white noise coming from wet sounds rev 8's

[KT Mobius]

I just had the rev 8's installed along with a JL xd400 amp, JL 12 inch sub and the wet sounds eq. I've read that some white noise is common however its not acceptable to me. I had everything installed by the store and its been back to no avail. The store is going to replace the eq but I don't think this will solve the problem. Any ideas where I should look?

[mmandley]

Hey bro, First thing i would check is how its being powered. Is the Stereo Positive and Negative on its own battery, everything Stereo related, Deck, amps, EQ, everything has to be grounded on its own battery and powered the same way.

Second if you want to know if its the EQ or not then bypass it and plug the head unit directly into the Amps.

If you still get noise, what exactly is the noise sounding like? Is it the whine you get from an engine?
When exactly do you get the noise? All the time engine on or off? What about when you run the heater in the boat?

If the noise is a weird buzz, click click, buzz and its random that is commonly your Cell phone getting email, text messages or such and on Highend speakers, espcialy towers the tweeters actually pick these noises up.

On our boat unless im waiting on Claudia from work all cells are in airplane mode, this way i dont get that noise generated.

Let me know how it turns out.

Plus bro im only 30 minutes ride on the Vision to you, holler if you want me to come take a personaly look at it. Im in Salem every other month anyhow getting the oil changed on the bike. Carlton is closer then you think LOL.

[MLA]

Amps have a bad habit of amplifying whats coming into them and speakers will reproduce whats delivered to them. if everything is wire and set correctly, amps and speakers rarely produce these noises on thier own.

As mmandley stated, ALL the audio gear needs to share the same battery source. Having the equipment terminating in different spots and on different batteries in a dual battery setup is the leading cause of of unwanted noise.

Next would be gain hiss, especially will the addition of a line-driver like the WS-420. We have no way of knowing what diagnostics steps your installer has taken, but the odds of faulty gear are low. Like Mmandly noted, its easy to take the EQ out of the loop.

[Brianinpdx]

KT - which shop in Salem did you take it to? I'm guessing Hear no Evil? In the interest in taking the guesswork out of your situation, I suggest you and Mandley come have a stop over at Exile's office (we right off I5 in lake oswego). Give myself or one of my Techs 10 mins with the boat and I'll diagnose it for you for free. If Possible we'll give you the guidance needed to remedy the problems. The first check I'd do is unplug the 420 and drive an RCA cable and iPod into your amplifiers. It's a pretty quick tell....

-Brian
Exile Audio

[EarmarkMarine]

KT,
I sell and install all the equipment that you own. And, I understand really well all the concepts relating to noise. I have quite a few techniques and diagnostic methods that you are unlikely to hear about from others. Return to your local installing dealer. They (your local dealer) are the people who can resolve this. If they don't mind the assistance, ask them to contact me. You can set this up with me via PM.
Also, when using aggressive HLCD tower speakers and listening within a couple of feet, you are going to have some degree of 'thermal noise' (hiss)...period...unless you tune the system specifically to eliminate the hiss and in the process you reduce some potential dynamic range. Or, incorrect tuning can contribute to the noise level. In any case, I don't have a horse in this race and you could use an un-involved and un-biased third party to set realistic expectations for you independent of brand or dealer.

David
Earmark Marine

[Brianinpdx]

KT - It was good meeting you the other day.

After taking a look at KT's system, it was a fairly simple problem, He had a mini JL amp rated at 75x4 running his REV8's and also a sub. The amp was gained to the max which created a lot of hisssssssss. I recommended he go back to his retailer and add a small dedicated JL monoblock and run the existing amp in dual mono mode so he delivers 200W to the tower and turn the gains WAY down. Towers where also tuned upward of 150HZ which was contributing to this problem, so on the final tune he should be able to get some more bass out of the speakers by moving the xover point down lower into the 80-90hz range.

Let me know how it turns out KT.

Cheers!

