I've had a noise problem recently (after 4+ years of noise free sound) and was wondering if a headunit could go bad and cause the noise. At first I thougth it might be my amps, but after searching on here and google, I isolated the noise is coming from my headunit. I have an Alpine CDA-7864.

The noise I am getting now is when I turn the key to accessories, the stereo plays without any noise. However, if I skip to the song or disc, I can actually hear the mechanical noises of the change coming through the speakers. I guess it's from the motors inside the HU. When I turn the ignition on but not start the car, the water pump for the aftercooler would come on, and there would be a whine (pretty loud).

I believe the HU has it's own dedicated power line and grounded to the recommended spot. The prior 4+ years I had no noise, only great sound but now it's pretty bad.

Any suggestions welcome.

Thanks.

 

Update. I love my stereo again. It wasn't a HU problem. I moved the HU ground. Didn't help. I tried to move wires around. Didn't help. My RCA cable to the amp is way too long and coiled up (It was like this for 4 years and didn't induce any noise.) so I decided to shorten them. I cut off about 4-5 feet from each RCA cable and resoldered the ends. And that did it. Hiss free, no noise like before. I am happy again.