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I recently got a pair of Klipsch tower speakers for Christmas from my g/f. For my self, I finally upgraded my A/V receiver to a Sony STR-DH810 so I could hook up my DVR, PS3 and Apple TV via HDMI. A few weeks after getting everything set up, my receiver would periodically click in to Protector Mode and shut off. This happened sporadically, not enough to cause a real nuisance. Last week however it seemed as if it was happening waaayyyy too often...I did some searching and found it's a semi common problem with the DH810 capacitors overheating. I did all of the trouble shooting steps to no avail.

I bought the receiver through Best Buy with my Best Buy reward zone premier silver so it was no problem taking the receiver back to Best Buy. I decided to pay an extra $55 and switch to the Denon AVR-591. I'm sitting here watching Hellboy on TV and all of the sudden *click* - the thing goes into the protector mode. This leads me to believe it might be some kind of issue with the speakers. I've got everything connect properly, I can't find any shorts or speaker wires touching. I don't have the volume blasting loud, sometimes it's not even loud enough to hear over our furnace running down the hall in our apartment.

Anyone have ideas?

 

I doubled checked the wires again after I posted - no pinches or kinks. Everything's connected properly. I bought the wires brand new for this setup. The only thing I could think of is moving to banana plugs to hook the wires into the receiver.

And if you want to take a look, here's what I've got hooked up...

Speakers:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Klipsch...ng+Speakers+(Each)/8987484.p?id=1218006354272

Receiver:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Denon+-...5755&skuId=9878176&st=denon avr-591&cp=1&lp=1

 

18ga - Maybe I should upgrade to a thicker gauge

 

I'm no audio tech, but two in a row, with wiring verified... what are the chances you have a heat buildup problem? As in no air circulation, maybe?

 

is your amp in a cabinet/entertainment center? I fried two amps overheating them not having good airflow. And they would do the same thing you are refering to, click over to a "safe" mode, but you could turn them back on

 

Sorry guys, shouldn't be any ventilation problems here...

 

Welp- there went my best guess. Your surge protector is new?

 

I dont have an answer, but I'm a member on www.avsforum.com. They know their shit over there. I would try searching that site and maybe posting if you cant find an answer.

 

Alright, before I start throwing out guesses we need to get some things straight just so you guys know for future reference.


The impedance of a speaker is measured in Ohms. Think of impedance like the valve on a water faucet, it keeps the water/electricity from going through the pipe/wire too easily. In the case of electricity, if there isn't enough impedance (ohms too low) then your amp will fry itself. A higher impedance is ALWAYS a safer impedance for the amp. Think about it this way, as you decrease impedance eventually you'll get to 0.00ohms which is a short circuit....bad news! Every time you cut the impedance in half you double the power. So an amp that makes 50watts at 8ohms will be FORCED to make 100watts at 4ohms; whether or not it's infrastructure can handle it.

Second thing, the size of your speaker wire going to your speakers doesn't matter in 99% of all cases. 18gauge is more than adequate for the power a receiver can make. Not only that, but even if a receiver says 120wattsX5 there is NO way you'll get that much power when all channels are driven. You'll just have to trust me on this. You might get 120x2 if you're lucky. And that rating is at 6ohms not 8 like your speakers.

Also, common misconception about speakers is that if you switch the + and - it will break something. This is false. A speaker is not a diode and will conduct electricity in either direction. The only thing that changes is the phase. If you have one speaker IN phase and the other OUT of phase it will just sound weird. If you have both IN or both OUT of phase it will sound correct. Short answer here is just to make sure they are wired the same.


Now on to Fixes
With your receiver totally exposed like that there's no way you're overheating that thing. I originally (from the first post) thought it was in a super small cabinet but after looking at your pic that's certainly not the case so we'll move on.

It sounds like you have a short somewhere in the system. The common thread in your troubles is your wires and speakers. Check the wires going from the back of the receiver and also where they enter the speakers. If even a tiny piece of the wire has frayed and is touching the other post that's a short circuit and will throw the amp into protect mode.

