[Wood503]

Hello All, I am currently working on an audio upgrade for my '22 Honda Ridgeline RTL-E. After installing all of the gear, I am unable to get my gains turned up to a level where my music is loud enough without the noise floor becoming present... creating an audible hissing. This hissing is purely created when turning up and down the gains on the equipment and is not changed with source volume (factory head unit). Additionally, there is no buzzing or engine whining. Just a hissing noise floor.

The following is the gear that I have installed:

• Kicker Key LOC (grabbing signal at the factory amp via driver/passenger door speaker outputs)
• Dayton Audio DSP 408 (2 channels in from Key LOC with 6 channels out)
• JL Audio RD900/5 (6 channels from DSP - 1/2: tweeters, 3/4 woofers, 5/6 Sub
• Kenwood XR1701p (running bi-amped through factory x-overs, utilizing speed wire to run outputs up to factory harness in passenger kick panel)
• Factory ANC module removed

Here is what I have done so far:
I have set up the Kicker Key LOC according to their manual. When setting up the LOC, it requires a "gain matching" track to be played and the input gain is set via that process. During this phase I am only able to turn up the input gain to about 5-10% when the lights begin to flash indicating clipping I assume... This happens when the headunit volume is at 15/25/30 out of 40 it doesn't matter. I have tried to turn the factory headunit up over 30 and it begins to audibly clip with popping and crackles from the tweeters. Therefore, I am left with low-ish input voltage (~8V) that I am then trying to boost to a usable level on the backend. The LOC is a 4:11 converter. With the input side set just under clipping via the gain-match processes, and the output gain on the Kicker LOC at ~10% (The point before the hissing is very audible) I am only getting ~2.5V out of the LOC. This gives me enough to work with on my DSP/amp but again it is a battle between bringing up the gains to get reasonable volume without raising the noise floor too much.

After reprogramming the LOC over and over at different source unit levels and input gain settings, I am still left with a high noise floor when gains are turned up enough for a peak listening volume of I would guess (85-90 dB).

I then checked my ground for high resistance. My amplifier, DSP, and LOC are all grounded at the same point. I wire wheeled the paint down to get bare metal but it still has a resistance of 1 Ohm to the battery. My long test leads measured at 0.3 Ohms and the reading was 1.3 Ohms between the negative battery post and my grounding point at the factory power inverter.

Finally, I started unplugging RCA cables and the hissing subsides when I unplug the LOC from the DSP leading me to believe that the LOC or the factory headunit/amp is the source of the hissing. I have tried adding a PAC SNI-1 signal noise reducer inline between the Key LOC and the DSP 408 and it made zero difference.

I have read quite a few posts on this forum discussing high noise floor issues with the Kicker Key products. I will say that the hissing is worse with the auto EQ enabled, because it is boosting the gnarly high frequency roll-off of the factory system EQ. However, none of these issues on other forum posts discuss the KEYLOC specifically. I have also read about people struggling with noise floor hissing with the JL Fix 82/86 in other Honda amplified systems.

I have considered running line level direct to the DSP 408 to see if the hissing persists but I would like to avoid rewiring my amp rack if possible. I could even go speaker level direct to the RD900/5 but running this system without an ability to adjust EQ is an absolute no-go for me.

Lastly, I should add that this is with the gains on my JL RD900/5 at zero - 1/4. Increasing the gains just brings up the noise floor. I have unplugged everything from amp and increased gains to max on the amp and I get a miniscule amount of noise floor increase to the point of being almost non-audible telling me that it is not the amp producing the hissing. I also had this amp in a previous install with an aftermarket head unit and it was silent.

With all that being said, here are the questions that I am left stumped over after calling both Kicker and Crutchfield tech support:

Is my ground with a resistance of 1 Ohm between the (-) post of the battery and my grounding point too much? If so, where have others found successful grounding points with a resistance of less than 1 Ohm? Others on the Ridgeline forum have utilized this same spot with good results. Would a big 3 upgrade help?

Does the factory amplifier need to be loaded with a resistive level lower than 60 Ohms (this is the load built into the LOC) for it to produce a signal with low noise floor like factory?

Are there any suggestions that you all might have?

Here is a photo of my amp rack and how it is wired to clear up anything I may have missed:

Thank you for your time and help... it is greatly appreciated!

 

[Wood503]

I admit I'm not understanding why there is a DSP and passive cross-overs being used.

Thank you for the responses so far. I will begin troubleshooting asap.

