Sound Fading w/ New Subwoofer Install

[jeffyjeff]

Hi, new here. Been a long time car audio enthusiast, and I have ran into something I've never seen before. I have a Toyota Highlander with a stock stereo, aside from upgrading 4 of the speakers. I bought a Rockford Fosgate powered 12" Sub/box and installed that by running wires from the back passenger speakers to RCA jacks and running the proper power from battery and ground, etc. Everything worked fine for well over a year, but I was never happy with the weak subwoofer so I decided to upgrade to a SKAR 12" in box and amp combo. I really thought this would be a simple install because I already have to proper wiring.
What is happening: I have never seen this before, but now when I have my radio on and everything seems to be working fine, at random my stock radio will go silent, like if someone was turning the volume knob to zero, and it will stay like that until I turn my car off and back on. There's no clipping or anything that indicates something is wrong. One thing that clears this up is pulling one of the RCA jacks. When I first installed this new subwoofer setup it worked fine for a good hour while I was adjusting the amp.
Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.

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[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks

I have read that some OEM radios need to have a predetermined speaker resistance to function. Rockford Fosgate probably takes this into consideration during R&D; I assume particularly in their loaded enclosures. A separate amp sub combo would not have such a feature since it is assumed an LOC would be used.
This is theory based on your observation that all works well when the RCAs are unplugged.

 

[jeffyjeff]

I have read that some OEM radios need to have a predetermined speaker resistance to function. Rockford Fosgate probably takes this into consideration during R&D; I assume particularly in their loaded enclosures. A separate amp sub combo would not have such a feature since it is assumed an LOC would be used.
This is theory based on your observation that all works well when the RCAs are unplugged.

Would a powered Converter help this?

 

[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

Would a powered Converter help this?

Yes. I have installed some passive LOCs that claim that feature.
Wait, that sounded too reassuring. This is just theory.

 

[jeffyjeff]

Yes. I have installed some passive LOCs that claim that feature.
Wait, that sounded too reassuring. This is just theory.

No worries. That's a fairly cheap item to try.