Premium Sound system issues
 

Anyone have or had experience with their premium sound system in the 2006 era Vantages have intermittent sound quality and cutting out issues? I think my amplifier(s) may be either loose, or on the fritz. If I brake very hard from speed, stereo will cut out or I will lose the drivers rear speaker sound. Sometimes the whole system will cut out completely. Where is the amp located? I would at least like to check the inputs and outputs to see if there are loose connections or bad wires before I start replacing speakers that sound fine most of the time.

I've read this issue before on piston head, and also experience the same myself before on the standard audio. According to PH, they said if you stomp / kick the passenger side footwell it will knock the audio back, and that is due to a badly designed component in the fuse box in the footwell. Let me find the thread for you so you can see if its the same issue:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=974804

This:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=1123239

I've had this issues for years and I would just sharply raise the volume up and down and the front left speaker would start working again. Those links are great, it would seem it is a somewhat common problem and now I finally have an idea of how to fix it. I've already replaced the speaker and that did not make a difference. Thanks for posting the links!

Lol I do the same thing... crank the volume for a split second to "shock" it back into action. I've been meaning to get it fixed properly but forgot about it since I've barely driven the car since winter started.

Yes, thanks for finding the link I meant to find, but got too lazy :p

Thanks guys! Anyone know if the new switching relay is available? Also, my car does not have Bluetooth, does that really matter. Would love to resolve this issue!

The switching relay is readily available - I replaced mine in October - but if you don't have Bluetooth I would check to see if you even have the module before buying a new one. It's easy to pull up the carpet and remove the cover plate to see.

The floor-stomping exercise should reveal if the problem is the switcher or something else.

Ok, great! I will pull up the floor mat and plate tomorrow and see if I have the relay. Would be great to get the system sounding perfect again!

Readily available from whom? Aston Martin dealers?

I got mine from Lake Forest Sports Cars near Chicago. They had to order it from England so it took a few days. The new module looks different than the old green one.

thanks for the info - need to order one, too. good to know there's an updated unit, hopefully it works better!

My car has Premium Sound and factory Bluetooth. The speakers in the front doors would cut in and out. The center and rear speakers worked fine. I found the Pistonheads thread and stomped on my passenger-side floor, and the front speakers worked for a while, then cut out. Stomped on the floor again, and the speakers worked again. I looked under the floor and there was the old green box for the switching unit. LFSC sent me a new switching unit for no charge, since I had recently purchased my car from them. So I'm not sure how expensive the new switcher is. But it definitely solved my audio problems, everything has worked perfectly for months now.

The old unit is a green metal rectangular box with a wiring harness that comes out of one end. The new unit is a black plastic rectangular box with wires coming out of two ends. It is an easy fix, I just left the failed old box in place and plugged in the new one above it. There is tons of room behind the access panel in the floor, and getting the old unit out seemed like a lot of work for nothing.

Well, I pulled my floor plate up and to my dismay, there is no switching relay, I assume because I do not have Bluetooth. I looked around inside the relay panel to see if there are any loose wires but nothing.

I just re-read your original post and if your back speakers are cutting out then even if you have Bluetooth it is not the problem. The Bluetooth switcher only affects the speakers in the doors.

If the whole system cuts out then the problem lies somewhere that affects everything. Unfortunately I couldn't tell you where to begin to look.

There's a guy in the UK who's posted a lot on Pistonheads and who seems to know more about these audio systems than even the engineers at Aston Martin. His name is James Hawkes-Reed and he works at a company called trackaphone, maybe you can find a way to contact him either through trackaphone or on Pistonheads where I believe his username is "trackaphone".