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So as with JWikoff's post about this earlier I have been getting alternator whine through my audio system. It is easily drowned out by blasting the stereo but is really annoying at low levels. Here is how my system is set up and what I have done to attempt to fix this already.

The Setup:
2001 Bonnie SE - BASE AUDIO not Bose
Stock Head Unit (I will NOT replace this - not an option), stock tweeters, aftermarket 6.5s in door and 6x9s in back.
Kicker zx700.5 amp - This is a FIVE channel amp consisting of two AB class amps for the front and rear channels and a third D class amp for the sub. The amp has two speaker level input channels hooked up. One is from the front r/l tapped at the kick panels under the dash. The other is r/l tapped at the 6x9s in the rear deck. This supplies input signal for amp1 (front channel), amp2 (rear channel), and the two channels are combined internally (mono) for the amp3 (sub channel). The signal from the front and rear channels is then routed back to the corresponding speakers.

I have 4ga power and ground wires to the amp. They connect directly to the battery terminals under the seat. They are tight and clean.

Symptoms:
I get whine only when the engine is running
This is the only whine I will ever get out of my l36
If I disconnect the speaker level inputs and hook up my ipod to the RCA inputs I do NOT get whine with the car off or on.
This makes me sure the power and ground is not at fault.
If I disconnect the front speaker level inputs(SLIs) and run the entire amp off of only the rear SLIs the whine is less but still present. I assume this is because there is less noise to amplify. This also means the noise is not coming from interferance picked up on the way to or from the front speakers. It is embedded in the signal produced by the radio itself.

Does anyone have further suggestions?

Can anyone explain to me how alternator noise suppressors work?

Thanks!

I've tried a noise suppressor before, and it didn't work. But that was only one, and I got it at Walmart. Getting rid of the RCA convertors worked for me.

Well thats wal-mart for ya... at least you can take it back to them if it doesn't work lol.
I don't have LOCs/RCA convertors. The amp has high level inputs.

I would like to know this too, I have a 01 Se and it whines whenever the car is on and gets louder when I hit the gas

I think it's called a ground loop isolator that will solve your problem.

Every ground loop isolator I have seen has been for low level RCA connections. I have none of those in my system so how will that help?

grandprix104 wrote:Every ground loop isolator I have seen has been for low level RCA connections. I have none of those in my system so how will that help?

Sorry, more targeted at the post directly above mine.

are the inputs pretty well separated from the power cable?

edit- have you tried grounding the amp separately, instead of at the battery terminal?

I have not grounded the amp to the frame. It grounds directly to the battery terminal. This would likely be suspect, however, if I hook my ipod up to the RCA inputs of the amp and disconnect the speaker level inputs, there is no noise at all. However as noted in my first post. It makes no difference if I use the front SLIs or the rear they both have noise. This facts lead me to believe that the noise is coming from the factory deck/wiring. Thus the question of how alternator noise suppressors work and how to hook them up. I know there are also noise suppressors that go on the power lead of a deck, but I dont know how to install one since I have the dock'n'lock system.

Is there a way to upgrade/improve the ground for the Head Unit? I've never had the dash apart so I don't know how it all fits together. Could I tap the ground and power to get the HU more power? Would this help?

turn your gain down from your amp

the gains are ALL the way down :(

It's your high level inputs. I had a similar install in my Canyon. Same whine.

well then the question is how to fix it.

I'm looking I will get back to you.

Try this...
http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/ ... C4&tp=2001