Thornton.

There are two reasons to bypass the amp.

1. If one is trying to diagnose a problem,
bypassing the amp would eliminate or
confirm a problem in this component.

2. If one is trying to mask a problem,then
bypassing it will do just that.
Since an amplifier amplifies signals wether
it is music or noise,to the amp it doesn't
make a difference.Thus bypassing it will
reduce any noise that is present.

I presume that you didn't have this noise with
the Alpine HU and I'm sure it was hooked up
the same way the new HU is?
If a relay is the problem then you would've
had the same problem with the Alpine HU.
But since the only change made,is the HU,makes
me suspect a bad ground more then a relay.


An other possibility is that the HU is faulty.
Checking this is easy,the installer just has to
hook up a different HU.
If the problem goes away then the HU is the problem.
If not, then the HU is not at fault.


"I am assuming I will get more power, and better
sound with the amp."

It depends on the power of the amp,I don't now the
power rating for the stock amp but most new HU's now
have atleast 15W RMS X4 and this might be just as
much as the stock amp.

It sounds to me that the installer doesn't have
much experience if it takes him multiple days to
diagnose a problem.
I hope he isn't charging you labor for all those hrs.


Louis.