B.If your muted amp is quiet, you’ve just joined 99.5% of car audio. Amps are usually very clean and do NOT pick up unwanted noise! Continue on to Step II.
II.DECK TO AMP. Using a new set of signal cables, connect one channel from the output of the deck directly into one channel of your clean amp. Run the cables outside the car and as far away as possible from the metal of the car. (For noise purposes, consider a 2" thick cushion of electromagnetic energy emanating from every metal surface in the car.)
A.If still noisy, congratulations, in all probability your equalizer, electronic crossover, DSP whatchamacallit, are just fine. This means that you can’t get your deck playing quiet with your amp, right? go to Step III.
B.If all is quiet, congratulations, in all probability your deck and amplifier(s) are fine - you obviously have a problem with your equalizer, electronic crossover, DSP, etc. Skip on down to “Time for the Processors.”
III.MOVE THE DECK. If you’re at this step, it is time to turn your system into an “amplified deck” by temporarily relocating the deck right ON TOP of the clean amplifier. Then using very, very short signal cables, connect the output of the deck into the input of the amp and test for noise. Play a zero bit track - silence - and make sure all is completely quiet.
A.If still noisy, you’re in a heap of trouble, We suggest that you try another deck and give us a call so that we can put your name into the ecord books. It’s a bad car audio day for you.
B.If the deck is quiet, then congratulations, you’re on your way to a successful installation. It is now time to slowly, methodically, reinstall the deck back into its final position. Test for noise each step of the way. If the noise returns, suspect the signal cables, forget shielding because it will have only a very, minimal effect within the audio band. We highly suggest using twisted pair cables or a balanced transmission system for cable induced noise.
TIME FOR PROCESSORS
By the end of Step III, you should have the deck playing quietly with the amp, with the quiet cables quietly routed. So it’s time to add the signal processors - one at a time - back into the system. Simply repeat Steps II and III with the equalizer, then the electronic crossover, etc. However, before MOVING THE SIGNAL PROCESSORS to the amplifier, we highly suggest that you supply power to the noisy processor from an isolated power supply rather than the car’s +12 volt DC and chassis ground. Make sure to also connect the
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