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How quiet should normal static be?

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So Im trying to find my issue with a aftermarket head unit that has static. There are no bad grounds, connections etc etc. When I attached the stock radio back on, there was static in the speakers but you'd literally had to have your ear pressed on the speaker grille to be able to hear. In other words, there is static but its super super low, you cant hear it normally.

From this I'm assuming the head unit is amplifying super low static frequency enough that you can hear it.
So what exactly is normal static? Dead silent no matter what? Low enough you have to REEEAAALLLY be listening for it?

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static? there should be none. mine is completely silent when nothing is playing.

Even if you out your ear right on the speaker?

yes

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I guess at that point my question should really be what’s causing the super quiet “inaudible” static?

hard to say. I'm only familiar with alternator noise but that's easily solved and prevented by keeping power and signals away from each other as much as possible.

or static from a empty radio station.

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u/freshly_ella avatar

Static should be 0 decibels

u/spammailharold avatar

You might have a group loop

Do you know some things I could check that could cause this. I’ve changed my all lights in and out of the car to led. Maybe that? What could cause it. I build circuits all the time but they’ve never failed so idk what would cause a fail

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u/MakerofSQ avatar

There is no normal static. Shouldn't hear the floor noise either.

u/MakerofSQ avatar

Care to list everything in your build ?

Yeah man. Pretty much nothing ngl.

  • Stock speakers: 6 total. (2) 3inch, (2) 4.5 inch, (2) 6x9 inch

  • Car doesn’t have an amp

  • JVC KW-M780BT head unit

Keep in mind the head unit I’ve sent out twice and they say is not the using but I’ve tested with an old JVC KD-S12 and stock stereo and I don’t get that audible static

u/MakerofSQ avatar

Ground the headunit seperately.

So the original unit grounds directly to the frame. The aftermarket needs a wire that i screw onto the frame. One time i even tried connecting the ground directly to the battery end I get the same static

So to rule out that its the car and not a bad stereo I bought a brand new Pioneer dual din from walmart and it also had the same static sound/frequency as the other two units. So there is something with the car

u/MakerofSQ avatar

You need to run all new OFC 18-16 ga speaker wire from the head to the speakers.

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I also have some hissing from tweeters when there's nothing playing, they're not amped, they're run from hu power. Hissing goes with volume as well, even when car isn't running. I should note that when playing music it's not audible in 99% of the songs.

Is it only in your tweeters? For me its in every speaker in the car. And i figured out its not the stereo its the car itself somewhere

For me it's only in my tweeters, I have no idea if it was like that even with stock head unit as I don't remember and didn't really pay attention to it but as I said I can hear the hiss in some songs (really rare) but if there's no audio playing I can clearly hear the hiss coming from the 2 front tweeters, didn't check for the second two in the back to check if they have the hiss as well.

My moms car has the bose system in it and in that its expected that amplifiers have some hiss to it but even then its less than mine, but noticeable that you can hear it. I dont mind that hiss because her car is just naturally louder (not like exhaust loud) but mine its audible even when the engine is running

So i havent test if it changes with revs but I will say it started when I replaced my dash. Now the dash has no ground points on it or mounts but there are two ground points inside the car. I dont remember ever touching them so I dont know could cause the issue.
I can mention things that Ive changed/replace in my car that could maybe cause an issue?

Do you hear the hiss when the music is playing or just with no audio? My hiss goes only with volume even with engine off and doesn't increase with revs.

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Static can happen in systems, sometimes cheaper RCA cables can contribute. Running power cables too close. A bad tune could also be a culprit. There are other possible sources

I wanna say mine it electronics related. My instrument cluster has a sticking fuel gauge that sometimes stays stuck at full and when you turn it on again it cranks way past the full. Also it had a half dead flickery led at the temp gauge. Its a soldered board too.

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I had static and buzz noise from a 15 dollar loc that had the gains set to 11.

I reduced the gains to 40% and it's clear as a bell.

Maybe if you're only running a stereo and no amps, set your EQ to below flat?

I see what you mean. The static increase with volume (a form of gain) going up or down. And this happened with the stock unit. The only difference is that with the stock unit I have to either turn the radio, cd, or aux to hear it because if off, i cant chance the volume. Nevertheless, the static sound sounds the same plus whatever im playing from either an aux or radio

The noise isnt noticeable with music. but the second you pause it you can hear it.

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