If all look good then I'd say the speakers are the culprit. They list 8ohms on the site so I'd think they are safe for that receiver. If you have a DMM (digital multimeter) or know someone who does have them come over and test the impedance/ohms of each speaker with the wires disconnected. If they are in working order the two of them should range anywhere from 6.5-8ohms. If they're lower than 6 you've got a problem.

 

Helluva reply! Thank you I'll take a more thorough look at all of my connections when I get home from work tonight. But for the sake of saying it, it seems like this happens most often when the volume is louder - and as I mentioned before, not blasting. I don't think I've turned it up to the point of coming anywhere remotely close to the capabilities of the speakers or receiver. But again, this does seem to happen when on louder volume. And to be very specific, I couldn't listen to Vampire weekend through my Apple TV anywhere close to loud - yet I could blast Linkin Park. Something to do with the high tones maybe?

 

That's very odd that it would happen at high volumes and not be a heat issue. You don't have this thing in a sauna do you?

Truth be told though, those speakers are quite efficient at 96db and shouldn't need very much power at all to scream. I highly doubt they are actually 96db efficient but even if they were 93db efficient that's still very good and requires minimal power.

Just curious, what are you using as a source that's feeding the receiver it's signal? Also, when this thing shuts off is it warm to the touch or is it a scorching SOB? Hard to tell from the pic but is there anything under it generating heat as well?

 

Connections are 100% HDMI. This new one (Denon) has only done it once, but when the Sony did it nothing seemed to be outrageously hot...just warm to the touch. Directly below is my PS3 which is only used for BluRay, otherwise I'm watching movies/tv shows via AppleTV. The more I think about it after all of the replies, it sounds like there's got to be a bare wire somewhere touching something.

 

Yeah, the signal being digital means source voltage isn't an issue since it's not analog.

My guess is still that there is a short or one of the speakers is failing causing impedance to drop to scary low levels and the amp isn't happy.

 

I'm real curious what you find out on this. Every time I had a problem with my stereo I'd find a whisker from the speaker wires going places it shouldn't- but that typically caused a right-now fault.
Let us know what you get to, please?


I was born and raised in Omaha. How's your winter so far?

 

OOOh, as long as were on this topic, i am about to set up two klipsch tower speakers and a huge subwoofer.... it is an older model but i'm just wondering what i will need to hook it up?

will post pics tonight thank you

 

Maybe we should make a "General Audio Help" thread or something. That way we don't muck up the OP's thread. I'd be happy to check the thread periodically if you guys need help on stuff.

 

Found it...one of my rear surround speakers had a few tiny wires freyed out touching the neg - this was hidden by the speaker post mount so I couldn't see any of this on a glancing inspection. I had to pull the whole speaker off of the mount. Hopefully this solves the problem.

As far as the weather goes around here - meh, I'd say average. Right before Christmas we had Wednesday in the 50s, Thursday in the low 60s then in the teens/20s for the next week! Minimal snow fall though which is nice, but ridiculous amounts of salt on the roads!

 

Good you found the prob.
I used to drive the snowplows on the interstate and out west from Elkhorn- my routes were 64, 6, and 92... Maple, Dodge and L streets. Salt kept the frost down. One time 64 was so icy my plow couldn't get traction- had to spin it around and sand under my rear wheels as I backed it up the hill.

 

Lovely. I was pretty convinced it was a short of some kind be it a frayed wire or a dead/dying speaker. Glad to see you got it all squared away. That Denon will run hard for you. They make a VERY solid receiver. I might actually move over to one in the future when I put my Harmon Kardon out to pasture.

 

Glad you figured it out...always make sure to twist and clean up the wires before connecting them.

I like denon, although I haven't been thrilled on the quality of my Dad's receiver. His denon has had hdmi issues.