WS 420 Problem

[Cam003]

Okay I know this has already been said on this forum before, but I am getting hissing from my eq. and yes I know it’s the eq causing the his because I took it out of the equation by running the rca directly from my deck to the amp and the hissing disappeared. The hissing is not just coming form the tower speakers it is coming from all the speakers in the boat because they all run through the eq. I have done this same test of eliminating the eq to all my amps and it solves the problem. Any suggestions, and no I don’t want to just get rid of the eq.
I have heard of some how grounding the RCAs but I don’t fully understand how and some people say to get all the power and grounds from the same source as the amps.
Could this be a wetsounds defect??? Warranty??? I know there was another person on here with the same problem and it was never said if he found a way to correct it.
Thanks for all you help.

[flaudia402]

I'm not sure how you're set up, but most likely, its the gains on your amplifiers. It seems like thats the number one culprit in hiss being emitted from your speakers. Check the gains on your amps with your EQ connected...turn them down and see if the hiss goes away. On mine for example, if I have the gains on my 850.4 up more than half, I'll get hissing from my towers. If I turn the gains down to the half way point, the hiss is nearly non existent (I can completely get rid of ALL hiss, however this would result in less power being fed to my towers and I can deal with a little bit of hiss for more power, the name of the game).

Look through some of my various threads and Tim from Wet Sounds as well as others have commented on this issue several times. This should solve your problem.

[wetsounds1]

It is called "gain hiss" It is what happens on high powered systems with lots of voltage and improperly matched gains.

As flaudia put it. And experienced as well.

A gain is not a power control. It does not make the amplifier put out more power as you turn it up. The is a huge misconception. As long as the pre amp output is sending good level. The amplifier will put out is rated power. Whether the gain is 1/4 of the way up or all the way up.

A gain is used to match all the amplifiers on the system and to match the input voltage to the amplifier. You are looking for what is called unity.

When you turn the gains up, you are making the amplifier more sensitive to input voltage. So it takes less input voltage to get max output.

So with a stock low voltage head unit. Your gains may be up higher to get max output. When adding a line driver like the 420. The gains will not need to be up as high becuase you are putting into the amp, more input voltage.

The mistake most make is add a 420 or a line driver into the mix that provides high output voltage and do not re adjust their gains on the amps.

An amp that was at max. When the 420 is added, may only need to be a 1/4 to get the same output.

Now add in the fact that you have another set of volume controls. And it becomes a little harder to tune.

I set up a step by step that will help you set up the system.

http://www.wetsounds.com/media/produ...stallation.pdf

Follow that and you will be good. If the volume is not where you want it. Turn the gains on the 420 up. And re do the gains on the amps. If not, turn it up some more etc...

It is a process. There is no right setting. Every system is different. It just takes some time to set everything up.

Think of it like this. You went from a stock car to a hot rod. Hot rods take some time to tune. A high powered system is a hot rod. You need to spend more time on it than a basic system.

Hope this helps.

Tim
Wet Sounds