theripster

no extra amp.... i checked all the connections today. i literally took everything out, wires and all, speakers, head unit, everything... then put it all back in. same problem. HOWEVER, the one and only thing i noticed was that the minotaur is grounded to the chassis rather than to the battery... is that OK?

well, i went through the systems and checked everything, and after taking out the amp, re-installing it and all the wires, it now works flawlessly. i am actually very impressed with the amp so it might have just been a loose connection somewhere, although i still find it weird that when channel 1 would go out, i could make it come back on by flipping the filter slope switch a couple of times... so i truly hope it's not something internally.

the amp was purchased brand new from a reputable company, and they do offer a warranty... so i tried a couple of different things: -with NOTHING plugged in, there is absolutely no noise at all. -with ONLY my JL amp plugged in for the surrounds, there is no noise either. i can turn up the volume from the head unit with no track playing, and no noise. i can play anything at any volume and there is no extra noise at all. i'm actually very impressed with how clean this amp is -with ONLY the minotaur plugged in, i hear no noise, but that's because there's no signal going to the surround speakers. >>> let me add this: i had the sub and minotaur installed PRIOR to upgrading my door speakers, and even when i was using my factory amp and factory surrounds, i had the same problem with the minotaur giving me line noise. so the JL amp is not the cause, as the problem was existant before the JL was introduced. -with both the JL and the minotaur plugged in, i get a very, very loud whining noise. this noise occurs whether the car is fully on, or just the electronics are powered up. definitely not alternator whine -with the ground loop noise isolator plugged in-line with the minotaur amp, the noise is greatly reduced. it is still definitely audible, but it is not the shrill, ear-piercing whine that i hear without the isolator. BUT when i have the isolator plugged in, the sub starts thumping very hard for about 2 minutes when i power up the system i've read in a few places now that people have had bad luck with Zed amps and the line noise... i'm thinking about just exchanging it for a JL HD750/1 i'm going to search for the noise troubleshooting right now... i'd rather find the cause of the problem and fix it as i don't want to go through the hassle of taking everything apart, sending it out, waiting for new pieces to come in, etc. i just want to be done with this mess!

I have a decent understanding of car stereo installation, as I have done quite a few installs myself. So instead of feeling the wrath of the installers, I decided to go through the system and attempt to isolate the source of the noise... Unfortunately, I found the problem... it is definitely the Zed amp! After a while of playing around with everything, I was able to isolate the noise. When the Zed amp is disconnected, there is NO line noise at all! For my components, I have a JL HD 600/4. While that is plugged in, no matter what volume I play music on, there is no whine, no interference, no hissing, NOTHING. When I start the car up with just the JL amp plugged in, it starts up quietly. I honestly can't even tell the car is on because everything is so quiet. Then when I plug in the Zed amp, once the head unit powers on, I get this insanely loud line noise. It sounds like an old-fashioned radio that can't pick up a signal... extremely loud and annoying. This noise occurs when the car is both on and off. Meaning, I can just power up the head unit and the noise comes through, so it is definitely not alternator whine. The noise level/frequency does not change with changes in engine rpm or anything like that. Then about 10 seconds after I power up the system with the zed amp plugged in, the sub starts thumping for about a minute, and then stops.

i contacted JL to see what they say... waiting on their response. it's funny because i did a google search and found a guy on Amazon who wrote a review of the HD600/4 having the same exact problem....

i will report back when i try some of the solutions mentioned... too hot right now here in south FL!!

the problem is that i bought the amp used from someone, because it was in perfect condition (from how it appeared). i actually bought it off another installer who bought it directly from JL. ARRGGH!!! i hate having to deal with crap like this! i just want my damn stereo to work properly!

yes, it is a Pioneer Avic Z150bh... brand new. there's a few guys working at the shop... 2 of them say it's the zed amp, while another says that the RCAs in the Pioneer head unit must be bad... but both are brand new! the thumping came back on the amp. i have no idea what it could be. i think they might have ran the remote turn-on lead from the factory amp to this amp, because i did half the system at a time. first was the head unit and sub, and they wired the head unit to the factory amp, but i had them put in all RCAs for when i completed the second half (another amp plus components).

JL HD 600/4 - Channel 1 does NOT work!! i had all the connections checked and everything, but it's defective somehow. i got it to play after switching back the slope switch a couple of times, and then it would play for a little bit. then there would be some cackling, then the signal would just completely die in Channel 1. i can get it to play for a few minutes if i play with the switches on the amp, but that's about it. has anyone ever heard of this? i had my entire stereo installed by a JL dealer near me

Problems with: ZED Audio Minotaur II - this amp is creating some kind of feedback noise to my entire system... at first, it was terrible. this crazy squealing noise that just didn't stop, regardless if the car was actually running of just had power to the stereo. so i brought it back to the installer, and they put a ground noise isolator (or something like that) in-line for the amp's RCAs. this reduced the noise greatly, but then when i would turn on the car, the sub would just start pounding for about a minute before it would stop. this was regardless if there was any signal coming from the radio or not. then today i brought it back to the installer, and they grounded the RCAs to the chassis, and it stopped the thumping upon start-up, but there's still a lot of line noise. i asked them why it would be doing that, and they said because it's probably made with cheap components... i thought ZED was supposed to be top-notch? any ideas?