I have terrible engine noise on my CD player. It is the dreaded alternator whine. I have had this since purchasing the car in Feb. I also have XM and an MP3 connection through the AUX with no noise. I recently had my speakers upgraded and an aftermarket amp added. My installer pulled his hair out trying to fix it. The noise remains because it is being created in the head unit most likely.

Has anyone else had this problem with the stock stereo? If so, can it be gotten rid of?

 

So, the headunit is stock, but he upgraded the speakers and amp? try reading some of those stickies at the top, i have a feeling soething similar has been covered. Also, did the installer use a line-output converter?

 

If you've had the problem since you purchased the car I'd recommend the dealership first..

 

Yes, the head unit is stock. The stickies and lots of research on this site haven't helped because they deal with noise "after" the head unit. No LOC was used because it just amplified the noise. A GLI did nothing because there is not a ground loop--the noise is coming from the head unit. A noise filter was used and helped some, but the noise on the CD player is very noticeable especially in quieter passages. It's a high pitched whine that increases with RPM.

I'm two hours from the dealer, but will need to take a day off to take it there for the trunk recall. I'm just hoping that someone else has had, and been able to fix, this problem.

 

We have recently discovered that the TSX head unit is noisey for sure! It puts out something like 1.5-2.5VAC from the rca conversions. This is what you're hearing.

Certain amps can filter this better than others and have less motor noise.

The best solution to date seems to be to add Ground Loop Isolators in line with the RCA's. This helped mine out and now I only have minor motor noise when my volume is on zero.

Someone else also said that it seemed like the more stuff you put between the HU and the amp the better it sounds. So my next step is going to be adding some type of EQ between the HU and amps to see if it cleans it up even more.

You're not alone!

 

Hey, am I reading you wrong or are you saying the output voltage is the cause of the noise?

 

There shouldn't be any AC voltage in a DC system, especially when the voltage is comming from an audio output line.

AC voltage comming from RCA jacks = Bad juju!

 

Err, except for the fact that the audio signal is AC. The low level (RCA connector-ed) wires and your high level speaker wires had better have AC flowing through them or else you have a problem.