Hey guys, I've got a problem, and I think my amp might just be on the way out, but I thought I'd see what you guys think. Also, bear with me, I'm pretty new to audio, and almost everything I mention, my car came with when I bought it.

Anyway, I've been having a problem where music will play for a random amount of time, but then it will start to just cut in and out. Like, you'll hear sound for a split second, and then nothing for about 1-2 seconds... sort of like a skipping CD. Sometimes it will be accompanied by a constant hum, the kind you get when an audio connection is only plugged in half way, if that makes sense.

I replaced my headunit, and its still doing it, so I'm thinkin it's the amp -- I've got a Boston Acoustics GT50 (seems to be a bit older high end 5-channel amp). Oh, when its doing the skipping thing, it will have the fault light on. However, sometimes it will do ONLY the buzzing, and theres no fault light, lol.

The weirdest thing is, if I unplug the sub, and plug it back in, it fixes it.

Any ideas, or should I just pack it in and get a new amp?

EDIT: I should mention: when its doing the constant hum, you can definitely smell the amp overheating

 

amp going into thermal proteection cycle? does the light on your amp change colors when it happens..
a buzzing thru your speakers is a wiring issue, and is either in your signal path wiring outside the amp or it is from a cold solder INSIDE the amp. And that can cause voltage drop and current increase and a thermal cycle.
Or a shorted spkr wire.
OR a shorted voice coil on the woofer connected to the AMP.. see what im getting at?
Go to a shop, ahve it diagnosed and have the item they find faulty removed and bench tested to verify.

--edit.. you said it did have the light on.. pull your amp and have it bench tesetd, whil its out, have them test the impdeance on all the speaker wires goin to it.. i betcha either the amp is toast or one of those speaker wires is going to be a dead short, meaning a blown speaker or x over.

 

At the (obvious) suggestion of a friend, I just ran a new wire to the sub... everything works fine now! Must be shorting out somewhere

Thanks for the suggestions! He suggested it after I pasted him your post, so, good game, sir!