-Brian
Exile Audio

[EarmarkMarine]

KT,
Yes, just two channels of that amplifer is not enough for a pair of REV8s. However, once bridged into two channels driving a 4-ohm load it will put out 200 watts per speaker as rated. Pasmag recently reviewed the similar XD500/3. The 2 x 75 watt @ 4-ohm channels actually produced 140 watts per channel into a 2-ohm load. That would be 280 watts in the bridged 4-ohm mode. That will definitely wake up the REV8s and significantly reduce the input gain setting. You could add a monoblock sub amp to your XD400/4 or upgrade to the XD700/5 and accomplish the same in a single chassis amplifier.
When adding power they may need to upgrade the primary supply cable depending on what is there now. Don't overlook that.

David
Earmark Marine

[beat taco]

I would buy a harpoon...a hd600/4 powers my 2 pro 80's.

[Brianinpdx]

In fairness to his JL setup, I suggested getting the JL300.1 It should do the trick. and then dedicate the existing amp to the towers and tune the thing down so its not all horn. Hopefully it all works out well for KT. If not, I'll tune it for hiim.

-Brian
Exile Audio

[EarmarkMarine]

Yes, the JL Audio XD300/1 is an excellent amplifier choice. It will put out 370 watts of honest power into a 2-ohm load. But the XD700/5 will do the same job as the XD400/4 and XD300/1 combo for $150 less.

David
Earmark Marine

[MLA]

Yes, the JL Audio XD300/1 is an excellent amplifier choice. It will put out 370 watts of honest power into a 2-ohm load. But the XD700/5 will do the same job as the XD400/4 and XD300/1 combo for $150 less.

David
Earmark Marine

Since the install is complete, it would probably also be easy to make the swap to the 700/5 over swapping to the 400/4and then finding a spot for the 300/1, which will now require cabling, turn-on and an RCA to the run to it.

[Brianinpdx]

Guys- to be clear, he already owns the 400/4. I didn't think it appropriate to tell him to Gut the install and start over. Adding a dedicated amp for the sub solves his problem and will match his other amp. Done deal.

[EarmarkMarine]

Let him and his installing dealer make that decision between them. If they allow him to trade up to a single chassis he gets the identical power of both amplifiers for $150 less and possibly avoids power distribution blocks, additional cabling, more real estate, more labor and so on.

David
Earmark Marine

[beat taco]

Guys- to be clear, he already owns the 400/4. I didn't think it appropriate to tell him to Gut the install and start over. Adding a dedicated amp for the sub solves his problem and will match his other amp. Done deal.


In fairness to his JL setup, I suggested getting the JL300.1 It should do the trick. and then dedicate the existing amp to the towers and tune the thing down so its not all horn. Hopefully it all works out well for KT. If not, I'll tune it for hiim.

-Brian
Exile Audio

I went over the top with my harpoon recommendation! One thing about my HD900/5 is that when I switch to a 1500.1 and big 12 I will be back to three amps and defeat the purpose of the 900/5 in the first place. My own frustration came through in my first post!

[Brianinpdx]

Jake - agreed. 5ch amps are great if your needs never change. In my experience, people needs usually evolve, in much the same manner they do with boats. 1' every couple of years right?

I'm sure KT will get things rocking and report good things back to everyone...

-Brian
Exile Audio

[KT Mobius]

First off I want to thank Brian for taking the time to meet with me and look at my boat and to everyone else on this forum you guys are a huge asset, thanks. Well I went back to the installer (3 times total) and had the JL amp ran directly to the tower speakers and guess what I still had the noise, then I had the EQ removed and still had the noise. Needless to say I decided to go with three Rockford amps, a 500x1, a punch 2k7 300x2 and a 400x2 and no eq and I still have the hiss. At this point I'm going to return the wet sounds and go with exile. Brian I'll see you soon. Should I stay with the Rockford amps?

[EarmarkMarine]

KT,
Speakers do not create 'hiss'. They just reproduce what is sent to them by the electronics. If you have removed the EQ and replaced the amplifiers and you still have hiss then obviously the hiss is generated upstream in the signal path or the HU has too little voltage and there is an inordinate dependency on the amplifiers' input stage to create gain. Solve this and you reduce the hiss. I would have liked to help your dealer to help you without selling you anything. You already had superior gear.

