Are you using the factory antenna? If so try unplugging it and see if the problem disappears.

 

Try unplugging the antenna from the back of the radio and see if the problem disappear.

 

Mine did the sAme thing I bet if you disconnect the driver side speaker wires the problem would go away

 

I have tried it with the antenna disconnected. No change.

 

Thanks for the input. Since it does this only while running and goes away if I pull the unit out of the dash and about 8" away, it doesn't seem like a speaker issue.

 

If you can hear the tunes, the exhaust/engine is too quiet.....

 

Not if your wife is not a car person, you're driving through the desert at 117 degrees and you're running the a/c. Yeah, been there and done that.

 

Nope...I said all to the front- then just the left- so only one speaker is playing (left front)at a time- in your scenario two speakers were always playing...

 

Yet- you have done nothing to test whether or not it is a speaker problem..and in a nutshell- that's your problem. It could be as simple as the when the radio chassis is grounded- hits the metal behind the dash- then the speaker short is no longer isolated...amps sees a ground- heats up and shuts down...

If you want to solve it- simply get a speaker you have laying around- an old home speaker will work fine- only wire it to the radio-disconnect the rest of the speakers- toss the test speaker on the driver seat and drive around- I can almost guarantee it won't shut down- unless the radio has a bad output.

Richard

 

I checked each speaker individually and the problem is the same as long as the unit is within about 8" of the dash, I disconnected all speakers and used a different one. Same. I connected a ground directly from the battery to the stereo chassis. Same. It is all dependent on distance from the dash. It does the same with either unit which is easy to check since they have the same plug). One of them was brand new. When the radio is in place, there is no metal it touches except the mounting bracket around it.

 

Looks like CoolShark gave up on this 2 years ago!
Yet I see several others that are (have been) experiencing this same phenomenon on this board - including me.
Somehow, I think the proximity issue of the head unit in the dash ("within about 8"") is related to the airborne electrical interference I've been picking up in my engine compartment.
Coolshark - Did you ever figure this out????


My Retrosound new head unit cuts in and out only when the engine is running.
I replaced a severed engine/starter ground to frame, and replaced and already-new alternator (under warranty) thinking those were causes, and no change.
Stereo works fine (FM, Bluetooth, Aux-in) with the engine off, but seems to start cutting in and out (total audio cut-out - not whine, and not power outage) when I detect the alternator voltage starts measuring "choppy", spiking around between 12 and 18V on my portable meter.


Would love to find the silver bullet on this one!!

 

Do a google search "retrosound problems"- it's not the car- it the radio.

I worked back in the day- installing car stereos to put myself through college- worked about 10 years for Kenwood and then several years for other Manufactures in the 12Volt industry.

Hundreds of thousands of radios were sold- very few had problems- and not just Kenwood- but Alpine -Pioneer -JVC. None had as many problems as the Retrosound's seem to have.

To me- it sounds like poor-cheap circuitry- no shielding and overall a bad design especially w/ the USB cable.

On their website they try to blame it on the vehicle-they KNOW there is a problem....

From their website-

Radio cuts out when the vehicle is running-

There are five main issues that cause this problem:

Poor ground or shared ground with other electronics. Move the ground to a clean location or ground the radio directly to the negative battery terminal. Check the ground from engine to firewall. Install a ground strap from the engine to the vehicle chassis.
Ignition voltage is erratic. Test to make certain both power sources are good. Use a digital multi-meter, not a test light. Make sure both the RED ignition and the YELLOW constant do not have spikes or drops in voltage when the engine is running. The radio needs constant voltage of between 11 and 14.9 volts.
USB cable routed near or over ignition or high current wiring. Make sure the USB cable(s) are not wrapped up with the ignition harness and are routed away from the vehicle’s ignition switch. Do not coil extra USB cabling.
Old vehicle wiring. Remember that, in most cases, we are dealing with vehicles that are over forty years old, with forty year-old electrical systems. Older ignitions -- such as Lucas wiring -- and many other older vehicles simply need to have updated plugs, wires and caps installed. Solid core spark plug wires offer almost no resistance to RF interference; braided plug wires are best.
RF (radio frequency) interference caused by HEI or MSD after-market ignition systems.

MSD: make sure main control box is isolated from the firewall (MSD ignitions come with rubber boots for the module. Make sure to use them!). Also make sure it is not sharing the same ground point as the radio. An MSD 8830 ignition coil filter is often effective at isolating the RF interference.
HEI: if your ignition is too advanced it will cause premature spark, creating RF interference. Adjust the ignition so that it does not fire prematurely. Some vehicles with HEI ignition need RF shielding on the ignition part. Another alternative is to put shielding -- such as ferrite coils -- on the radio’s USB cables.
Inspect HEI: check for cracked or loose distributor cap. Check for carbon build up. Check rotor for burned black spot on wiper, or for pits in the surface. Test the coil to make sure it is functioning properly.

Because our radios feature an external USB cable on a three-foot umbilical, the USB cable itself can act as an antenna for RF interference. Some vehicles simply either have too much RF interference or other wiring issues to be able to use a unit with external USB inputs.

 

Thanks Richard.
I likely have 2 of those potential causes at least.
I just installed a new HEI system including distributor, Moroso wires and new AC plugs, gapped to the larger .045".
And I also am reading a voltage output when the alternator is running, that is erratic (As described above and in another specific thread as "choppy")