Hey guys, thought if I explained out in detail what is going on with my stereo, someone else might have experienced something similar and have hints.

First off, a girl backed into the side of my car while it was parked (grumblegrumble). I thought maybe some sort of antitheft was activated on the radio due to the alarm since it would not turn on after that. Took it in for repairs they said they'd take a look. Said the fuse was good, but replaced just in case and no idea what was wrong. Still would not turn on at all.

Took the car home and the battery was crazy weak. One day wouldn't turn over at all so I put a recharger on it for about 2 hours maybe? Go to start the car just to take it for a drive and boom! Stereo comes on when I start her up. All settings reset, thought it was new years 2005, but it was working.

Was excited, drove around for a bit. 10 minutes later, stereo dies. Won't turn back on. Figure maybe my battery is just totally KOed and that was the problem.

Got the battery replaced today with a DieHard Platinum (pssshhh) which apparently is warrantied for 4 years even connected to aftermarket radio. I told the guy at sears that was a bold claim. Moving on...

They install the battery, still no life in the radio. On the drive home it comes back to life. Listen to it for the whole 15 minute drive to gym. After I leave the gym, turn on car and the radio is dead again. Drive for about 3-5 minutes and then hit the power button for *****. Turns on. Then dies after 10-15 minutes while driving.

So.... any idea what the problem would be? I don't think there is any power source "Between" the battery and the stereo. If it was wiring I would think it'd either never fire up or be able to turn on all the time. System is about 3 1/2ish years old but not much use as the car only has 14,800~ miles.

I know I should take it to a shop but I kind of want to have an idea what might be wrong so I don't end up buying $1,500 in new amps etc. Sadly I don't know any shops here in south florida that I can trust in the audio department. My guy who did the initial install ended up moving back to Germany.

Thanks

~Josh

 

Maybe you've got a wire shorting out somewhere.

 

So when the radio is not working, is it still lit? Or maybe a wire from one of the amps came loose and it hitting another wire?..

 

No it is not lit, the whole things shuts down. No sound from the speakers period and nothing on the display. Car might as well be totally off . Looks like I am going to have to have someone go digging... I just wish I had a good place to go down here. I kinda feel like going to Best Buy might be a really really bad decision. Maybe I am wrong.

 

Dont go to best buy. I see that your in Palm Beach. You could try a place called Sound America, I believe thats the name. Its on Okeechobee on the south side of the road. I believe that it is between Palm Beach Lakes Blvd and Spencer. Ive heard that they are decent, and I think they have a GTR shop car.

 

Thanks, I'm going to give them a call tomorrow. What's up with audio shops getting their hands on GT-Rs? I hear audio advisors on palm beach lakes has a white one as a shop car.

 

Whelp! Found the problem.

Power supply of the head unit is toast. As usual with electronics, repair is pretty much same price as replacement (sort of.)

So... I'm thinking of replacing my head unit. I liked my Alpine, kind of... a little bit of a pain in the *** to play with the EQ.

What would you guys suggest for new headunits. They were suggesting Kenwood Xcelsion (?) units or Pioneer. He said he would take the Kenwood over the Pioneer all day.

For an idea. I think I paid about 360 bucks for my headunit last time around.

 

the new kenwoods are sweet!

look into the kenwood dnx8120
OR
check out the Kenwood dnx7120

both excellent units and if you dont need navi then just subtract the 0 from the model# and you're good to go

 

Hey man. I'm actually pretty "low tech" in the whole mobile audio thing. I just want something that works as a great CD player/MP3 disk player etc. Flip up screens scare me . Won't use it for watching movies etc. so kind of a waste. But thanks for the model numbers and the fact you like Kenwood. I'm browsing around their site right now...

Anyone else have advice for kind of thing I am looking for? Honestly stuff like Blue Tooth integration etc doesn't matter to me. I just want a quality CD player. All I am going to be doing is putting CDs in there and play with the audio settings. Maybe MP3 flash drives etc. But doubt it. Anything I've needed I've been able to accomplish with a good ol CD-R...

 

well now that you're getting more specific i would definitely recommend the
kenwood ddx712