MY05 Stock Sound System Problems

[cadud2000]

I was driving along and had the music turned up 3/4 of the way up and all of a sudden the music went really quite and a loud scretching and crackling sound started to come out of the back right speaker. I then turned the headunit off and the noise was still coming through the speakers.

So i pulled over and turned the car completely off then on again and the noise was gone.

Anyone have any ideas what caused this? My car was meant to have extended warranty till March 2010 but have been mislead and just found out from the subaru dealership that warranty ended May 2008. The guy I bought it from lied to me about the warranty.

Has this problem happened to anyone else>? how did you fix it? is my headunit or amp going to blow up?

[Ric]

Remind me, is that a McIntosh system in your model?
If yes, the power amp isn't turned off when you turn the head unit off (you can still hear the cooling fan running whenever the car is on).
I'm not sure what would cause that (and I'm an electronic engineer...)
If it's a one-off, I'd ignore it. If it happens a second time, then we'll have to investigate.

[cadud2000]

Yeah its the Mcintosh System. This is the first time The crackling noise was made, but several times I have had it turned up and all of a sudden all the volume of all the speakers cuts down by at least half and wont go back to normal till i turn off the car completely.

Can anyone tell me if this is correct.

I am the 2nd owner of the car, and the First Owner back in March 2007 took the car back to get the steereo replaced by Subaru. Now I have confirmed by locating the extended factory warranty paper work and its valid till March 2010.

But When I called Subaru and told them of the problem I have been having with the steereo. They are now saying they will not even look at it as part of the warranty as the steereo that was swapped into it in 2007 is not the Original Unit and they said warranty only covers the Original Unit and as it was swapped out, means its no longer covered.

Are they telling me BS or is this true? ANything I can do to go around them? I also called the first owner and he confirmed he had the same problem as what I am getting now. So Technicly shouldnt they have to fix it as they took it in to repair it, yet the problem is still there?

[teK--]

you should read the T&C of your extended warranty to get the real answer. FWIW in my experience extended car warranties are not worth the paper they are written on.

[LOWLIB]

hey mate,

how loud are we talking when you say that you have the system turned up? and if it cuts out when you have it turned up does it take a while? eg 30 min or so?

if your running it really loud for a long period of time the stock amplifier could be getting to hot and "clipping" this is reducing the volume so that the amp does not overload with power an heat an melt the internals.

i know that alot of aftermarket amplifiers do this if they are being drawn from hard for a longish period of time.

i am thinking that maybe this is why you are getting this cut in sound when you have it turned up?

just a thought

James

[cadud2000]

That could explain why the music was cutting out. But something might have happened since then inside the unit to cause the scretching noise. I am hopefully changing the whole sound system in the next few months so guess I will just see how it goes and leave it turned down.

[Drew]

Take the car to Jeremy Elliot (Service Manager) at Mentone Service, and explain the situation to him... If anyone knows the extended warranty terms, it will be him... I'd previously have recommended Vin at STi, but he's no longer there...

Jezza is ex-STi, and established the service centre at Fountain Gate...

Otherwise, go and see Sam Jessop (Service Manager) at Glen Waverley - he's also ex-STi...

Do NOT go to Docklands downstairs, as you'll get the runaround...

[cadud2000]

Thanks Drew will give it a shot.