Car Stereos: 04 sliverado speakers cut in and out, fuse box, d test

Question
Ok so i have an 04 silverado 1500 ext cab with a bose system. Now the head unit is fine stays on works perfect but the speakers cut in and out and they will do it at random. Sometime when i roll up the windows they will turn back on or if i slowly turn the key, and sometime when i turn the lights on and off they will turn on and off. But for the most part they stay off while I'm driving until i turn the truck off and mess around with the ignition for a little bit.

Answer
Hi Miles,

I don't have a definite answer for this problem, but I'd suspect the factory amplifier--especially if all the speakers are cutting out at the same time.  Your Bose amplifier is located under the center console storage compartment.

If I were troubleshooting the problem, I'd get to the amplifier and do some testing with a multimeter.  Obviously, it would be best to do the testing during a time when the speakers aren't working.  First, I'd test for DC voltage at the amp's power wires; the main power wire is orange, and should have voltage at all times, regardless of key position.  If there's no voltage here, there may be a problem with the power supply--maybe the amplifier fuse is loose in the under-hood fuse box.  If there's power, I'd test for audio on the input lines, using the meter's AC voltage setting.  An audio signal will show as AC voltage on a multimeter, and will vary with the volume of the music. (Might help to have a portable radio playing while you're testing, so you can hear what should be playing on the truck's radio).  You can test the input wires coming from the head unit, and the output wires going to the speakers; if you see an audio signal on the input wires, but no signal on the output wires, that's a pretty good indicator of a bad amp.

Hope this helps!

Brian