Speakers Humming

[Wrecked Rooster]

First time installing audio and my speakers are humming. Dual batteries. I have both battery negatives and all equipment going to a single buss bar. Originally had negative going from one battery to the other battery, then to the buss bar. But tried going from each battery separately to the buss bar and same issue.

Positives for the head unit and amp going to the same side of the power switch. Only have the motors and bilge on the other side of the switch. Any ideas what might be causing this issue?

Humming is there at any volume level but amplifies as you turn the volume up. Kicker amp, speakers and head unit. Stinger 8000 series RCA’s.

 

[sunbyrned]

First time installing audio and my speakers are humming. Dual batteries. I have both battery negatives and all equipment going to a single buss bar. Originally had negative going from one battery to the other battery, then to the buss bar. But tried going from each battery separately to the buss bar and same issue.

Positives for the head unit and amp going to the same side of the power switch. Only have the motors and bilge on the other side of the switch. Any ideas what might be causing this issue?

Humming is there at any volume level but amplifies as you turn the volume up. Kicker amp, speakers and head unit. Stinger 8000 series RCA’s.

Sometimes speaker wires crossing paths with other wires can cause humming. Maybe play around with lifting wires here and there to see if that makes a difference to start out with.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I don’t know much about stereo systems, these days anyway.

However, it seems like there could be some circulating current that is producing “noise”. I’d suggest going back through the installation instructions to make sure you didn’t miss something.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Sometimes speaker wires crossing paths with other wires can cause humming. Maybe play around with lifting wires here and there to see if that makes a difference to start out with.

Agreed, if the speaker wires, or other stereo wires are in close proximity to other current carrying wires the Hall Effect could be inducing noise or currents into those lines.

 

[ripler]

Is the engine running when you get the noise or is it all of the time? One issue may be the
gains on amp may be set too high which sometimes causes noise. I would start by disconnecting RCA cables, if noise goes away your noise is being introduced through the RCAs. An inexpensive way to try to eliminate noise is buying a ground loop isolator.

https://www.amazon.com/InstallGear-Ground-Isolator-Noise-Filter/dp/B077Y5DLBB/ref=mp_s_a_1_2_sspa?crid=1P0E3DBQJTE96&keywords=ground+loop+isolator&qid=1650115361&sprefix=ground+loop%2Caps%2C124&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExRzhMTk1YUkpaUFJEJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNDc2ODQxM0FDWjNMR1k1RENZVCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNTg3Mjg5Mk01V0hPRzgySkRQViZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX3Bob25lX3NlYXJjaF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

 

[Wrecked Rooster]

Is the engine running when you get the noise or is it all of the time? One issue may be the
gains on amp may be set too high which sometimes causes noise. I would start by disconnecting RCA cables, if noise goes away your noise is being introduced through the RCAs. An inexpensive way to try to eliminate noise is buying a ground loop isolator.

https://www.amazon.com/InstallGear-Ground-Isolator-Noise-Filter/dp/B077Y5DLBB/ref=mp_s_a_1_2_sspa?crid=1P0E3DBQJTE96&keywords=ground+loop+isolator&qid=1650115361&sprefix=ground+loop%2Caps%2C124&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExRzhMTk1YUkpaUFJEJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNDc2ODQxM0FDWjNMR1k1RENZVCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNTg3Mjg5Mk01V0hPRzgySkRQViZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX3Bob25lX3NlYXJjaF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

Thanks! I disconnected the RCA’s and the sound went away. Oddly enough, I disconnected the RCA’s at the head unit and reconnected and it basically went away. Still getting some sound on the speakers, but not buzzing/humming. Hard to describe. Assuming it’s normal to have some audible noise coming from the speakers at 80% volume with the head unit connected to my phone via Bluetooth and for it go away as the volume goes back down. No song being played. Just idle.

 

[sunbyrned]

Thanks! I disconnected the RCA’s and the sound went away. Oddly enough, I disconnected the RCA’s at the head unit and reconnected and it basically went away. Still getting some sound on the speakers, but not buzzing/humming. Hard to describe. Assuming it’s normal to have some audible noise coming from the speakers at 80% volume with the head unit connected to my phone via Bluetooth and for it go away as the volume goes back down. No song being played. Just idle.

Thanks for keeping us posted. This will help others. Glad you’re getting it figured out.

 

[212s]

Thanks! I disconnected the RCA’s and the sound went away. Oddly enough, I disconnected the RCA’s at the head unit and reconnected and it basically went away. Still getting some sound on the speakers, but not buzzing/humming. Hard to describe.

Yup that's EMI getting into the RCA lines. You can usually track down where it's coming from if it's adjacent to other power wires. Or your RCA cables have gaps in the shielding which allows EMI to leak into the line.

Assuming it’s normal to have some audible noise coming from the speakers at 80% volume with the head unit connected to my phone via Bluetooth and for it go away as the volume goes back down. No song being played. Just idle.

Ideally it should be dead quiet. But some of the connections are not 100% shielded, like the RCA lines coming out of the head unit usually has a short section where the wires are not shielded and may introduce some noise, but it should be faint and not noticeable when listening to music.

 

[SamN44]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077Y5DLBB/

I installed one of these and it silenced the humming noise from the aftermarket amp I installed.