I run the passive crossovers as a fail safe. They are bi-amped from the 900/5. This is my first component set while running DSP. Once I feel more comfortable with the tuning, I may remove them.

 

[Wood503]

Alright, I have done all I can at this point and am at a complete loss.

The first thing I tackled was simplifying the signal path to determine the source of the hiss. After playing with the Dayton DSP I began to notice that the noise floor raised considerably once music was playing and was a big source of my problem. You were all correct on it having a high noise floor. This is something I didn't experience when I was testing it on my desktop setup. After removing the DSP from the signal chain my noise floor was reduced while playing music but the baseline hissing was still the same.

I then re-calibrated the KEYLOC with the treble increased on my factory HU and that seemed to make a slight difference. I got it to a point I was honestly content with but curiosity kills...

I chose to try and mount the KEYLOC up in the dash with the factory amp to have the shortest speaker wire run from the amp to the KEYLOC. I then used a middle of the road RCA cable to run to the back. If anything, this configuration was even worse. There was more electrical noise that was likely coming from interference with all of the factory brain boxes stuffed in the dash.

I had to re-hack my wiring that I had just destroyed and replaced the KEYLOC back in the original location at the back wall of the truck.

Finally, I removed the paint on the factory ground point from the negative terminal terminal of the battery to the body. I did the same from the engine ground to body.

All of this has amounted to absolute frustration and defeat. I have been at this since before Christmas and need a working truck again. I will be taking it into a local shop on the 24th to see what they can do. I will report back if they are able to diagnose the problem and what the missing piece to the puzzle was. Until then, thank you all for your insight!

 

[Wood503]

That's kind of to the point where I was, I had the sound manageable, but as it got cold I was getting more interference. That was the point when I pulled everything out and decided to buy a new car.

I'll start again in a couple months.

I was going to try to move the Key to the dash as well and run RCA's back, glad you tested that.

Like I said, my next time I'm going to try a better ground, run the wires in a different location, and get a new DSP (mainly because I want more channels)

The local shop was trying to help me troubleshoot on the spot this afternoon and were the ones that mentioned sanding the paint on the grounds. It'll go in for a big three and general troubleshooting on the 24th. I don't think that's gonna do much tbh and will likely step up to the Fix 82. Others on the Ridgeline forums have no issues with the Fix 82 in the dash and running optical back. Guess that means I'll likely just have them install a JL TWK D8 as well. We'll see what happens at this point.

 

[Wood503]

UPDATE: It's still hissing!

After taking the truck to a local audio shop yesterday, the problem still persists. The shop ended up throwing in a Wavtech LOC just to see if the hissing was still there and it made no difference. In addition, they did a big three upgrade. All of this culminated in no change besides a decrease in my bank account.

After learning this information it has ruled out everything in my signal chain besides the factory amplifier itself. To verify this I hooked up the factory amplifier outputs that would normally go into my Kicker KeyLOC directly to my aftermarket speakers. Surprisingly, there was still a hiss. I'm shocked that I never noticed this hiss on the factory system but it is definitely there. As a last ditch effort, I reinstalled the factory ANC module just to see if that made a difference. The ANC module did nothing.

I guess all of this hair pulling came down to a crap signal... go figure.

With all of that being said, does anyone have any recommendations on how to silence a factory amplifier? Also, as a reminder, this is a white noise hiss that is constant regardless of source volume. I am fighting to get enough signal without raising the noise floor of my system. Any additional thoughts would be of great assistance at this point.

 

[Wood503]

I hope the factory HU isn't my issue as well, but if it is I'm skipping it all together and running a digital audio player directly to the DSP and skipping the whole mess.

Or maybe something like this where I can keep the factory HU and use this just for music... this is probably overkill for what I need though.

Alpine HDS-990

Status Series high-resolution digital media audio source (does not play discs)

www.crutchfield.com

I would love to go aftermarket but the dang radio is so integrated with the functionality of the Honda Ridgeline. I would give up so many features that I enjoy and paid for. Tough decision at this point. I may re-purchase factory components because I tossed them long ago thinking I would figure this out... Might end up living with factory speakers and keep my sub and call it a day.

I ordered some speaker wire to RCA adapters to run the factory amplifier outputs through the PAC SN1 before the Kicker KEYLOC. May solve a ground issue but I'm not gonna hold my breath at this point. Lastly, I'll trace the factory amp ground and possibly relocate it. As I reach the point of trying to revert back to factory, I'm trying to splice and cut into less crap if I can.