yeah thats what i figured. maybe if it were a cheap deck from a really garbage company i would understand 3 years taking its toll, but then again head units may or may not be a strong point for pioneer.

as for what you said SheHateMe, i've got a 1.5 farad cap and i've found that it helps compared to how bad my dimming was prior to installing it, but there is still a noticeable dim. i think thats why you see guys selling 5 and 10 and 15 farad caps and claim to have no dim whatsoever, all those extra farads mean extra energy stored and available, but then the problem arises of how that energy is replenished, and thats why people say its just a bigger strain on your alternator and or battery. even though i haven't done it yet, i think the best thing is to install a second battery. the isolator though i think is really only if you plan to run your stereo with your engine off just to make sure you have enough power to start. if that it was you are worried about then really i don't see the problem in just getting a booster pack and driving with no music on your way home to charge them back up

 

upgrade the power and ground of the HU. helped in my case since it was skipping on bass notes. AND i hot glued the cage to the kit and made sure that the kit was nice a secure. never had a skip since then

 

Speaking of upgrading the ground and power, how did you exactly go about doing that? I know that you fuse the power wire, and run it straight to the positive terminal of the battery. As for the ground, im not really to sure where you could place that. Just sand a spot and ground it bellow the deck to the chassis of the car?

 

i ran 2 lines of power ( direct and ACC ) for ACC i used a bosch relay. 15amp fuse on the direct line and 5amp on ACC. ground was done right behind the deck ( dash ) where there was bare metal. i grounded the chassis of the deck and the ground on the harness

 

seems a popular solution is buying a JVC? (rumors or truth?)

 

Popular solution to what? What would make a JVC better then a alpine or a kenwood? Are they more efficent decks?

 

hmmm, very interesting indeed. maybe i'll give that a try when the weather warms up and i get some more time away from school

 

beats me they dont skip... so I am told
I have always liked them from an SQ point of view (good while being inexpensive).

 

ok so i finished class early today so after i got out of my parking lot i pulled over and did a washer install red green style using the foam inserts from a stack of cd's. bascially all i did was cut an insert in half and then folded it in half and threaded the screw through it and then put it back in. after i closed everything back up i gave it a run at high volume to see if it would help.......it did! of course its still early so its hard to determine whether or not its only temporary, but i did take pictures lol. here they are, and don't hate on the technique, thats how we do it when we're on a budget aka when school is taking all my money to send me out into the workforce during a severe recession

 

Red-green-red-neck or not - if it works, it works!
And if you can hide the screws and foamies behind a trim plate, then you're golden! No need to make it look pretty if you won't see it . . . That's why I like framing a house, but no drywall mud or trim: it's easy to make things work right and be built strong, but finishing it pretty is not may forte.