[FormerStangFan]

O.k., I'm in the middle of my install. I know to run your power cables down one side and speaker wires on the other. With the amp set up I have there are just a couple situations where my speaker wires come within an inch or two of the power supply of to the amplifier. For instance, the high level outputs to the speakers come out the same side as the power supply on my amp, and then to get the wiring over to the passenger side of the car crosses the power. I'm just worried about any interference noise this might cause. Is it a problem? I'm not done with the system yet, I just want to eliminate problems before they occur. What do ya think?

 

[lunapark]

O.k., I'm in the middle of my install. I know to run your power cables down one side and speaker wires on the other. With the amp set up I have there are just a couple situations where my speaker wires come within an inch or two of the power supply of to the amplifier. For instance, the high level outputs to the speakers come out the same side as the power supply on my amp, and then to get the wiring over to the passenger side of the car crosses the power. I'm just worried about any interference noise this might cause. Is it a problem? I'm not done with the system yet, I just want to eliminate problems before they occur. What do ya think?

Running the speakerwire next to the power wire does not pick up noise. 90% of all noise is introduced into the system via ground loops or bad grounds in general. Running an RCA wire next to the right power wire will allow the RCA to pick up noise, but not speaker wire at least not in the car.

 

[FormerStangFan]

What's a ground loop and how do you avoid it?

 

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

What's a ground loop and how do you avoid it?

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=79248

Basically, if you don't do your ground wire well, your amp will look for other places to try to ground. Either throgh the chassis, or more likely (and more noisily) through the RCA cables.

You want the shortest path to ground possible, use the same gauge cable as you did for the positive connection, and make sure whatever you're grounding to is clean. Most of us have been using the bolts at the top and bottom of the tank brace.

 

[timmymac]

Something to keep in mind is that the transmission of noise from wire to wire is increased if the wires run parallel for an appreciable distance. In order to minimize noise transmission from one wire to another, ensure that they aren't bundled together, and that when they do cross you should try to make them meet at a 90 degree angle.

Having said that, I wholeheartedly agree with the comment about ground loops causing most of the noise. My power wire runs down the passengers side, and it's bundled with the amplifier input wires. But then again, I was very careful to minimize chances of creating ground loops (my grounding is overkill) and I'm using my Ipod as the signal source for my amplifiers. Since it's designed for low output impedance and the amplifier is high input impedence, I have no issues. If I ever decide to put in a real head unit, I may reroute the signal wires.