# Sound temporarily cuts out while playing at high volumes



## rabbit (Nov 20, 2014)

When I play music at high volumes, the sound cuts off (gets completely silent) for a little under half a second and then resumes playing. This happens randomly but at least once within a 10 minute window but only when the volume is really high.

First I thought it was the factory amp in my E39 BMW not being able to power the speakers (JL components and coaxials) so I changed out the amp to a Rockford Fosgate pushing out 75 watts RMS x 4 and its still happening. The head unit is a Clarion VX404 multimedia deck. I got a new Bosch platinum battery and my lights aren't dimming so the power is all there, or so it seems. 

What causes the sudden silence when playing loud music?


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## Jepalan (Jun 27, 2013)

Typically it is caused by an amp going into protection mode. Which in turn is caused by improperly set amp gains.

Are any of the LEDs on any of your amps changing state or color when the music drops out?


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## syc0path (Jan 23, 2013)

Could also be a power wire that's too small, a weak ground,a bad connection somewhere, etc. It could even be too much voltage -- if the voltage regulator in the alt is going out, the amp might be seeing spikes of 16V+.

Connect a multimeter directly to the amp's battery and ground terminals and play the music loud. Watch to see exactly what voltage the amp is getting when it cuts out.


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## rabbit (Nov 20, 2014)

My amp gains Are set lower than halfway. I haven't checked to see if any leds Are blinking yet. Could it be the alternator?


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## upgrayedd (Apr 19, 2011)

check your battery terminal. Not sure about e39 but e46 have various issues at the positive battery terminal


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## rabbit (Nov 20, 2014)

Battery terminals Are good and clean. Is there a list of error icons for clarion products because whenever it glitches, this icon pops up for a quick millisecond. I'll try to record it and post a pic or video of it soon


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## rabbit (Nov 20, 2014)

Here's a short clip of it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tezNgi4X1ps
It happens at about 4 seconds in. Sorry video is shaky because I was driving late at night. Didnt wanna wake the neighbors. Looks like a speaker with a red X appears really fast when it happens also..


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## Jepalan (Jun 27, 2013)

The head unit is muting the output because it doesn't like something about the load. 
Check all connections at back of the headunit. 
Check all connections between headunit & amps. 
Could also be a bad ground or a voltage drop issue as previously mentioned.


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## kyheng (Jan 31, 2007)

Get a multimeter, start measuring voltage on battery, engine running then at the amps.


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

rabbit said:


> When I play music at high volumes, the sound cuts off (gets completely silent) for a little under half a second and then resumes playing. This happens randomly but at least once within a 10 minute window but only when the volume is really high.
> 
> First I thought it was the factory amp in my E39 BMW not being able to power the speakers (JL components and coaxials) so I changed out the amp to a Rockford Fosgate pushing out 75 watts RMS x 4 and its still happening. The head unit is a Clarion VX404 multimedia deck. I got a new Bosch platinum battery and my lights aren't dimming so the power is all there, or so it seems.
> 
> What causes the sudden silence when playing loud music?



Please list how your system is cabled/setup. Are you using RCA outputs from the Clarion into the Rockford amp, or speaker level outputs? How about your speakers? Are they connected with passive crossover pieces on the components? Which amp channels are going to which speakers? How about the speaker wiring- are you using the factory speaker wires or did you run new ones? What about the power wiring for the amplifier? What size is the wiring? Is it the factory power wire or did you run new power? And ground?

Is this happening when the car is parked and still, or while you're on the road? 

Once you answer these questions, we'll have a much better start toward helping you solve the issue.

Check all of your connections and re-do them. You may have a loose connection somewhere. Also, just because your gains are at half doesnt mean your amplifier is not clipping. The gain is simply to match the input sensitivity. Once you supply a hot enough input signal from the RCA's or speaker level inputs, adjusting gain higher is a bad thing. For example, with a hot enough signal, you can drive your amp to full power with the gains near absolute minimum.


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

I will bet there is a bad speaker or speakers that are causing the amp to shut down. Either because the impedance is too low or because one or more is going bad. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Valdemar (Aug 19, 2014)

Subd 
Dumb question - is the unit getting hot?


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