My friend has been having some system problems. At higher volumes his system would completely shut down. The headunit would turn off and then come back on. His volt meter has never dipped much below 13 volts. He has an alpine headunit with a kenwood mono amp and alpine sub. Any ideas and what is causing this or what could be done to figure it out?

How are the gains set?

If i remember correctly they are set pretty close to max with bass boost high. Bass only hits the levels desired by my friend at these settings. I felt from the beginning that either the amp was clipping but i am not sure if even the headunit would shut out if it was the amp.

If i remember correctly they are set pretty close to max with bass boost high. Bass only hits the levels desired by my friend at these settings. I felt from the beginning that either the amp was clipping but i am not sure if even the headunit would shut out if it was the amp.

You pretty much just answered your own question there chief. Set the gains properly and the problem will most likely go away.

clipping the amp will make the H/u shut off???/? i have never seen that... but then again i never set my gains at max

how is the sub(s) wired to the amp? what size power wire and power potential is the amp?

i'll still wager there is a voltage issue at upper volumes. even if his voltmeter isn't showing it, it could be that the dip is fast enough to kill the system but not register on the dash. put a dmm on the battery, or power terminals of the battery, and turn it up. tell us what the dmm reads when it shuts off.

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