rrobe53

I've had a 2015 GT with the non premium radio for around a month now, and I had a subwoofer added aftermarket. Since I've got it I've had a weird issue with the subwoofer. I'm no audio expert, but I don't want to take it to the dealership and have them say it's something besides their stuff and charge me. I bought the base model GT with the intent of switching out the radio to an aftermarket system once the kit is available. For now, I'm stuck with Sync.

Some facts

• The subwoofer is a 12" subwoofer sitting in my trunk, with the amplifier on the back of the box. I have wedges in there to hold the box in place, so it doesn't slide around.
• The bass is being fed off of my rear left speaker.
• The aftermarket shop has replaced the subwoofer and the line level converter.
• I primarily listen to music over my phones Bluetooth using spotify, and the Sync app for spotify. In doing such, I've noticed that sometimes the time of the song resets randomly and doesn't match what it actually is on the phone.
• Treble/Mids are turned up, but Bass is set to +0.
• Occupancy mode is set to optimize all (I have tried optimize driver with the same results).
• I don't know the technical term, but the volume adjustment based off speed is turned off. I have tried it on and the problem is the same.

What I've observed.

• The issue appears to happen near the beginning of the trip. If I go on a 2-3 hour trip, it'll only happen within the first few miles of my house.
• With the sub being fed off my back left speaker, I've set the balance and fade to that speaker and observed the problem happening without the speaker dropping, so I don't believe the speaker is the problem.
• When it drops out, it's usually on city roads, 25-45 miles per hour, and pretty close to the start of the trip.
• Drop outs usually last anywhere from 2 seconds to 30 seconds. Frequency and duration appear random.
• Drop out does not appear linked to a certain part of a song. If it drops out, and I start the song over, it will play through the same part of the song with bass the second time.

Perhaps unrelated issues, but related to radio

• When I plug my phone into the USB, it initially takes a while for it to start charging, quickly cycling from charging to not for a few minutes until it starts.
• I have a USB drive with a few songs on it and I believe it does it with that too, but I primarily listen to my phones audio. My intent is to try my tablet, and the USB device, and radio to see if it continue with those devices.
• The mobile apps, Pandora and Spotify, randomy disappear from Sync Media, and I often have to go back and resync them. This is a pretty consistent issue.

rrobe53

Mistake in the original post...

I've taken it to the shop a few times that did the work, they've checked the connections and replaced the amp and the line level converter. To my knowledge, that's all they've done. Subwoofer is still the same throughout all this to my knowledge.

jz78817

what is turning on the subwoofer amplifier? is it auto sensing the input, or are you triggering the remote on wire?

rrobe53

The amplifier green light is on regardless of songs actually being played or not, so I don't think it's input sensing, but I could be wrong.

Also, here's a video of the amp falling out. Notice the green light on the amplifier go out when the bass vanishes. https://goo.gl/photos/SiCu3oPGbLBawoQt5

jz78817

then ask the shop who installed it how they wired the amplifier to turn on, otherwise we can only guess what's wrong. and don't bother taking it to the dealer, aftermarket equipment isn't their problem and they won't touch it.

but here's a guess- if they used the "Amp enable" output from the factory radio, that line is only 5 volts DC and the aftermarket amp might need the usual 12 volt remote wire to stay on reliably.