Phoenix Gold Phorum

So I'd been putting this off for months...Thinking the damn thing wasn't going to fit in the depths of my Scion Tc center console. I bought it knowing it was going to be an integral part of my system, but was totally filled with the dread of "what if it doesn't fit!!" It would be totally pointless to install it anywhere besides within a couple feet of the head unit.

Well, I ripped out my center console trim this afternoon and that "not so little" sucker fit right in! RCA cable jungle and all. I was also freaking out that the .5m Knukonceptz I bought wouldn't be long enough. Turns out, they're just the right length...Seriously, this is usually not the case when it comes to me and all things car stereo install. I was able to set the gains and it looks like everything is good to go.

Tomorrow I'll tidy up the RCAs and wiring, permanently solder into the positive, ground and remote, and fine tune the gains on the amps with the good old DMM. I've already noticed a huge difference. The gain on my Tantrum 1200.1 was at about 3/4, now it's barely turned. Crazy...Anyway, here are some rough pics of what I feel to be a pretty damn good accomplishment...Especially considering how long I've been sitting on this little project.

glad to hear it worked out for you. I have been in both scenarios where it fit perfect or was JUST a little too big. It is great when it fits....

I have never been a fan of using a volt-meter to set up my gains though as my meter seems to have different listening tastes then my ears....

I like forcing it in, but she hates it.

ha!

well...crap. i got everything hooked up and 'completed' today, and there's no denying, i've got a HORRIBLE alternator/engine whine thing going on. i knew there was a bit of a problem with that before installing the line driver, but now it's just effing awful. it's probably my own fault for not fixing the minor pre-existing condition, which is now being amplified and sounds awful...

i don't get it. i've always followed the "keep your head unit ground as short as possible and ground it to the chassis" method. still, tons of noise. should i be running the ground back to the battery perhaps? i've contemplated running it back to the single grounding point for my amps, but it would require about a 16ft run of wire to reach it...that can't be good, right?

i also noticed on the TLD-66 instructions, it said not to mount it directly to metal/car chassis. i didn't mount it directly to metal, but it is resting on top of some sort of control box in the bottom of the center console, padded with two strips of heavy duty velcro (to keep it from sliding around in there). even with velcro as an "isolator" of sorts (no metal of TLD-66 box touching car metal), could this still be contributing to the noise issue?

the only other things i can think of are testing an alternate grounding point (battery or amp ground point), or...mounting this sucker in the glovebox where it'll be 100% isolated from any chassis metal whatsoever. of course this means shelling out another $40 for longer RCAs...arggh.

anyone have any ideas that might be able to help me out?

i would deffinetly try running your head unit AND line driver back to the amps.

you could use 12awg speaker wire for that. (heck, i will even send you some if you dont have any handy)

i dont think your mounting location has a hand in the nosie. that spot looks great!

thanks for the advice brian.

i've actually got some decent 10awg wire that i bought for home speaker install (same stuff i used to run the alpine 9887 HU to chassis ground), so i'll run a test length of that to the amp grounding spot (heavy duty stinger grounding post) and see how it works out.

i'm really hoping it fixes the situation, because honestly, i've always tried to take the utmost care and precaution when it comes to installing everything, location and routing the wiring, etc. this is definitely the achilles heel in my system, because everything else sounds about as great as i could hope for.

the part that sucks is i probably won't get around to this until next weekend!! i'll let you guys know how it turns out. thanks again.

we need to isolate the noise and figure out if it is comming before or after the TLD. Disconnect the input to the TLD and see if you still have it. Try adjusting the gain up to see if it is real faint.

Try grounding out the shields on the RCA cables at the HU. Some Pioneers have that problem, and grounding the RCA cables out almost entirely eliminates the engine/alternator whine.

it also sounds as though you might have the gain on the TLD a little high if you have your amp gain turned down so low. Try re-adjusting them so that the amps gain is doing a little more work.

glad it fit!!!

Check out the noise troubleshooting thread in the how-to forum.

so i called in sick to work today to specifically get down to the bottom of this thing. i routed the TLD/HU ground back to the grounding point of the amps and rechecked the gains on the TLD after throwing a new 9-volt into the DMM. um...my gains were set to put out about 15 volts...DOH!!

i reset them all to 8 volts, buttoned everything back up and, whoah. HUUUGE difference. i'm not getting that annoying-as-hell alternator whine that i had even before dropping the TLD in, and i feel a lot better having everything run to a central grounding point.

here's my question...would you guys recommend that i ground my RCAs as well, just as a precaution? i did some searching online and saw that a few other people with the CDA-9887 were experiencing noise from the RCA/HU aspect.

i tried to find a tutorial online, but came up with nothing. do you have to run a ground wire from each set? i've got F, R, and SW RCA sets, so would i need to run 3 grounds into the ground wire leading back to the central grounding point? i just want to make sure i've got all my bases covered.

thanks to everyone in here for help and pointing me in the right direction.

I have to laugh a little that you didn't trust your ears, but you did your meter.

I would not worry about grounding the rca's unless you have noise that you can't get rid of.