Why is my music cutting out at volume over 20?

Question

I am running a Pioneer head unit, two Alpine amps -- one for each of my two Pioneer subs, and a capacitor. When i turn it up over 20, the music cuts out and it appears that the head unit "resets," it shuts down then comes back on. I tried unhooking both amps, including the RCA wires, and it still did it. Whats the problem?

My car is a 1995 Mitsubishi 3000GT SL

Answer 1

I don't think anyone has noticed yet that it's your head unit shutting down, even when the amplifiers aren't running. That tells me that you need to look at the head unit wiring, not anything to do with the amplifiers, capacitor, or subwoofer impedance. Your head unit controls the rest of the system so if it shuts down, so does everything else.

From the symptoms, it sounds like a power wiring problem at the head unit. There are two wires to check: the black ground wire and the yellow constant power wire. If your ground wire is connected to the wire harness, try connecting it to a solid metal part of your dash or firewall. Make sure that you don't have a loose connection anywhere on the yellow wire.

I don't think it's a speaker wiring problem. Usually a Pioneer head unit with a shorted speaker wire will just shut down the internal amplifier; it would stay powered and your subs would keep working but your front/rear speakers would shut off. That doesn't sound like what's happening here.

If you have a digital multimeter available, e-mail me and I can give you some more specific troubleshooting ideas.

What kind of vehicle is this?

Answer 2

Most amplifiers employ a protection circuit designed to shut the amplifier down before internal damage can occur. This protection circuit can be activated by any of the following:

The input sensitivity (gain control) may be set too high. Try reducing the gain to see if the amp still goes into protect

The amp may be getting too hot due to a lack of adequate ventilation provided in the installation. Check the temperature by holding your hand directly over the amp - if it is too hot to touch, it is too hot to operate reliably. Try to mount the amp in a location that has better ventilation.

The power and ground cable to the amp may be too light of a gauge, preventing the amp from getting enough current to provide its full output. Check the size that you installed against the manufacturer-recommended gauge, normally listed in the owner's manual.

The impedance load connected to the amp may be below the minimum allowable - normally 2-ohm for stereo operation and 4-ohm for bridged "mono" operation. This could be due to too many speakers connected in an inappropriate wiring configuration, such as two 4-ohm speakers wired in parallel connected to the bridged output of the amp.

A short on the speaker wires also creates a low impedance condition.

There may be a defective speaker connected to the system, causing the amp to shut down to protect itself from damage. Try disconnecting all speakers, and test the system - one speaker at a time.

Answer 3

Well from what it sounds like, your amps have a power cut-out safety feature. Check your fuses and all, I mean ALL, of your connections first. I had the same problem, but I had a friend of mine look at it, and together we figured it out.

Also, it could be the fact that you are draining too much power from your battery. And in all actuality, unless it's a big cap, like around 5 farads, I've heard they are useless. So, needless to say, get a hi-output alternator or another battery. If this doesn't help any, take it to a Car Audio shop, they'll be more than happy to help you, and I'm pretty sure (I've done this... in a way) that if you ask for help, without actually "asking for help", they might give you the info you need to fix it yourself.

Answer 4

It's your head unit not your AMPS. Sounds like some speaker wires are touching each other or metal.