I have a stereo that includes a 5-channel amp running one 12" sub and four 6.5" speakers. Everything was working fine a couple weeks ago when I tested it. But, now after I took the boat out once, the sound is aweful. It's really muffled and it cuts in and out. It almost sounds like it's not getting very much power too. Does anyone know where I should start looking for problems at? I have checked the power and ground wires already. The power light on the amp comes on like it should. I don't know where to go from here.

perhaps there is a short with the speaker wire somewhere and the amp is in protect mode?

The amp has a light on it that tells it if it's in protect mode and it isn't on. I messed with it again today and can't figure it out. It worked fine before I took the boat out the first time. Now the sound is just aweful. It's crackly, muffled and then it seems to even dim more as it continues to play. Also, this happens no matter if the boat is running or completely off, so I know it's not interferance from the motor, etc. Any other ideas?

Check your ground

plug an ipod or laptop directly into the amp to see if it's the head unit or amp. My guess is that it's not the head unit. The other recommendations are right on... shorted speaker or bad ground.

Mikeski, <BR> <BR>How exactly do I plug a laptop directly into my amp? I don't have an ipod, so i can't do that. Thanks for the help.

Is it possible to run an amp off a RCA converter. For example, i have a headphone jack to RCA converter, if I plug that in the RCA input of an amp will it recieve the same signal or whatever it recieves, will it be the same as the one from the head unit? If there is no head unit involved and the amp remote is run in line with the amp power, I know you will have to continuasly unplug the amp from the batt. or put a switch in the remote wire. Anyway, to make a long story short, will an MP3 player run a stereo?????

Any cord for hooking a device up to stereo or even a common camera/vcr adaptor will work. Just has a headphone jack on one end and RCA's on the other.

Justin how old is your head unit? I had a similar problem with my system. It sounded real good when I first installed, but 1 day took it out and it sounded like my amp was only putting out about 20%. Changed the head unit and man what a difference. Went from 2 2 volt outputs to 3 4 volt outputs and it sounded great. I was actually suprised at how big a difference a good unit can make.

My head unit is a Sony CDX-MP80 and it already has 4V outputs. The sound is not only not very loud, but it is "crackly" and muffled and fades in and out.

You have a great head unit. Has it gotten wet or setup all winter in the weather or subject to continous moisture. Good luck! <BR> <BR>MikeSki I never knew about the laptop thing thanks.

Well, I did what MikeSki said to do and hooked my laptop up to the amp today. Every channel did the same thing and sounded aweful, so now I know it's not my head unit or RCA's. It almost sounds like there is interferance, but I don't see how there could be because it doesn't matter whether the boat is on or off. Is there any way I could get interferance from something even when the boat is off?