipod, did you use the same RCA or did you hook it straight up to the amp?

 

hooked it up straight to the amp via a seperate rc jack

 

Is it pure static or more like an alternator whine (noise rises and falls with RPM level)?

If pure static then I would troubleshoot noise entering your signal cable. If the signal line is close to the power line to the amp or any harnesses from the car,noise will enter the signal cables. Especially if the RCAs are not heavily shielded. Also, ensure the amp uses its own grounding point that is not shared with any other equipment to help prevent ground loops.

Although this will sound like a lot of work it is the BEST way to begin to isolate your problem. Remove the entire system from the car and hook the entire setup again OUTSIDE the car. Run the power lines to the battery. Play the system now and see if there is noise. This will let you know if the issue lies within the system or the car itself. I will expand on this tomorrow with the next steps to take. Freakin exhausted tonight and need to hit the pillow. I'll post the next steps some time around 10 EST tomorrow night.