Turning on my headlights fixes my speakers?

[Insomniator]

Hey everyone, my car (04 mini S) has an Harmon Kardon sound system with an Amp that is known to commonly fail.

Right now, the driver side speakers intermittently go in and out... hit a bump they go out... hit another they go on... its raining... the go out... its cold.. they go out etc. Can't find a direct reason, just sounds like yet another HK amp dying ($900 dealer replacement part).

Now... If they go out... and I turn my headlights on, the speakers come back on. The only connection to the radio that the headlights have is that the display changes color when they come on (to match day/night) lighting.

Could that have anything to do with the factory amp in the back of the car? A fuse? Loose wire? I don't get what turning the headlights on does to make the driver side speakers come back alive.

 

[C1]

A possibility is that it is not the amp that's an issue, but the audio signal to the amp from the radio/player, so check those wires also. I would pull the audio connectors from radio/player to amp (at the amp) and substitute a portable radio (earphone output) as input to the amp then drive around to hear whether or not the amp faults. (Also it should be possible to check the radio/player output at the amp input using head phones.)

The issue is that some amp circuits energize automatically when a signal is sensed by the amp. It may well be that turning on the headlights supplies energy to the radio/player that becomes communicated to the amp there by causing the amp to energize itself (ie, turn itself on).

Carefully inspect all wiring between radio/player and amp.

 

[LTC8K6]

Ground?

Turning on the headlights might provide or improve grounding?