Thread: When I raise the volume the sound gets 'choppy'

I recently installed subs and an amp in my car and I'm having sound breakups at higher volumes.

Car: Nissan Sentra 2002

Subs: Two 12" MTX 4500 series
Amp: One MTX Thunder 600XD amp
Speakers etc: Stock speakers and stock head unit


I'm pretty new to the car audio scene, and I actually set all of this up by myself using instruction manuals and some online guides, so there are bound to be noob errors.

The only unusual thing I've done in the setup is get the amp input from the rear speakers directly as opposed to tapping into the head unit. I've also disconnected the rear speakers entirely, which means that from the head unit I can fade from the subwoofers in the back to the stock speakers in the front.

When I start raising the volume and the music gets loud, the sound starts getting clipped; the louder I go, the longer the bits of chopped sections. The clipped sections of sound are generally 1 second long and 2 seconds apart.

When I fade to the stock speakers while this is happening, the problem goes away, when I fade toward the subwoofers, the problem gets worse.

Based on my experience, I believe it might be either the stock head unit or the stock speakers, but I can't imagine how that's physically possible. There is also the unusual amp input from the rear speakers, but again, I cannot imagine how that could possibly cause this problem.

I'd also like to avoid buying a new head unit and new speakers at all costs, because I know that once I have spent hundreds more doing that, the clipped sound problem will be sitting right where it was, laughing in my face. So buying more stuff will be my last resort.

Also, feel free to ask about any extra specs, like what different wire gauges I used between different components... since we're here: 4-gauge power into the amp, 4-gauge amp ground, 12-gauge amp subwoofer output.

If anyone could offer any insight I would be greatly appreciative.