3rd Gear
Quote:
I upgraded the entire stereo system except the stock head unit. I have the 10 speaker system, but upgraded all speakers to Polk 4 ohm, with the Integral Audio sub system in the back. 1 4 channel amp and 1 2 channel amp to push all the door speakers. Both are Kenwood.
Here's some info that may help us figure this thing out...
When I was first installing everything, I didn't have the gain controls setup yet and it was getting some distortion, and with any kind of moderate volume, it would cutout and die, until I restarted the car (resets the stereo somehow). After I set the gains properly on the amps to get rid of distortion, I thought it fixed it, but still, at any kind of high volume, it will intermittently cutout and I have no sound until I turn the car off and "reset" the system. It's intermittent in that sometimes I can crank the bejesus out of it, and its fine, but other times, it will cutout.
And on at least one occasion, it cutout simply by plugging in the Aux cable to an iphone! no sound ever came out except a slight blip thru the speakers. I haven't tested the radio yet, but all my tests have been with an apple device plugged in.
All 3 amps in the car die at the same time, so its not an amp overloading. the factory amp has been removed from the car. I'm getting the audio signal from the front and rear speaker inputs that were going to the stock amp, and using a RCA converter cable to run RCA cables to each amp.
I'm pretty convinced the stock head unit is setup to cutout the audio when it sees some kind of distortion (even though it sounds crystal clear). I just can't figure out how to correct it!
To test this, try setting your amp gain really high, so that it will distort on purpose, and slowly crank the audio. I bet it cuts out on you.
Cut out like that still seems like a power problem....fuses tend to trip rather than blow when they are over loaded.Originally Posted by stylin99
I am having this EXACT same problem with our 07 MCS system. I'm so glad I'm not the only one with the problem because I've been so fed up with trying to find it. It only happens at high volume just like yours, but here's my specs.I upgraded the entire stereo system except the stock head unit. I have the 10 speaker system, but upgraded all speakers to Polk 4 ohm, with the Integral Audio sub system in the back. 1 4 channel amp and 1 2 channel amp to push all the door speakers. Both are Kenwood.
Here's some info that may help us figure this thing out...
When I was first installing everything, I didn't have the gain controls setup yet and it was getting some distortion, and with any kind of moderate volume, it would cutout and die, until I restarted the car (resets the stereo somehow). After I set the gains properly on the amps to get rid of distortion, I thought it fixed it, but still, at any kind of high volume, it will intermittently cutout and I have no sound until I turn the car off and "reset" the system. It's intermittent in that sometimes I can crank the bejesus out of it, and its fine, but other times, it will cutout.
And on at least one occasion, it cutout simply by plugging in the Aux cable to an iphone! no sound ever came out except a slight blip thru the speakers. I haven't tested the radio yet, but all my tests have been with an apple device plugged in.
All 3 amps in the car die at the same time, so its not an amp overloading. the factory amp has been removed from the car. I'm getting the audio signal from the front and rear speaker inputs that were going to the stock amp, and using a RCA converter cable to run RCA cables to each amp.
I'm pretty convinced the stock head unit is setup to cutout the audio when it sees some kind of distortion (even though it sounds crystal clear). I just can't figure out how to correct it!
To test this, try setting your amp gain really high, so that it will distort on purpose, and slowly crank the audio. I bet it cuts out on you.
stylin99, thanks for the reply! I will check out mine and let you know what happens.
Gentlefury, in my case, the 1 Farad capacitor is supposed to help with the draw on the stereo. I will say that I don't know exactly what power level would demand a second battery. But only 250W?
Gentlefury, in my case, the 1 Farad capacitor is supposed to help with the draw on the stereo. I will say that I don't know exactly what power level would demand a second battery. But only 250W?
6th Gear
250w is ideally only 20A or so on 12v, no need for another battery or a cap. I am anti caps but that is a whole other story. I think the alt is 105A, assuming the car should not consume 85 to run it is not a typical lack of power issue like a high powered stereo would draw.
3rd Gear
Quote:
After spending some more time with the car, it "seems" to only do it when using an iphone as the Aux source through Line-In Jack. I can't get it to do it with my iPod Classic even at insane volumes, so maybe the iphone is more prone to causing this issue. It still only does it at really high volume, so we just avoid the Nosebleed decibals and we're fine.Originally Posted by JumpingJackFlash
stylin99, thanks for the reply! I will check out mine and let you know what happens.
Revisiting an old issue, I decided to just upgrade the entire system. This, of course, turned out to cost more than anticipated. Started with a wire loom from http://www.newministuff.com/ that allows using the MFSW controls. That, unfortunately, went from MINI to MINI power. So, when I bought an Alpine CDA-9885 unit (brand new off E-Bay), I had to still splice it into this loom.
The factory BMW/MINI changer does not mate up with the Ai-Net bus Alpine uses, and no one makes an aftermarket cable to convert it. So, I picked up an Alpine CHA-S634 CD/MP3 changer. I also bought one of the Alpine adapter plugs (KCE-236B), only to learn later it only works with 2008 and later models (the CDA-9885 came out in '07). That required me to get an Alpine KCA-410C V-Link distribution unit.
So, a quick $200 job turned into a $500 overbudgeted project. But, I have to say, it was worth it! Even though the factory deck is Alpine for MINI, the aftermarket one offers superior sound all around. The only functionality I lost was the volume level dimmer/mute when you come to a stop at a light. You can check out my personal garage for more details and pics.
I no longer have a cut-out issue. My conclusion is the factory deck cannot handle the power past a certain volume level. As I mentioned previously, the deck in my old '02 MCS had a volume peak built in, so it never cut out. The other change, of course, is the subwoofer amp has its own dedicated pair of RCA connectors on the head unit; I am no longer using the ones I spliced into the rear speaker wiring.
The factory BMW/MINI changer does not mate up with the Ai-Net bus Alpine uses, and no one makes an aftermarket cable to convert it. So, I picked up an Alpine CHA-S634 CD/MP3 changer. I also bought one of the Alpine adapter plugs (KCE-236B), only to learn later it only works with 2008 and later models (the CDA-9885 came out in '07). That required me to get an Alpine KCA-410C V-Link distribution unit.
So, a quick $200 job turned into a $500 overbudgeted project. But, I have to say, it was worth it! Even though the factory deck is Alpine for MINI, the aftermarket one offers superior sound all around. The only functionality I lost was the volume level dimmer/mute when you come to a stop at a light. You can check out my personal garage for more details and pics.
I no longer have a cut-out issue. My conclusion is the factory deck cannot handle the power past a certain volume level. As I mentioned previously, the deck in my old '02 MCS had a volume peak built in, so it never cut out. The other change, of course, is the subwoofer amp has its own dedicated pair of RCA connectors on the head unit; I am no longer using the ones I spliced into the rear speaker wiring.