Hello all, I installed an amp and some speakers over the weekend and I can't get rid of the whine in the system that indicates a bad ground.

I originally attached it to a seat bolt. That left me with a noticeable whine. I then moved it to the bolt that attaches the seatbelt to the body and while the whine is a tad more quiet, it is still there.

My question is: Where is the best place to ground my amp?

 

Absolute best run it back to the battery.

Where you have it should be good though, did you clean the contact points to bare metal?

 

Yeah, make sure its bare metal for sure. I have mine grounded to one of the bolts on the floor that holds the passenger seat in (since I didn't have much positive or ground cable and almost never have people ride in the back seats so it was the easiest solution) but I have good, solid power to my amp and no ground noise at all.

 

I don't have enough cable to go all the way back the the battery.

I will try to scrape some more paint off from under the seat belt bolt.

 

Check to make sure your sparkplug cables are shielded, check your alternator cable for proper gauge thickness. Lastly, ground to the body on the top side and ground to the chassis underneath (from the backside of a bolt). If the whining continues then check your starter cable ground. On a side note, confirm that you are using the correct hi or low input to the amp.

 

Make sure your power cable is not running right beside your sounds wires as they can pick up distortion