Help with factory head unit volume decreasing

Greetings, thought I would throw this out to the experts and see if this has come up before.

I upgraded the Entune non JBL system in my 2020 Taco to the following:

Kicker front & rears
Subaru tweeters
JL audio stealthbox
Rockford Fosgate PM1000x5 amp

I have the factory head unit, and used this adapter:

$58 Add An Amp Amplifier Adapter Interface to Factory OEM Car Stereo Radio System for select 2018+ Toyota Vehicles- Add Subwoofer Bass Amp - No Factory Premium Amp- Vehicles listed below

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087Z1794K?ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

Everything works and plays fine with one exception. Every now and again, the volume level goes down, and it only plays at mid level when I have it turned to max. If I shut everything off and restart the car, it will return to normal volume levels. This will happen sometimes in the middle of a song, all of a sudden, volume goes way down randomly.

I checked to make sure the autolevel setting on the head unit is turned to off. I am playing songs via youtube from my phone, and have ensured that the phone volume is turned all the way up. All other settings seem to be ok. All the amp settings seem to be in order with the gains, crossover points, etc. Does it make a difference if the car is running or not, some sort of battery saver feature?

Seems like the two likely culprits would either be the head unit adapter or something in the amp, but I don't know how to isolate those or diagnose, short of replacing them.

Has anyone else experienced this, or any other ideas what it could be? Very frustrating!

 

I'm interested to hear the answer as well. It sounds like an issue with the amp-on trigger wire (usually blue?), like a bad connection that breaks when jiggled or something.

 

What do you have the auto volume set at?

 

Ok that sounds like something easy to check. I could try recrimping the connection to the adapter.

So if that lost connection, the system would revert to head unit power?

 

I have the auto volume set to off. Should that be set to high?

 

Also one thing I should point out, the adapter has a gain switch inside. I left it set at the factory setting, as I'm hesitant to mess with that and send a bad signal to the amp/speakers. But that wouldn't explain why it is changing from high to low.

 

If your budget allows. Maybe look at an audio control LC2i or one of their other line level adaptor. You could return what you have ans get a cleaner signal from the Audio Control unit

 

No, you’d just have no sound if your amp turn on wasn’t supplying 12VDC.

I’m inclined to believe you have a voltage drop, or resistance on the ground, ie. check your power connections.

 

Not familiar with that audio control. Do you know if you have to splice wires, or is it a plug and play? Only reason I'm hesitant to change this adapter out is because I also have the anytime camera setup, and everything plays nicely together.

 

So I went ahead and pulled my radio and cut the remote turn on lead and crimped them together again.

I actually went two hours driving around and had no problems, and thought, holy shit that's it. But then I parked and it happened again.

However I now think it has something to do with the bluetooth connection and/playing the songs from Youtube. Because I closed the youtube app and tried it again, and the volume came back to normal.

So the next step is trying a different/more reliable source. Going to try the radio as well as a USB stick. If it does it with those, then I know it is still a hardware issue within my system.

 

Interesting. I grounded it with a bolt that was already in place and had two small ground wires going to already right under the driver's seat, towards the front. Do you think that might be causing a problem? Should it have its own ground location? I was trying to avoid drilling another hole in the bottom of my truck.

 

You could look at something like these two items. The first one will give you more channels since you are running an amp to front, rear, and sub. One of the installers on here may be able to give more input on connections. Audio Control has been around for years and is well known in the industry for providing a clean product

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_161LC7IB/AudioControl-LC7i-Black.html?tp=2001


https://www.crutchfield.com/S-wOC70RJ2FAx/p_161LC2IPRO/AudioControl-LC2i-PRO.html

 

Or he could get a T-Harness because...

 

Bingo. There you go

 

No I would leave it off. Definitely sounds like there's some kind of issue

 

I’ve been planning out my audio upgrade recently and have decided on going with the LC7i. Currently, when you turn up the volume on the head unit, it decreases the gain across different frequencies to protect the sh!tty speakers it came with, the audio controller will tune that out. Also, it provides the convenient way to get RCA cables to the amp, and multiple of them at that so you can have different sound zones/levels. To install this bad Larry, you need to cut the speaker input wires (leaving them as long as possible) and direct them to the audio controller. Then you have the RCA Cable to the Amp. Finally you wire the amp to your speakers. Unfortunately this is not as simple as the plug and play, but from my understanding, and I am not an electrical or sound engineer, this is the proper way to get the best signal to your amp using the factory head unit. Good Luck.

 

You never have to cut anything, there are adapters/connectors you should always be using instead of damaging the vehicle harness at all.

About this fascination with Plug and Play a lot of you guys seem to have. It’s lazy. Stop making it a priority to not have to put in any effort, you’re consequently making the wrong compromises.

 

Good to know. I have not done my install yet but assumed you would have to cut a few wires. Thanks for the input. I would agree that putting in a little extra work is worth the return.

 

Well you are paying for someone else's ability and time invested to solve a problem. Take the anytime backup camera harness for example. It would have taken waaay too much time and effort (for me anyways) to try and figure out how to get everything to work instead of buying the plug and play harness. Just have to figure out the value of your time and what you are willing to pay for.

Now I agree that in the case with the add a amp harness, you are making compromises with using the thin factory speaker wire for an amplified signal, and any limitations with the head unit.

 

You misunderstood what I was really referring to, I’m talking about Powerbass speakers, Subaru tweeters, OEM+ systems etc. I’m not talking about buying necessary harnesses and dash kits, speaker wiring adapters, OEM USB/GPS/AUX adapters etc.

“Plug and Play PLUG AND PLAY!!” It’s wearing me the fuck out because there’s so much better to be had, and for some reason people are more than willing to give that up for mediocre easy to install equipment.