alternator whine continued, more suggestions...

["Rod Birch" <HOTROD930@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Paul Wu, still having trouble with alternator whine on his car...

hey Paul, don't buy the fancier RCA cables unless they're "twisted pair".
Beware of those super expensive, triple shielded, kryptonite plated, 8 mm,
(or any such description) wires, they're are actually more prone to noise.
The shield around the coaxially wired RCA's actually tends to help induce
noise.  I've been using the basic, plain-Jane black skinny RCA's with gold
ends on some pretty fancy installations.  (Basic Radio Shack variety are
similar)  Some manufacturers have the new twisted-pair cables, and I've
actually made my own, just spinning a couple of 18 gauge wires in my drill,
soldering RCA plugs on the ends, and Voila!, the worst of the noise problems
tamed or greatly reduced.  I still recommend grounding the deck back at the
amplifier, so they reference the same ground.

I suspect that your "gain" or "input sensitivity" control on your amplifier
is turned all the way up or close to it.  Try turning down the gain to
halfway or so, maybe less.  The system won't sound as 'loud', but you'll
probably cure the noise if you've also run good cables and the ground I
suggested.  Turning the gain down really low might be frustrating because
it'll seem like you run out of "volume knob" before you're amp starts
clipping/distorting, so you can probably find a "happy medium" if you have
sufficient power, by finding a point you can live with both volume-wise, and
noise-wise.

Good Luck, and please consult a professional if you're unsure about any of
my suggestions.  Should your car catch fire spontaneously the next time you
turn on the radio, I'll forget this email ever happened.

- -Rod Birch