David
Earmark Marine

[MLA]

It cant be said enough.......the speakers are not producing the noise, they are simply reproducing it. It sounds like the installer that originally setup the JL400/4 with the gains maxed out has repeated this again now with the new R/F amps. Changing brands, whether its amps or speakers, is chasing the effect, not the cause. Get the amp tuned correctly and the gain-hiss with will be eliminated.

[wetsounds1]

KT,

David/MLA is 100% correct. Speakers do not make hiss. They reproduce what they are sent. If someone has
Told you that changing speakers is going to fix it. That is bad advice and very wrong. It sounds like there is a signal issue and/or tuning issue. Maybe an issue with the head. since they pulled the eq and swapped amps. Then they have taken good steps in fixing the issue.

Please shoot me a call or email [email protected] and I will get you in touch with our rep in the area. I just sent him this thread so he is in the loop.

We had an OEM that had a lot of noise issues. Hiss and engine noise. We went over their boat from top to bottom. Swapped Amps, RCA, power, ground. Found out it was a particular head unit next to their dash switches. Swapped to different model head unit from same brand. All noise was gone. We have seen all types of noise issues and can figure it out for sure.

Tim
Wet Sounds

[Brianinpdx]

KT - Sorry your having so much trouble. I wouldn't start changing out gear all over the place unless you've just plained changed your mind on something. These are basic things that need to be addressed, not advanced ones. If you did opt to walk away from the installer your working with, I'd suggest you visit KingPin Marine Audio in Wilsonville. They are hands down, the most high tech retailer in the area and they scope all their installs in the final tune to eliminate amp clipping and over gain etc.

If you want to hash out some options with making it work with your current installer, let me know. I'll help out regardless of the brands involved.

@ the community: It's been said many times before and important to note, the execution of the whole install is just as important as the actual gear selected. This whole thread should not reflect in a poor way on any of the brands used in this boat. It's easy to arm chair QB stuff like this... but as the only industry person that has listened to this boat is me! Let me say clearly the problem is gain setup and /or a noisy source player. Lets all pitch in and help him get squared away.

-Brian

[beat taco]

At this point I'm going to return the wet sounds and go with exile. Brian I'll see you soon. Should I stay with the Rockford amps?

I have wet sounds and JL. If I knew then what I know now I would have Exile. My only experience is hearing what everyone else has. When the Exile guys don't show up I'm number one. When they do I'm number two. I'm not going by one aspect of the system,every component sounds superior in my OPINION.

[EarmarkMarine]

The entire matter disgusts me.
If I could help this retailer to help this consumer the entire issue would have already been resolved in a single trip and without trying to make a convert in the process.
Every qualified individual called it beforehand. It's not the speakers or the amplifier. It's not a speaker or amplifier brand issue. So now we are on round two of changing the brands? Absolutely ridiculous.

David
Earmark Marine

[mmandley]

This thread and the under-tones make me chuckle.

[KT Mobius]

KT,

David/MLA is 100% correct. Speakers do not make hiss. They reproduce what they are sent. If someone has
Told you that changing speakers is going to fix it. That is bad advice and very wrong. It sounds like there is a signal issue and/or tuning issue. Maybe an issue with the head. since they pulled the eq and swapped amps. Then they have taken good steps in fixing the issue.

Please shoot me a call or email [email protected] and I will get you in touch with our rep in the area. I just sent him this thread so he is in the loop.

We had an OEM that had a lot of noise issues. Hiss and engine noise. We went over their boat from top to bottom. Swapped Amps, RCA, power, ground. Found out it was a particular head unit next to their dash switches. Swapped to different model head unit from same brand. All noise was gone. We have seen all types of noise issues and can figure it out for sure.

Tim
Wet Sounds

I would be more than happy to have your rep take a look. My original goal was to have a system I could hear while surfing/wake boarding as well as have some nice tunes while floating. I think what it comes down to is the installer lacks the knowledge base that is needed for this job.