This May Be Stupid

[smicky]

What the!!!

that's dam loud for a standard factory system...

You may be running speakers with are asking for to much power from the ICC/amp mod...

Therefore causing the HU to drop the volume as a power protecting... If you are running a 2 ohm or even 4ohm speaker it will have a greater level of THD then a 8ohm at the same level (15/18 or whatever on your HU) however the volume will appear to be greater... a 2ohm speaker will ask the amp to work harder then a 8ohm... therefore causing greater THD at the same level (as explained above)...

if your using a MP3 player to feed the ICC as your source component, make sure the volume on the MP3 player is turned all the way up... again this may cause THD from the MP3 player if this is the case turn the unit down a few points...

As mentioned above turn the CD Compression and Power Limiting off, but keep in mind it will allow high THD levels to still power your speakers and by doing so you run the risk of not only blowing something, however it will just sound SIMPLY SH!7...

You havent mentioned if you are running your tone levels flat either (bass and treble...) or if your using the 'loud' function as well... this may be over driving the system and therefore causing the protection circuit to kick in...

You may find you will enjoy your system more if you turn the volume down, and increase the bass and treble slightly, however keep in mind if you do this, not to turn the volume up to high as it will again cause over powering issues and THD...

Its recommended to pick a set of speakers that you like the sound of - when and where the system (amp and ICC/HU) are feeding a 'flat' signal to the speakers... this will give you a better sound, lower THD, and closer to original recorder sound...