I finally got around to having my amp swapped out because two of the channels had gone bad (right out of the box this way) and caused most of my problems. The amp is a 4 channel Pioneer that ran about $129. It also has RCA outputs which allows me to run my Bazooka amp and subs off the back of it. On the way home from the shop everything is sounding great....then all of the sudden all 4 speakers cut out and all I can hear is the bass from the subs in the back. After a few seconds the speakers would kick back to life and this continued throughout my 20 minute drive home. Turn the car off and wait a few minutes...try it again and now I've got nothing coming from any of the speakers/subs and just dead silence. Does it sound like the amp? Must be a defective product for two of them to go bad like that after only a short time.

The head unit is a Pioneer AVH-p4000dvd
Speakers are inifiniti reference series
5 Farad Capacitor
Pioneer 4 Channel Amp from Circuit City
All New Speaker Wire
Bazooka Amp and 2 10" Bazooka Subs

 

Could be the amp, but sounds like a wire shorting out somewhere. Take it back.

Why do you have a 5 Farad capacitor?

 

Got a nice deal on it.

 

Can you put the amp and sub in someone elses car to see if you experience the same thing? It sounds like a speaker wiring problem with your interiors. I would ensure that you are properly and cleanly wired from front to the amp.

If the amp will turn back on, let it play for a bit while sitting still. If it doesn't happen again, it's likely a loose component on the amps board or a loose speaker connection shorting on something.


Check your wiring from front to back with a continuity meter while shaking things up a bit. Look for opens.


Oh, and lose that capacitor. It's a gimmick and just another load on the system. Upgrade your alternator.

 

Cool... if you were running 5000 watts. IIRC, for those who believe in them, you use 1 farad for every 1000 watts.

Ditto to what Phreak said. Ditch it. Unless you want it for looks... in which case unhook it.

 

Sounds like the amp is overloaded and going into protection mode. Buy or borrow an ohmmeter and verify the impedence on each channel. You will need to disconnect and test each pair from each channel. If you have less than two/four ohms on a a channel the amp will may shut down. An uinballaced.load on the front or rear channel will do the same. Extended use may fry the board or internal external fuse. Id recomend ebay for a old school. Fosgate 100/200 or better an original lanzar brute force - been running one for 15 years in 1 ohm stereo with a nail in the fuse slot.

 

Also start by making sure the "gain" (screw adj on input side) is set on the low side . Turning it up to high will make it louder but to high and auto protection mode. If no luck look for a bad ground or a short circut like DV and PH suggest