Audio Systems: No sound, stereo head unit, aiwa cdc

Question
I have had an Aiwa CDC-x217 head unit for fives years and it neve rlet me down until the other day.  I was listning to music and all of a sudden the music stopped.  Smoke came out of the vents... everything still turns on, just no sound.  I replaced the fuse inside the head unit and still nothing, what do you recomend?   thank you

Answer
Hello,
Smoke is bad. You said the smoke came out of the vents which implies that there was a short behind the stereo head unit and not from the stereo. Be carful where there is smoke there is the possibility of being shocked or burnt.  Fueses are in place close to the battery so that any short after the fuse will result in the fuse being blown and the wire will then in theory not turn into a long smoldering knife cutting through plastic and other wires and shoring out everything it come in contact with. Disconnect your battery and check behind the stereo for any melted wires. If you see a wire with no plastic on it at all that one is usually the knife. You might want to take your vehicle to a professional and have him but a fues in line.
Good luck.
Anton,