Head unit quiet when connected to amp

So my old amplifier died (from the wires going to the subs shorting out) and I'm replacing it with a Kenwood KAC-9152D (head unit is a Pioneer DEH-8500MP). Before I was using a converter that was spliced into the rear speakers to give the amp the signal, but I decided to run RCA cables this time (connected to the RCA jacks from the head unit labelled Non-Fading / Subwoofer Output).

The issue is that if the amp is not on, sound comes out of the in car speakers (as it should), but once the amp turns on (when the car is on) no sound comes out of the speakers in the car anymore. I don't know if the head unit thinks it shouldn't power the speakers if it can sense something connected to the RCA outputs, or if it's a grounding issue (I didn't check the ground cable connected to the amp (left over from the old installation), maybe it's loose?), or something else entirely.

Anyone have any ideas?

check ground cable. because if it is bad than your amp will be pulling ground from the rca's plus with out going nuts pull radio out and and run a pair of rcas over the seats then turn all on. check again. also if you have any other rca wire connections on the back of the radio like a rear output try connecting to that. if you amp has two sets of rca connections on it make sure your plugged into the input side. check remote cable from shorting out.

do a complete check, if all fails than your radio is probably bad. check internal radio settings as well.

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Jon
Installer/Help Technician
---coral springs florida---
mecp certification is not always needed. I have it and it has not helped me out at all. my experience out shines it.