Is my car stereo head unit fried?

Car stereo trouble - Amp, head unit or speakers? Help!!!?

• Okay so my power protect light keeps flashing at low to medium volumes. I have a 500W MAC amp. I have a Kenwood cheap £100 4X45W head unit. It's 3 years old now. I ahve 1 base tube that was fitted with the amp. Now here's the difference..... I use a Sony Connect pod in my head unit with a tape adapter. The pod has 2 audio output settings. Line Out & Headphones. On the line out setting pumps out the music in a rich format that has a 25% increased fuller sound. So now at lower volumes like 15 out of 35 (on the head unit) the power protect switches off the amp. It will kick back in after 20 minutes or the next journey or even the next day? Why??? I have tried another bass tube from my wife's car and the system still cuts out - so i figure its the amp or head unit.... Has the head unit had some transistor wearing down thing? or has my pod damgaed the amp?? I have been told i could get a head unit with a pod adapter to plug straight in. Any advice.. .thanks.

• Answer:

  To me it sounds more likely that you have a bad connection in your amplifier wiring. Check your battery connections, fuse and fuse holder, and most importantly your ground. At least 80% of all audio problems lie there. Make sure your ground wire is connected securely to bare metal (scrape the paint away) and preferably use a bolt with a lock washer to secure it from coming loose.