Finally had a chance to start on the install and would have been finished a week ago, but ran into major issues with:
1. hissing/static sound from front speakers when car is off
2. changing stations or source causes this loud pop from the speakers
3. major alternator whine when the car is started - not just your typical alt. whine

All of the wires were replaced using knuconceptz and I'm running the following:
- ppi2150 feeding cdts
- pioneer 690/5000, sony headunit

I've tried to isolate the problem by doing the following, but none of them have worked:
- replacing head units (2 pioneers, 1 sony) and both pioneers had the issue and I tried grounding the outer rca inputs just in case.
- replaced the rca by running it directly from the HU to the amp in stock bose sub location to make sure the orig. rca wasn't picking up noise.
- made sure the speaker wires wasn't the issue by using another set of wires to the components
- wired a home speaker instead of using components.

I'm sure all the wires are connected properly, but I still can't figure it out. I'd rather enjoy my system instead of debugging this issue, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Did you try moving your ground wire? How do you have the gain set on your amp?

 

Do you have access to a portable CD or MP3 player? If so, take the player using the headphone jack, wire in some RCAs and plug it directly into the amp; going that route you can work your way forward and see if this is an amp problem, or something more.

From what I know of the Pioneers they have something called pico fuses that are ridiculously sensitive to voltage spikes, (I had a DEH-9800BT do that to me) and when they blow a symptom is some of what you have described, I am not sure about the Sony though.

Saying that, I am inclined to think this is all some type of weird ground issue though.

 

Yeah, I tried moving the ground (HU, amp) and made sure to grind the connection point down to the metal. Also, when I was using a nine.4 connected directly to the HU, there was this loud screeching sound. Connecting it to a preamp helped, but the sound would spike if you adjusted the volume and the popping sound was still present.

I'll try connecting it directly to an ipod and see what happens.

 

Funny you had an issue with NINe amp, I have a NINe.2 installed, and upon the initial installation I was having some very odd noises (screeching, popping) coming from my component speakers, specifically the front right side, I called ED, told them what the deal was and they sent me another NINe.2, as soon as I installed the new amp, the sound was gone.

However, during the time I was waiting on the new amp, I made a new ground and got a new headunit; its an odd coincidence that we both had ED amps and have seemingly bizzare noise issues, but I can tell you this, EDs customer service is awesome, I would give them a call.

 

The amp gain is set barely above min.

I bought the amp last jan. and it took me this long to install it - good thing they have a 3 yr warr. They mentioned it might be a grounding issue as well and I want to make sure before sending it back to them. I hooked it up to my other vehicle and didn't notice the issue so it might be a good amp after all - but the ipod test will definitely tell me if it is or not.

I hooked up the ipod to the installed rca and speaker wires and there's no noises so the RCAs and speaker wires are good. It's definitely something wrong with the HU connections - 3 HUs can't be faulty.

Just in case - I have the following connections for the HU:
Harness - HU
-- yellow bat. - yellow bat
-- red acc - red acc
-- orange ill. - orange ill.
-- blue power ant. - blue amp turn on (connected to amp turn on too)
-- grounded to bare metal

Pioneers tend to have grounding issues, so I tried a sony HU and that had problems as well. I also connected the speakers to the pioneer internal amp and that didn't have any problems.

 

Just for kicks, remove the connection with the illumination wire.

 

Trust me, I tried that. Been doing every combo I could think of for past few days.

Thanks for the ipod idea. I went back from the ppi 2150 to the NINe.4 with the ipod and didn't have the pig-squealing issues. Then went thru the HUs and found out that was the issue - there's a problem with the 690ub. Guess there's a problem with the ppi amp too (popping, alt. whine) and that threw me off since all 3 HUs experienced it.

Time to see if I can get it serviced since it was purchased off ebay 5 mo ago. At least I can put everything back together and start driving the z again.

I'll post pics of the install when I'm done. I found a way to avoid the door panel blocking issue without using exterior pods.

 

Good to hear, best of luck.

 

Wait,,,do you have the "power antenna wire" and the "remote turn on wire" connected together? Sorry if I misunderstood what you wrote.