I have a Kenwood XR400-4 amp powering 4 door speakers and a separate Alpine Amp (I think an M500) powering a 12" sub. Both have power and ground running through a single distribution block which of course is running back to the battery (Optima Yellowtop). The big three upgrade has been done with 0/1 gauge wire.
Intermidently, the music will cut out for a couple seconds, and then the bass continues, with nothing coming from the 4 Channel amp. Sometimes days will go by with no issues. Other times it happens almost as soon as I start playing music. If I turn the car off and on again, it the amp works again, although usually not for very long. There does seem to be some kind of correlation with the volume the music is played at and how frequently it cuts out. That being said, it has also cut out at lower volumes, just not as frequently. When it happens, I immediately stop playing music and turn the volume all the way off, out of fear of breaking something. I let it coninue once because I was curious. The sub turned on, then cut out for a second or two, then came back on, and repeated like this every couple seconds until I finally turned it off again.
At first I thought maybe the amp was just overheating and going into protect mode, but after contemplating for a bit, I don't think that's the case. My reasoning is that both amps cut out at the same time, then the mono amp turns back on. It seems to me that something is interrupting the power to the distro, both amps cut off, but the Kenwood is simply not designed to turn back on automatically, hence needing the ignition to be turned off, then on again, while the mono amp is able to restart automatically. Maybe someone can confirm if that is the case with these particular amps?
I took out the trusty multi meter and checked the voltage with the ignition on at the battery posts, after the fuse for the main power line, after the fuses in the distro, as well as the remote turn on wire. All of them hovered around 12 volts. I'm stuck! Any help is appreciated.
