Audio Systems: No sound, premium system, wire harness

Question
I bought a used 95 grand am with an aftermarket cd player already installed, it worked great for about 5 months, until recently when there has been no sound at all.  If you put in a cd, it spins it and seems to be reading it, and you can change the station on the radio, and I've even uninstalled the radio to check the harnessing on the back for fault.  I can't seem to identify any problem with the radio itself, except that if you tap on the dash enough, the sound will return for a while, I doubt that a wiring problem in the dash or a problem with my speakers would have resulted suddenly like that.

Answer
Justin,
If hitting the dash and the sound returns, the problem is do to a defective connection. If the sound system in your vehicle is a premium system, the problem may be due to the external amp. With a non premium system you may find defective solder connections on the pins of the internal audio output amp IC's. Try pulling the stereo out of the dash as far as the wire harness will let you and then with the stereo on, tap on the case of the stereo to see if the sound comes and goes.

TOM,
T&D ELECTRONICS
tdeser@zoominternet.net