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davegonz

davegonz

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After trying to eliminate the constant buzzing from my stereo system setup, I have come to the conclusion that it would be easier to just add a new aftermarket amp. I saw that someone had spliced in an Alpine unit and used the stock harness that fed the amp. I'm probably going to follow that same path, but was wondering what amp would be good and how many channels would be needed? Would a 4 channel be enough or would I need a 5 or 6 channel (to drive the factory sub)?

My current setup includes an Eclipse AVN726E, Eclipse HDR109 HD tuner, Eclipse rear view camera, and factory speakers.
 
Check your Ground

Double check and make sure all your components have a good chassis ground. In some past installs I have run additional ground wires to ensure no humming/buzzing/popping. You might also try a ground loop isolator (Radio Shack) for your RCA's that has helped in other cases. I am not sure on the best amp to drive the stock speakers and sub, I have always replaced the stock locations speakers and used a four channel amp and a separate 2 channel amp for the sub. Good Luck!
 
I tried two ground loop isolators and no luck. I ran a dedicated ground from the negative terminal on the battery straight to the head unit, and no luck. I guess I need to run one to the amp and see if that works.
 
Double check all components for good ground(Head unit, amp, camera, etc), but it sounds like you already travelled that path.

Double check your battery to chassis ground too. Sometimes these can corrode and not provide good ground. Also double check your ground spots (sand to bare metal where the ground meets metal, dielectric grease if you are worried about rust). And make sure the ground wire is of good size the longer the wire the thicker the guage should be (But ground wires should be as short as possible when using chassis ground).

Another thought is maybe your head unit is overpowering the stock speakers and has blown them causing distortion.
 
Don't just treat the sign, treat the symptom - there is probably a wire somewhere near the harness serving the stereo, or the amp or somewhere inbetween that has a compromised jacket. That is likely the source of the frequency you are hearing. It could also be a loose connector, like on the A/C controller for example.

On the other hand some filter in the stereo or amp could be blown and anything you do externally will not solve it. I sympathise with you as I had this problem on another vehicle and it was about impossible to isolate. I reduced it but never got rid of it. Rerouting the harness and grounding were the most helpful in my case.
 
Dave,

How is your HU hooked into the factory wire harness?

I also tried a dedicated ground from the PS engine fenderwll with no luck to solve my hiss. The gound loop isolator did it for me, but I had to unplug one output at a time from the HU to isolate what was causing it.

IIRC the factory amp grounds up through the harness behind the HU. My Kenwood HU used RCA outputs to hook to the factory harness, but mine was from my audio out to the DVD monitor. Who woulda thought. If you're running anything like the rear-view camera or iPod cables to, or through, the center console, those unshileded wires are in very close proximity to the amp and associated wires.

Good luck, that a frustrating, and frustratingly hard, problem to solve.
 
Rob, I used a Metra (or metra equivalent) harness to connect to the factory wiring. My camera currently isn't hooked up, just my usb/ipod cable.

I need to pull the passenger seat and look at the amp. I'll probably hook up a dedicated ground to it and see if that works.

On another thread that bamachem posted, I read that Toyota uses a common return ground for the signal going into the amplifier. I wonder if it's because of this that I'm getting noise.
 
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Were you able to solve your hiss? I have a buzzing type sound coming from speakers after new HU install using the Metra amp with the RCA's going to factory amp. Mine is not constant, just every once in a while...like a loose wire, although I checked them all. I was thinking about grounding the HU a different way. Currently, I grounded using the black wire from the new HU to the black wire on the Metra harness, since it is called 'ground'. Maybe I should ground so something else?

If you can, let us know what you were able to do.

Thanks!!
 
bluecruiser said:
Were you able to solve your hiss? I have a buzzing type sound coming from speakers after new HU install using the Metra amp with the RCA's going to factory amp. Mine is not constant, just every once in a while...like a loose wire, although I checked them all. I was thinking about grounding the HU a different way. Currently, I grounded using the black wire from the new HU to the black wire on the Metra harness, since it is called 'ground'. Maybe I should ground so something else?

If you can, let us know what you were able to do.

Thanks!!
Click to expand...

A search brought up this topic and I have the same issue now.
I have installed a new head unit (Orion AVR6.1) by using the Metra 70-8112 in the original Lexus connector.
When using the DAB, iPod and normal radio I have this humming. Even with the engine off.
 
I think it is comoing because the signal ground isn't connected.
The question is where to conect it to?
 
davegonz said:
After trying to eliminate the constant buzzing from my stereo system setup, I have come to the conclusion that it would be easier to just add a new aftermarket amp. I saw that someone had spliced in an Alpine unit and used the stock harness that fed the amp. I'm probably going to follow that same path, but was wondering what amp would be good and how many channels would be needed? Would a 4 channel be enough or would I need a 5 or 6 channel (to drive the factory sub)?

My current setup includes an Eclipse AVN726E, Eclipse HDR109 HD tuner, Eclipse rear view camera, and factory speakers.
Click to expand...

Were you ever able to resolve this buzzing? ( I'm assuming it's the low volume buzz). I have the issue on mine with an aftermarket head hint and haven't messed with it, but I'm about to install annaftermarket unit in another cruiser and want to give the owner a chance to fix it on the front end (for my mom).
 
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