Speaker randomly fades out

[NightScreams 10+ year member]

Fronts are JL C3-600's powered by JL XD 500/3. HU is Sony BT *something.

Anyway, this is a recent issue, my left speaker will randomly fade out quickly till there's no sound and then come back on at a random time...usually later after I start my car. It can happen when I'm sitting in a parking lot so movement is not a source. it may fade back in within seconds or minutes or not until I later get in my car to leave. Completely random. I tried turning the HU off and powering it back on but didn't change.

I'm confident it's not the wiring, used good quality all copper speaker wires and silver cladded copper triple shielded rca's. Terminals and contact grease. I think it may either be the HU or amp. Any ideas on what may cause this?

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[C1500martin 10+ year member]

1. possibly headunit. to test this go to radio shack or something and get a 3.5mm to rca cable hook up iPod or whatever and test it that way.

2. possibly have jacket inside the speaker inputs. my dumbass personally did this last month, thought my amp was faulty only to find out i had speaker jacket inside the amp and the actual wire was barely making contact lol. noob mistake

 

[NightScreams 10+ year member]

Oh my system has been setup for a year now so it wouldn't be a jacket. This issue just occurred in recent weeks. Usually wire issues don't fade the sound until it's out then later fade in all while the car is sitting still. That's when it usually happens, in the morning while sitting in the parking lot at work with the volume low.

I suppose it could be some issue with the passive crossover but most electronics either just work or they don't.

I thought about swapping the RCA left/right and see if the other side fades out. , if so then it wouldn't be the amp. I wouldn't mind as much if it's the HU cause I never cared much for it.

 

[gstokes]

Fronts are JL C3-600's powered by JL XD 500/3. HU is Sony BT *something.
Anyway, this is a recent issue, my left speaker will randomly fade out quickly till there's no sound and then come back on at a random time...usually later after I start my car. It can happen when I'm sitting in a parking lot so movement is not a source. it may fade back in within seconds or minutes or not until I later get in my car to leave. Completely random. I tried turning the HU off and powering it back on but didn't change.

I'm confident it's not the wiring, used good quality all copper speaker wires and silver cladded copper triple shielded rca's. Terminals and contact grease. I think it may either be the HU or amp. Any ideas on what may cause this?

I seriously doubt there is a problem with the JL amplifier or component speakers, it could very well be a problem with the H/U such as a weak or failing transistor in the output stage or just as simple matter of thermal breakdown.

I would bypass the amplifier and hook the speakers directly to the head unit and see if the problem persists, the best way to find it is through process of elimination..