My subs "pop" when the amp turns off. What is that and how do I stop it?

Sounds like a ground problem. I would check the ground for your amp and maybe clean it to bare metal if it's screwed into some paint.

Maybe related to the same problem... back near the subs I hear a noise coming through them under the base, its almost static. It does not increase with acceleration though, just a constant hissssss. Grounding problem still??

Well I did some work on the ground, ground the paint off all the way to bare metal. No improvement. I still get the POP when the amp turns off, and I also get the hisss through the subs. I know one of you stereo guroos probably knows exactly what is going on, help me out :thumbsup

Usually when you hear a pop when the amp turns off, It's ground related but if thats not it I wouldnt know. The hissing could possibly be rca wire related. Do you have your gain up all the way? do you have good rca wires?

There is no true "gain" on this amp. There is a bass level, I would assume that is the gain. There is also a subsonic filter, input sensitivity and x-over frequency knobs, none of which solved either problem when I played with them. I dunno about the RCAs, they are phoenix gold so I would assume they are decent at least.

Maybe I will try moving the ground to a different location. Right now I have it under the mounting bracket to the backseat, I thought that would be a decent place but maybe I am wrong...

^^^just so you know, a "gain" knob is the same as an "input sensitivity" knob. no biggie, common mistake i thought id point out. ;)

what kind of amp is it? some amps just have really bad turn on/off pop.

try disconnecting the RCA inputs on the amp to make sure the signal isnt being passed on from the headunit. if the pop stops when you do this, look for a bad ground on the headunit. if it continues, that pretty much tells you its a problem relating to the amp.

Thanks, I didn't even think about it coming from the HU. I will try that tomorrow, if not I am going to move the ground.

Thought I would bring this back from the dead. I haven't moved the ground, but I have taken off the RCAs and neither the hiss nor the pop went away.

The amp is a phoenix gold, so I would hope it would be decent enough to not pop like that. I still haven't tried moving the ground, any suggestions as to where to try next? Ive got it under the rear seat mounting bracket right now.

Sounds like an internal amp problem to me. PG is good stuff though, but you never know anymore..Your grounds are fine IMO. Where is your amp mounted? Or is it mounted? I know I have heard of problems with that type of noise, if the amp is screwed down to the metal of the car itself, it grounds the amp frame to the car, that it can cause issues. Just something elso to try i suppose. Most new amps have insulated outer casings though...

The amp is mounted on the back of the backseat. But you are right, there are rubber inserts that go in the mounting holes. I did happen to buy the replacement guarntee so maybe I will take it in to have it tested or something. Thanks

You have never told us what type of headunit you have. That could be the problem in this situation. If you are using the stock head unit, with the infinity amp, that could introduce the turn-off pop. You could also be backfeeding to a stock amp, if you still have one in the car.

There are a few things that you can try to do to test the problem. Does the pop happen only when you turn off the car or whenever you turn off the radio? When I'm diagnosing problems in a system, I need to have specifics as to when the problem occurs.

I'll try to give you some solutions, but give us as much info about the vehicle, headunit, system diagram, wire guage, etc.

Thanks in advance!

The headunit is a Alpine model 7894. The amp is a Pheonix Gold Qx300.1 mono. Both power and ground are 8 gauge wire. My ground is less than a foot long and is running to the rear seat mount. Power wire is fused less than a foot from the battery. None of my wires have been spliced, cut, or anything of the sort. I couldn't tell you what my remote wire is, it just came with the kit. RCAs are phoenix gold as well. The popping occurs whenever the amp shuts off. So it does it when the I turn the car off as well as when I turn the radio off. It cannot be the amp because it has done the same thing with both amps that I had hooked up, and this is the second set of subs I have had hooked up. So here is what I know:

1) It is not the headunit unless the noise is coming through the remote wire. The pop still occurs when I have the RCAs unplugged from the amp.
2) Its not the amp itself. The pop occured with both amps I have tried, and at different wattages.

Take a look at your ground wire that goes from the neg battery terminal to the driver fender there. Check to see how it is. If in doubt, find another black 8 gauge wire and wire it from the neg batt terminal to the fender, using a good bolt, and file the paint to bare metal where the wire contacts the fender. See what that does. It could be related to your remote turn on wire also. Try this also. Take off your remote wire off of the amp. Keep the car on and radio off while you do it. Then turn on the radio. Now take a short piece of wire and jumper it from the positve battery connection on the amp, to the remote terminal, to turn on the amp. The amp will turn on. Now take off the jumper wire and the amp will turn off. See if the amp pops then. If it doesnt, then it is something with the headunit's turn on wire..could be the headunit itself that is the problem. The HU's output for remote turn on may be bad or weak.