So I got a Kenwood ddx271 stereo installed at Best Buy today in my '11 Maxima. When I turned on the unit I immediately noticed static coming from the speakers with the volume at 0. When the music/radio is turned up loud enough it drowns out the static, but it's very annoying having this constant static noise if say I'm driving and not listening to anything.


I went back to Best Buy and they pulled it apart to make sure it wasn't a wiring issue (which I assumed it was). They're telling me that it's the factory amp that's causing this? They blame the Nissan amp, saying that it is amplifying/producing this static noise from the unit.


Does that make any sense? I think they just don't know what they're doing, so I was wondering if anyone has heard of anything like this or seen this problem before. I also called Kenwood who said what Best Buy is saying could be true but they couldn't be sure without seeing it themselves.


*edit: I saw in another Nissan forum that the harness used by Best Buy could be the issue? I don't have the model of the harness here but when they told me last week it said it was for my year Maxima? Maybe it's just a crappy model? I don't know

Found out the model of the harness, was a Metra 70-7552. I called Metra and they confirmed that harness should work for my vehicle and should not produce a static sound. They suggested trying a Metra 70-7553 with ground loop isolators. Trying that next, and will post results in case anyone in the future comes across this same problem.

 

That's unacceptable, but I'm not surprised. If the you didn't have that issue before....something is not right with the HU, adapters, or the install...

 

Got an update, I called another Best Buy and luckily stumbled upon someone halfway knowledgeable. He immediately knew what the problem was and said it was because of the harness. Apparently the metra 70-7552 harness interfaces with the Bose amp poorly, and makes the amp too loud so you get static and possibly other issues.

He said I needed this harness (aamp of america inc 011 -peripheral premium output converter) to fix the issue. It's a little pricey, $55 through best buy, but it did the job!

 

That's good to hear!

 

Glad you got that figured out. I also had an aftermarket head unit installed at best buy and heard the static at 0 volume. I never did anything about it though. Maybe that's what is wrong with mine.