I have a 97 Explorer with the JBL soundsystem. While driving home own
day, I heard the bass drop out and I was left with only treble. Shortly
thereafter, I noticed the car was getting harder to start and then
finally would not turn over at all.  I bought a new battery and not to
long afterwards, the battery died again. When I took it in, I mentioned
that I thought it might be the alternator but the shop tech said it the
alternator was fine. He traced the drain on the battery to the
radio/JBL system and pulled the fuses for both. Since then, I have had
no radio but the battery has performed fine. I am tempted to go and get
a new radio however, I don't want to run into the same problem again if
it turns out to be a larger problem than the radio alone. Does this
problem sound familiar to anyone?  I have not taken it to the
dealership yet and would prefer to stay away.

Brian