stereo cloudy at high volumes

my set is mp3-->clairon eq/line driver--> punch 8002-->boss 530s. i dont use a hu. everything sounds great until i start cranking the volume. the best way to explain it is it sounds like a haze/flim/cloud/ comes over the music. ithe highs are no longer clear. any ideas?

Compression rate?

128 kbs, maybe ill try a higher compression rate. though it seems weird its only at louder volumes, say past mid way on the volume dial. wouldnt the lower compression be heard(or not) throughout at any volume level

i guess its also worth mentioning that itll sound fine for a little while once the volume is turned up but then all of a sudden it becomes cloudy and wont go away unless i stop the song

(Message edited by alanp on April 04, 2005)

Have you tried an ordinary CD? Does it only happen when playing MP3's?

what kind of MP3 player are you using, and how is it connected to the EQ? i've had similar problems in the past using those inevitably cheesy headphone-to-RCA cords. i'm really not sure if it was the cord or the signal from the player, though.

Alan,

Which volume control are you turning up when you go from the clean sound level to the muddy sound level? You may be overdriving either the input section of the deck or the input section of the pre-amp, however this does not explain why it would not clean back up as soon as you reduce the volume level.

To really solve this issue I think you are going to have to do a little more then scratch the surface. You will probably need to do some wire swapping and amp switching to isolate the offending component.

Here are some questions that you should answer to help us help you solve the issue.
1. Does it happen when the battery(s) are fully charged and the boat is running above 1200rpm?
2. Does it happen on all the speakers coming from different amps?
3. Is there a correlation between the sound degradation and amplifier temperature?
4. Are you running all amplifiers within their published impedence limits (ie. no lower then 2 ohm in stereo or 4 ohm bridged)?
5. Are you using high quality patch cables (you may have a capacitance issue)?

adam no i havent tried an ordinary cd since i dont have an extra hu nor am i running a hu in the boat.

trace im using a creative labs mp3. and i am using crappy cables. i have some monster cables laying around so ill give those a go.

mike- im using the volume control from the clarion eq. the mp3 has a fixed output(volume cannot be adjusted on the line out).
1) it happens at all rpms.
2) these are the only speakers i have in the boat. i did have a fosgate p6002 amp in there just a couple of weeks ago and the problem was there(thats why i got the different amp).
3) there is no correlation between amp temp and the problem. it happens on the first song i play (early in the day)well as the last.
4) those speakers are wired at 2 ohms.
5) no im running crappy cables. so hopefully that will solve the issue.

thanks for the help guys. if anything else comes to mind lemme know

You may not have enough voltage coming from your MP3 player. What is the model of the eq line driver? What is it's input voltage requirement? Also, I tried to find the input voltage requirement for your amp online but could not find it.

You just may have a drive voltage mismatch on your hands. You may not be able to turn your line driver all the way up and be clean if the output voltage of the MP3 player is too high. Also, try turning the gain down on your amplifier to see what that does. Also, Rockford is not really known as a good sound quality amplifier. They have a reputation as a good base amp.

Here are a couple things to try.

1. Bypass the clarion eq and plug the mp3 player directly into the amp.

2. If you have a laptop hook it to the system and see if it works better, both direct and through the Clarion.

3. If the unit is like my Creative Nomad, the headphone outputs are a better source then their line outs, should be the other way around but the headphone out was consistently better in different setups, so I just gave up on the line outs. Set all your tone controls on the MP3 player to flat, no bass boost, no increased output.

When testing some speakers recently I discovered the my laptop audio output sounded way better then my mp3 player. Your MP3 Player may not see the load it is expecting so it may be acting funny. You may need to turn it way down or way up then adjust the rest of the system gains to compensate.

rod i have a clarion eqs744. input sensitivity is 50mV-3V rms. i dont know the output of the mp3 player.
mike i do currently use a nomad. ill try the laptop. also try the headphone out.
again thanks