Jonathan Metherell (jonm):
One more question though. They hooked this new gear into the old amp and speakers. The deck actually turns itself off if I crank it loud enough. Is this a safety feature so I don't blow the speakers? When the volume gets up to 27 it shuts off and then turns itself on again 3 seconds later. Most decks arn't that smart
. The reason it is shutting off is most likely due to the facts of
-Thermal (deck IC overheating)
-Voltage (depending on the gauge wire they used to power the deck, it may be too small and the amp is trying to compensate by pulling more current because the smaller gauge wire has higher resistance and allows less electrons to flow. When that happens the voltage drops a bit on the deck and causes the deck to go into protect because it is overheating)
You can still easily blow speakers. Distortion kills speakers, not power. Your deck doesn't put out much power at all. Most likely 15-17 watt RMS that is usable. I laugh when I see them advertise their max ratings 55X4 or more
Turn it down a bit to a level so it doesn't keep cutting out and you should be ok. If the speakers don't sound good and it sounds like its distorting or unclear turn it down so you dont wreck your speakers.
If you want it louder your best bet is to run an external amp on them. It will provide alot more clean power to make your speakers more enjoyable.