Alpine Head Unit Issue/inquiry?

[turbo39151]

I have this inexpensive Alpine deck that is probably about a couple years old and recently it started acting weird. If you took the volume to the 20 level it would seem to "skip" almost like clipping but not cutting off... It seems almost like when you listen to the radio and drive through an area with bad reception that it comes in and out...

I pulled the deck and all the connections are perfect. I pulled the speakers and the connections had a little corrosion. I cleaned them but nothing changed. I replaced the speakers to see if it would help. Still nothing. I went back to the amp (an older Orion 5 channel) and turned everything down just to try and rule it out... Didn't really help much.

Is this deck FUBAR? We had swapped it in from an old JVC which finally crapped out. I have a Sony and a Pioneer in the other cars and they've never had issues. I went with Alpine as I thought it had a good reputation for quality over the other brands. Was I mistaken? In the even that the deck has to go, what is a good recommendation? I need front and rear speaker pre-outs as well as a sub pre-out. CD player and some aux input is ideal.

This is for a dd car, not a tr.

Any input is appreciated.

 

[garyk1970]

The unused speaker wires on rear of stereo are insulated so the dont touch each other or ground?

 

[garyk1970]

Preform a voltage drop on amp while playing music at a higher volume...

 

[turbo39151]

I'm pretty sure I always terminate the unused speaker wire and wrap them in electrical tape to prevent them from touching but, I will pull the deck this weekend and double check.

How do you perform a voltage drop on amp? Voltmeter to the rca ouputs?

 

[garyk1970]

voltmeter on amp at pos and neg connections...shouls be battery voltage no less than a volt...

 

[turbo39151]

So, I should be at 12-14v at the amp? Anything under and what? My power wire is not good enough or my grounds are weak? Are the pre-outs bad on the head unit or is the amp going bad? If one of the components is going bad, is there a fix? Or is it time to replace? (Bear with me and the stupid questions- this is all new to me)

Reason for all the questions is that I did nothing different. I had the old JVC with the amp and no issues. I swapped in the Alpine and no issues until just recently. So, I am under the impression that one of the components in the system are starting to fail. Just don't want to replace stuff if I don't have to.

BTW, thanks for all the assistance.

 

[garyk1970]

Voltage drop through the fuse holder at battery is most common.....if voltage is low, then see if the ground or hot is at fault.dont worry about the remote turn on at amp....
2nd common issue is bad/shoted speakers or wirring.....ohm each speaker lead set at amp...look for 4a ohms...unhook at amp for accurate reading call me for better advice....

 

[turbo39151]

Awesome info. Thanks again. I will definitely check this out this weekend when I have time,light, and good weather to do so.
I am a little confused on the second part though..
"Ohm each speaker lead at the amp"- "Unhook at amp for accurate reading"-- Am I testing the rca's from the head unit? Or am I simply testing where the speaker wires leave the amp to the speaker? (or both?)

I may end up having to contact you once I jump into this. What's a good number and time to reach you.. (don't want to bother you when you're busy) You can PM if you you'd rather.

 

[garyk1970]

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