GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I just bought a 2004 with the moon and tunes and I'm getting a hiss / static sound coming from the tweeters on the doors, also some hiss/static from the other speakers but is is low. I get the hiss with the radio off and even when I turn of the car I get the hiss for about 20 seconds or so. Any ideas what this is.

ave you checked any ground wires to see if one may be loose. or there may be a cross-wire.

I bought my 2006 Vibe two months ago, and it has the Monsoon 6 CD changer, and I get the same hiss you do, except you can not hear it when it is off, and it sticks around the whole time when the radio is on. Nobody has been able to figure out what is going on with it, so I know your pain! I will keep watching this post to see if anybody helps you out... Good luck!

when you rev up the motor does the hiss get louder or a higher pitch??

This has been an issue since the 2003 models.It's just the design of the audio system. Nothing can be done to correct it.

Silverhawk7 - If that question was directed at me, no it does not get any louder. I just can't believe that this is still an issue 4 years after the Vibe hit the market!

I was actually was directing it to any of you, (Sorry, I have been under the weather). Because I had a similar problem with my friend's 2002 Trans Am with the Monsoon system in it, some days it would whine, others you would get a pop from one of the mid speakers, the dealer ended up replacing the AMP and that fixed the whining sound, but the pop is still there to this day...but with these cars, i guess it could be anything, I do have the sun and sound in mine and i will have to listen up close to hear if i have anything coming out of mine.....

Yeah, my hiss really bugs the crap out of me. I turned in a Saturn Ion that had a cleaner sounding stock system than this! I thought about getting a new HU, but I like to maintain a stock appearance. I'm hoping that this is an issue with the amp or something, and I might be able to make it go away...

I bought a new 2006 with sun & sound (Monsoon 7 speakers and 1-cd) 4 months ago. I immediately noticed the speaker hiss once I relaxed after the purchase and stopped paying attention to motor and road noise. I hear the hiss no matter what radio function I am listening to: radio, CD, or AUX for iPOD2CAR that I just installed today (and yes, the hiss was there before the iPOD2CAR install).This hiss is at a constant level no matter what the music volume (so it gets drowned out with high music volume), except when I turn the volume to zero... at the last click of the volume knob turn to zero, the hiss disappears. It returns once I click back up. I hope this info helps with diagnosis from anyone,... or just commiseration with others here.

Just got the car back from the dealer. They checked all the vibes on the lot and they all do the same thing. Service said they were shocked that this is the first time they heard of it. They had no fix but said they will keep an eye out if they come across one. This just sucks. I beginning to hate this HU. First the hiss and now I can't get any kind of a direct connect for my iPod (6 CD indash). Thanks for all the help.

It wouldn't help. I have replaced my head unit, and the hiss is just as bad.

I would say the speaker wires are unshielded and running with the electrical bundles and they are picking up feedback from the electrical system.

Good Point.....Riddle me this......Has anyone tried it in just the accessory mode and not with the engine running....I keep pursung certain things until i have exhausted all possibilities...

Confirmed. Hiss exists in both accessory mode and with engine running. Also, it comes from all speakers.I'm a newbie... Are there any options for shielding the wires? Is this really feasible as all the wires are bundled? Are there any "shielding" products available if I went to effort of isolating the speaker wires to shield them? Would this turn out to be a nightmare project?

Therica! You have described my issue to the last detail. So, I will say, "yeah, what Therica said." I will keep coming back to this thread to see whether or not anybody has an answer about shielding, because I am a newbie myself - yet, if an easy and cost-effective solution presents itself, I'm in!The previous comment about a whole dealer lot of Vibes, and potentially all Vibes with stock HUs, having this problem baffles me. Especially with Moon & Tunes, and Sun & Sounds being SELLING points. I guess they were hoping that drivers would have their sun/moon roofs open to drown the hiss out!

I always just figured it was dirty amplification... Since the radio doesn't really have line level outputs, that leads me to belive it is amplifying the signal once at the radio then sending that directly to the amp to be amplified again. Garbage out of the radio --> garbage into the amp --> even more garbage out to the speakers... If the white noise from the stock setup is bad, wait until you hook an aftermarket up without a speaker level converter between the radio and amp.

Don't get your panties in a bunch guys ( been dying to use that line for a while), this isn't a problem exclusive to the Vibe. My G6 exhibits a noticeable level of hiss at lower volume levels. I've just always assumed that Delphi hasn't learned how to make a decent audio system yet. Don't get me wrong, the sound is overall pretty damn good for stock -- but the hiss does get irritating. Thankfully, it's only really noticeable during audio silence, when using Onstar, or when the volume is very low.

what is everyone talkin bout?? I hear no hiss from the speakers.... Maybe it's the ringing in my ear that is covering it up LOL I think the stock M&T system is very good.

"I hear no hiss from the speakers."Try turning the radio on with the engine off and adjust the volume to the lowest non-zero setting (single bar on the display). I hear a faint hiss under that condition, but it's normally drowned out by other sounds while driving.It's not something that is going to bother me, but I agree that it shouldn't really be there.

I hear nothing at all from my system either. I have tried it with the engine running and with the engine off. No hiss at all on FM or CD. There is a little noise on the AM band, but I think that is typical of all AM broadcasts. I'm wondering if this problem is affecting certain production runs. My Vibe was built at NUMMI in February 2006 and no hiss at all. I almost think this could be solved by tweaking the gain controls on the amp, but without taking the amp apart, that's not going to happen.

Has there been a thread about opening the amp to adjust the gain? I am willing to try anything, because I do believe the hiss coming out of my Monsoon system is a lot more than normal. It sounds like I am listening to old dubbed cassette tapes in middle school when I have the volume at two-three bars and beyond.Separate question: the first bar of volume does not produce any sound, but when that second bar comes, the music is LOUDER than it should be. In other words, I can not simply listen to music at a low volume, I am forced to listen to my music at what would most likely be 4 or 5 bars, instead of 1 or 2. Are these issues related? Help me, genvibe, you're my only hope!And, if you can't tell: I am picky as hell!

I will take my amp apart this weekend and try to simulate what you guys are experiencing. If there are adjustable gain controls, I will post info on how to adjust them. If the weather cooperates, I may get to it sooner, if not then this weekend when I can use a heated garage (in-laws house).

Sadly I doubt Delphi builds their amps with any sort of adjustable controls, even inside it. I suspect it's all just "there."

As Ed McMahon would say, "YOU ARE CORRECT!"Considering how each car will have the same radios, the same speakers, etc. all they really have to do is take the specs of it all and figure out what values of components they need in the amp. Since everything will be the same, I guess in theory there's no need for adjustments. There will be some deviation here and there, probably not major and that's with anything.I figured there was a reason I keep all this Vibe crap here at home... I just took apart the amp I have laying around. No user adjustible parts inside!

Attached files

Here is the backside of the circuit board (faces up toward the seat cushion when the amp is installed in the car.)

Attached files

I have a feeling you're right about that, but it's worth a look.

Colonel, you have put an end to my weekend project! That would have been a waste of time, not to mention cursing while being frost-bitten! Thanks for posting the pics...

Wow, welcome to circuits 101, todays lesson is the simple 2 channel amp. It doesn't get any more bare bones than that. Thanks, Colonel, saved my 41yr old back some grief this weekend. I thought there was a DSP chip in these systems, if so, it must be installed inside the HU.