QuestionI have a pioneer deh-p740 deck, bought it new a few years ago, hooked up an amp and subs last year. Everytime I turn the deck on, change the station or switch between the radio and cd I get a popping sound in my subs. I've tried different subs and different amps. Everyone I've talked to thinks its a grounding problem with the deck but I ran a ground wire directly to the battery with no luck. I disconnect the rca's and turn the deck on and off, no popping so it's a deck problem, right? How would I fix this or do I have to live with it? Does it hurt anything?
Thanx, Kevin
Answer
May seem like a deck problem on the surface, but my 1st guess is that you probably have the amp levels set too high. making the decks' inherent noise audible. :O
That head unit, while a decent piece, still will create noise, and if the amp gains are too high it wil indeed come right thru the system.
The entire reason for the High Output RCA's that head unit boasts about, are so that the user/installer can use less gain at the amps and still get full RMS/Peak power.
The super neato bout this is that if you set them up correctly, you will have much LESS noise.
Having the amps too high will, at a minimum, cause problems and easily can damage gear.
To be sure...
The amplifier will not get once decibel louder if the gains are too high. It peaks much sooner than it should at the volume knob which is not the way to go. You will lose clarity and dynamics as well.
If you cant crank the volume to 90%+ without it clipping or distorting, you have them set too high.
90 out of 100 mobile audio systems have the gains set too high.
So.. if you like it setup this way... yes, you will have to live with it and I already said it can hurt it.
