Crackling Noise with Sirius Satellite Radio (1 Viewer)

[ron.diamond]

I have a vexing problem with my Sirius radio sound quality that's driving me nuts! Any ideas for fixing the problem would be greatly appreciated.

I use an Audiovox plug n play unit in a home docking unit that I connected to my Elan home sound system. The problem is a terrible crackling noise when I listen to Sirius radio in my home. It sounds like someone's frying bacon in the system - the louder the volume, the worse the noise. I can't figure out how to make the noise stop. Now, here are some additional details...

When I use the system in the car, the sound is crystal clear. Also, if I listen to the unit with ear buds while it's docked in the house, the sound is crystal clear. Therefore, I don't think the radio is the problem. It's only when I connect the system to my Elan system that I hear the "frying bacon".

Lest you think you have a solution already, please read on. I also have a home theatre system, CD player, and FM Tuner also hooked up to my Elan system. None of these sources have the "frying bacon" crackling noise problem. They all sound great.

A few months ago, a friend recommended a ground loop isolator to resolve the problem. It actually worked great - except that the problem seems to have slowly returned. I then put ground loop isolators on the other sources, but this did not help.

I turned the Audiovox system's FM transmitter off. This did not help.

I have an inline amplifier to boost the signal coming out of the Sirius radio and into the Elan system amplifier. I disconnected this, but it did not help.

I have an outdoor antenna for my sirius unit and needed two 30 ft antenna extensions to get from it to my home docking station location. I generally have a good signal at three bars, sometimes two. This doesn't seem to make a difference.

Can anyone suggest what the problem could be and how to make it quit?!?!?

 

[Ernie Estrella]

I plug an external multi media speakers directly into my audio out home dock for my Sportster and it works crystal clear. When I try to tune in with my home theater downstairs, I sometimes get the fuzzy signal. Most of the times you can just tune into another station as the one you've chosen has tendency to pull the info from a strong staion nearby. I've had that static before and just changed the station to something else, retune my other radios and it sounded great.


But for my home dock set-up, just plug some nice speakers you would normally hook up to your computer with a subwoofer set (usually $30-50) and it sounds phenominal. I have no amplifier, and nothing to supe it up any.

 

[ron.diamond]

Thanks for your response Ernie. Unfortunately, I'm not using the FM transmitter in my Sirius radio - I'm using the audio output from the home docking station directly into my Elan home sound system.

I do have a correction to my original post though. I am getting the noise through the audio output. This is different than the first time I had this problem. I suspect a ground loop problem somewhere...

 

[Erick.S]

I hope you get the problem resolved. I don't have crystal clear audio on my sirius unit when i'm in the car because I use the fm transmitter. When people pronounce the letter S it sounds fuzzy and sharp at the same time. Odd. So I understand how annoying a problem can be. Anyway, good luck.

 

[Ernie Estrella]

Erick,

have you tried other blank stations? Sometimes you get a crackle because your car antenna is pulling a local station that's pretty strong, or a nearby station. Sometimes Iget a crackle and then tune it to another station and it comes in crystal clear. I've had it for 5 months now and I get great reception.