I installed my trusty Mk 1 into the 97 Civic of my girlfriend. I used a P.I.E. adapter that provides RCA inputs to connect to the CD-changer input on the factory stereo. Everything worked fine until I started the engine (and no, it's not engine noise, read on!)

The empeg sounds beautiful if the engine is stopped and the lights are on (or the defogger or some other 12V load). If I turn the light off, first a slow periodic buzzing starts, very much like an alarm-clock. Then the overall audio seriously degrades and very loud and awful noises start. The same is true if I start the engine. It's as if the empeg gets unhappy if the 12V voltage gets too high.

I tried a ground-loop-isolator from RadioShack, but it actually made it a lot worse. I read the FAQ and found something about grounded connectors for the Mk1 outputs, but I don't have those (bought it used).

Any help?

Thanks!
Armin

I read the FAQ and found something about grounded connectors for the Mk1 outputs, but I don't have those (bought it used).

It simply grounded the shrouds (negative/sleeve connection) of the RCA cables. You can do this yourself fairly easily with radio shack parts.

The problem you're describing still sounds very much like a ground loop, you should go through all the steps in the PDF files linked from the FAQ.

Thanks, Tony!

Yes, that did it. To try, I just put a cliplead from one of the RCA shrouds to ground and voila - perfect silence (emped muted). Just need to make that connection somewhat more permanent...

I can see how a ground potential floating too far out could cause problems, like saturating the inputs to the head-unit...
Armin