Hide amplifier under console? Where to run power wires?

[Austinite]

Ok, so after having to completely customize the "Tesla Style" head unit's mounting brackets that I got from AliExpress, I finally got everything else installed. Connecting the 5 channel amp and the Android head unit to the Bose system was kind of a pain in the ass to be honest. And the bass knob that came amp wasn't really built for custom installs, so I did my best. I had to buy a different knob to make it work with my set up and it's a littler bigger than I'd like, but oh well. I'll have more pics in a build thread for the Escalade when I get some time, but here's a few for now.

 

[91RS]

That is a very interesting setup. I looked at the install instructions for that thing and interesting how it uses parts of the factory radio.

What did you use for your amplifier ground? I still haven't messed with mine any more. I've got the wood cut finally to build the new sub box and I was still trying to chase down the cutting out but it does it so infrequently that I've gotten no where. I've been disconnecting each speaker from the amplifier one by one so see if the issue lies there and I've got one left. I figure I'll go ahead and install the tweeter amplifier when I get a chance to get back to this and that will help narrow the issue down even more.

 

[Austinite]

That is a very interesting setup. I looked at the install instructions for that thing and interesting how it uses parts of the factory radio.

What did you use for your amplifier ground? I still haven't messed with mine any more. I've got the wood cut finally to build the new sub box and I was still trying to chase down the cutting out but it does it so infrequently that I've gotten no where. I've been disconnecting each speaker from the amplifier one by one so see if the issue lies there and I've got one left. I figure I'll go ahead and install the tweeter amplifier when I get a chance to get back to this and that will help narrow the issue down even more.

Yeah, it's interesting AF and I still don't quite understand why exactly it keeps part of the factory radio. I had to completely make my own brackets for it to fit too. The seller was of no help and acted like that was totally normal. I've heard that is pretty much how it goes with sellers on these units.

I grounded my amp to the front stud that the old subwoofer was mounted with. Just completely sanded the paint off and it seems to work great.

 

[Austinite]

I was going to try a body ground to see if that would do anything for the whine but the weather was garbage all weekend so I didn't get to it. I have the gain adjusted to the minimum on the tweeter channel right now and the hiss is still there. The only thing I can think of is that the Dynaudio tweeters in my car are 8 ohm and the Stereo Integrity tweeters I'm using in the truck are 4 ohm so they are getting more power and maybe I never noticed the hiss when I had this amplifier in my car. I think my options are to try using a 4 ohm resistor in line with both tweeters to reduce the power they're getting or to try using a small low power 2-channel amplifier to run the tweeters only but then I've got to find the space to mount that.

I had a whine on my 2000 Tahoe when I did the stereo on it and I tried 2 of those PAC SNI-1 Noise Isolators thinking that might help, but nothing. Then I read somewhere that if you ground the stereo cage sleeve itself to the body that might help. Well sure enough, I just used a couple of the small screw holes on the sides of the cage sleeve and ran 2 different grounds just to be sure. Completely eliminated the whine. I have a small whine on the Escalade when i have the source as radio too, so as soon as I get a chance I'm going to try the same thing.

 

[91RS]

Ok, I was going to figure out how I could ground to one of those studs and still use it to mount the amplifier. It looked like you didn’t have the room so that’s why I asked.

Yes, I’ve read a lot about the noise and the big thing I read was ground close to the amplifier and use the same ground for all the components. I was told my whine is likely caused by the DSP power and ground not being the same as the amp. As for the hissing the main recommendation was use a different amplifier. I was just going to deal with it but I found a good deal on the mini 2 channel amplifier so I pulled the trigger. I just haven’t had a chance to install it with my other projects going on.

 

[Austinite]

Ok, I was going to figure out how I could ground to one of those studs and still use it to mount the amplifier. It looked like you didn’t have the room so that’s why I asked.

Yes, I’ve read a lot about the noise and the big thing I read was ground close to the amplifier and use the same ground for all the components. I was told my whine is likely caused by the DSP power and ground not being the same as the amp. As for the hissing the main recommendation was use a different amplifier. I was just going to deal with it but I found a good deal on the mini 2 channel amplifier so I pulled the trigger. I just haven’t had a chance to install it with my other projects going on.

Oh sorry, I guess I should have said rear stud! I used those front 2 to mount the amp. I meant the single stud that was just below the cup holders.

 

[91RS]

I’m using that one, too!

 

[91RS]

I finally figured out my cutting out issue. It finally did it longer than just a split second two days ago and the second time it did it I was able to pull into a gas station and jump out and start moving stuff around to see what would make it come back on and I found the screws for the fuse under the hood had worked loose! Probably from the dirt roads on our trip (that was when it started). Tightened them up and it seems sorted so far.

 

[Austinite]

I finally figured out my cutting out issue. It finally did it longer than just a split second two days ago and the second time it did it I was able to pull into a gas station and jump out and start moving stuff around to see what would make it come back on and I found the screws for the fuse under the hood had worked loose! Probably from the dirt roads on our trip (that was when it started). Tightened them up and it seems sorted so far.

Always nice when it's something easy like that!

 

[Meccanoble]

Oh sorry, I guess I should have said rear stud! I used those front 2 to mount the amp. I meant the single stud that was just below the cup holders.

This is exactly how mine is setup.

This unit looks sick! It would be great to have a unit that can run 2 sources at once like Navigation on top part where truck shows and a video feed of some sort at bottom. Wish I had the customizable knowledge to do this.