Car stereo problem

cindy100

Hi! I have an appointment on Tuesday for the installers to fix my stereo and I am very much hoping someone here can give me some help before I go back over there.

I had an amp, speakers and something called a CleanSweep by JL Audio installed. I will put a link below to the product as I have no idea exactly what it does. The problem I am having is, without the stereo even being turned on, there is a loud hissing sound coming out of the front left speaker which usually (but not always) gets very loud and ends up with just a lot of static. If I turn the stereo on and once the hissing noise stops, the entire system sounds like a transistor radio which is obviously not what I paid for.

When I called them about it, the guy I spoke with said going by what I described, it could possibly be the amp. Of course when I got there for the appointment, it was not making any of the noises. They said it was the CleanSweep and rather than wait 6 to 8 weeks and with a minimum charge of $125.00 to repair it, I just told them to replace it.

The next day when I left to go out, it was still doing the same thing so I am right back where I started and there is now very little, if any, sound coming out of the left front speaker.

As always, thanks so much for the help. I hope this made sense!

Cindy

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_cleansweep_pages.php?page_id=79

Jstas

Well, the Clean Sweep is the first culprit I suspected. But, you might have an interconnect (RCA cable) with a bad ground or collar. If any of the ends are stressed because the cable is just slightly too short, that will cause the ground to separated a bit. I had a similar noise coming from the right side of the stereo in my truck due to a pinched RCA cable.

If the noise is still there after the Clean Sweep was replaced, I don't think that is the issue unless it's how the monkeys at the install shop installed the wiring. They likely didn't check anything and just unplugged one box and mounted the new one it not checking grounds or other connections.

If it was the amp, you probably wouldn't get the static because when an input stage goes bad or has a bad ground, you don't get much sound at all. Also, if the stereo isn't on and the amp is controlled by the stereo, it won't make any noise because the power circuit should be off. No power, no signal between the input and output stages on the amp. But, I don't know how they wired anything. I think the Clean Sweep has an amp turn on lead on it. I'm not 100% sure. But if you are getting noise when the radio is off, the amp is likely wired to a different switchable source.

That's what I'm thinking off the top of my head with the amount of info you gave in your description. I would ask them to check thee wiring to the Clean Sweep before they go wasting any more money and time throwing parts at the problem and hoping it gets fixed.