Yeah, the battery icon comes on...
I could stop by and get a free battery and alternator test at autozone tomorrow if that might help diagnose my problem.

I read somewhere that noise can be caused by the battery being low in water... I tried to check my battery but I didn't see any way of getting inside without the warning of getting my eyes sprayed with acid and the battery did say it was maintenence free... now I'm getting the idea that this noise and power loss could just be my battery. The noise started for apparently no reason with my old Alpine CD player probably about a couple weeks after putting a new amp and new subs in my car.

added:
I was just told by someone that power loss like this can cause damage to the empeg... any truth to this?