I know there's some good car audio guys here, so I thought I'd throw this one out...

I have a Kenwood Excelon KDC-X659 head unit installed, along with a KW 50x4 amp and a PAC SWI-X controller. In the last month or so, the head unit has started to attenuate (mute) itself on a somewhat regular basis. It will also un-attenuate itself if left alone. The frequency varies, sometimes once an hour, sometimes it'll do it as fast as I can unmute it. It has been installed since last summer, so it's a new problem. Also, I have tested various things, and it is definately within the head unit. My alternator is pushing sufficient voltage, I can block the PAC off and it still does it, and the head unit is displaying that it's muting (i.e. the amp isn't shutting down).

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

 

Alternatively, does anyone know of any good car stereo forums? I had a couple bookmarked but they were lost in the last windows reformat.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by WestSideBilly
[B]I know there's some good car audio guys here, so I thought I'd throw this one out...

I have a Kenwood Excelon KDC-X659 head unit installed, along with a KW 50x4 amp and a PAC SWI-X controller.

 

Does it have a separate mute lead? If so make sure it is not contacting ground or power.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by matrix
[B]Does it have a separate mute lead?

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by matrix
[B]Does it have a separate mute lead?

 

I'm not sure about all Kenwood models, but I was told "Kenwood doesn't have hard-wired ATT leads". True? or False? (I know - doesn't do jack to help fix WSB's problem)

 

My head unit doesn't have a hard wired mute lead.

The Mute button shuts the entire unit down with the PAC.

My faceplate is a flipdown that has never been removed, so I don't believe it's a case of bad contacts.

 

just glacing at this sounds like you should send the unit in for service. Excelons have a 2 year warranty

 

dirt and dust can still get in there and the brass/copper contacts can still tarnish from humidity... while i'm not promising that this is your problem, it could possibly be and is a very minor investment in time to fix...

realistically, it's probably something internal that is much more serious fix... send it in for service.