High pitch noise coming through speakers

[ORX-1]

So brand new 2008 X2 with stock stereo. JL sub and four interior speakers, four towers, two amps. When I run the boat there is a really high pitch noise coming through the speakers. You can cover it up by cranking the volume but not sure how to remedy this? Anyone had this issue and figured out the solution. I thought a ground wire but not sure where to check.

Thanks!

[CottagerGreg]

You maybe have the old JL Amps which the grounding isn't good causing alot of feedback from the engine in the stereo...

two options... get newer JL amps or get RF noise eliminator... usually on the RCA's

[Forrest-X45]

It is a bad ground in your JL amp as Flashydubber said. I had the same problem in my 2008 and a known issue with the 2008 JL amps. Just have your dealer swap out your amp under warranty.

[JimN]

Originally Posted by ORX-1

So brand new 2008 X2 with stock stereo. JL sub and four interior speakers, four towers, two amps. When I run the boat there is a really high pitch noise coming through the speakers. You can cover it up by cranking the volume but not sure how to remedy this? Anyone had this issue and figured out the solution. I thought a ground wire but not sure where to check.

Thanks!

99% of all noise issues are caused by bad grounding but I have yet to see an amp that itself had bad grounding, as the second poster states but if it's a known issue, get it fixed under warranty. The bad grounding is ALWAYS due to bad installation practices and bad setup. If the sensitivity controls on the amps are cranked, go to the JL website and look for their description for level setting, which is the single best method I have seen without needing an oscilloscope, which they had already used to find the required voltages.

If the hiss is there when the volume is at minimum on the head unit with little other noise to mask it, it's usually a setup issue. If you have a whining noise that varies with RPM, it's often a grounding issue.

[ORX-1]

Thanks guys, I'll go to the websit like JimN suggested and double check my settings. If that doesn't work I will hopefully swap them out.

Thanks again. any other suggestions?

[rgardjr1]

Originally Posted by ORX-1

Thanks guys, I'll go to the websit like JimN suggested and double check my settings. If that doesn't work I will hopefully swap them out.

Thanks again. any other suggestions?

Do you have one or two amps? Did you check the ground cable at the battery and amp to make sure there isn't anything obvious? I just installed a second amp in my boat over the weekend and haven't noticed any problems yet, but the tower is off the boat so I haven't been able to listen to the tower speakers yet. Ground loops can be a pita to correct-I've never dealt with them in a boat, but have had one in my truck stereo. From what I remember the inline isolators can degrade the sound and should really only be used as a last option. On a brand new boat I think I would take the above advice and make the dealer fix it.

ORX-1,

Does the noise pitch change as the engine RPM changes? If so the source is the alternator. If not the noise is generated elsewhere.

Move the source unit power, memory and ground off the factory harness and onto the power terminals of the largest amplifier. And make sure that the amplifiers have heavy duty supplies direct to the batteries or batteries switch.

Just for grins try the system with the battery in the 'all' position in case the system is wired wrong. All batteries fully charged?

You can try a ground loop isolator on the RCAs between the source and amplifiers.

If its a fixed frequency noise and none of the above steps yield a solution then we'll go to the next phase of isolating where the problem lies.

David
Earmark Marine

[1boarder]

My only gripe about my 08 X2 is that I had to redo the ground wires. The cd player is grounded at the dash. the amp is grounded to the battery selector. This gives a ground loop. I had to rerun the ground wires to the same place (stereo 101) to eliminate the ground loop. I also had to rerun the amp power cable that ran WITH speaker wire for 3 foot or so by the observers seat. It was also too long and balled up near the ballast box. I shortened it. Basic stero install states always ground all electronics at the same place and never run an amp power wire with speaker wire. Before everyone asks why not take it to the dealer is because it is a 9 hour round trip. I fixed it in an hour or two.

I hope MC has remied the issue with the 09s because I was embarassed for MC and aggervated to have to go behind MC and fix something on a new boat.

[JimN]

Originally Posted by EarmarkMarine

ORX-1,

Does the noise pitch change as the engine RPM changes? If so the source is the alternator. If not the noise is generated elsewhere.

Move the source unit power, memory and ground off the factory harness and onto the power terminals of the largest amplifier. And make sure that the amplifiers have heavy duty supplies direct to the batteries or batteries switch.

Just for grins try the system with the battery in the 'all' position in case the system is wired wrong. All batteries fully charged?

You can try a ground loop isolator on the RCAs between the source and amplifiers.

If its a fixed frequency noise and none of the above steps yield a solution then we'll go to the next phase of isolating where the problem lies.

David
Earmark Marine

Whine is commonly called "alternator noise" but the source isn't actually the alternator, other than the fact that it's more or less bypassing any filtering. The cause is almost always bad grounding, as I posted before. Another way to have this is by shorting the negative speaker wire to a ground but this also will often cause the amp to die early. Ground loop isolators don't really deal with the problem, although they can remove noise. Better to address teh actual problem than put something else in the audio path- cheap isolation transformers screw up the sound, more often than not., Good transformers are expensive and using a cheap one on an expensive system doesn't make sense.

[JimN]

Originally Posted by 1boarder

My only gripe about my 08 X2 is that I had to redo the ground wires. The cd player is grounded at the dash. the amp is grounded to the battery selector. This gives a ground loop. I had to rerun the ground wires to the same place (stereo 101) to eliminate the ground loop. I also had to rerun the amp power cable that ran WITH speaker wire for 3 foot or so by the observers seat. It was also too long and balled up near the ballast box. I shortened it. Basic stero install states always ground all electronics at the same place and never run an amp power wire with speaker wire. Before everyone asks why not take it to the dealer is because it is a 9 hour round trip. I fixed it in an hour or two.

I hope MC has remied the issue with the 09s because I was embarassed for MC and aggervated to have to go behind MC and fix something on a new boat.

This is the problem, in a nutshell. The head unit is grounded to one place and the amp(s) to another.