New forum member - Problem with Onkyo TX-SR603X and R15's

Skippy989

Hi,

I recently picked up a pair of R15's from Outpost.com. I have added them as surrounds to my system which comprises of an Onkyo TX -SR603 7.1 HT receiver (90 watts per channel), Polk R30's as fronts, a Polk CSi 25 as a center and a Velodyne powered subwoofer.

The problem arises at high volumes, a good example is the lobby shootout scene from the Matrix, with the volume at 60-63 the receivers protection circuit kicks in and shuts the receiver down. Same issue with loud music at around the same volume. The receiver also shuts down when I run the auto-speaker setup with the supplied Onkyo mic, as soon as its about the test the surrounds the protection circuit kicks in and the receiver shuts down.

If I disconnect the R15's I can play music and movies as loud as I dare to go (70-75) with no distortion or shutdowns from the receiver. I can also successfully run the speaker auto-setup without a problem.

This is a very frustrating issue and one I have never encountered with Polk or Onkyo gear in the past (Been a customer of both companies for years)

Any ideas what could be going on here?

McLoki

Is it possible at the reciever or speaker end, you have even one strand of your speaker wire connecting the positive and negative terminals. It is an easy accident to have happen and will send your reciever into protection mode right away. (or just catch it on fire....)

Michael

Skippy989

I thought that maybe the issue too so I rewired the surrounds taking extra special care with the connections. Also, if that was the case wouldnt it die straight away, not just at high volumes?

Right now I have Led Zeppelin cranking through the receiver and speakers at 55 volume, if I go 57-60 it will die.

McLoki

Just for the sake of testing, can you rewire (at the AVR would be easiest) to put the r30's in the back and R15's in the front. Just to see if it dies when turned up again. (trying to isolate the problem to the rear channel in the AVR or the speaker.) If it does die, put it in stereo mode and turn it up. (you said this is fine with your R30's does it die in stereo mode with the R15's in the front?)

Michael

Edit - you are correct, it would die as soon as it got a signal if there was a short.

SKsolutions

My 2 cents.
You appear to have a decent grasp on what is happening, and McLoki has given you an alternate approach. If you still have a problem after the speaker switch, try just running the rears to high volume (No mains connected). This way, you can test the rear amp section. I have owned a few Onkyo's and they used to be bulletproof in the amp section, but they have become more affordable which sometimes translates to inferior build quality and cheaper output stages/devices. I hope this is not the case because they were at one time a underated value.
If it shuts down with just the rears at 3/4 volume, have it serviced or returned. It's a new-ish unit so the warranty is still good.

Good luck and welcome (from another new forum member)

Sean

Skippy989

Well, after much troubleshooting it turned out to be something wrong with the wiring on the back of a faceplate. I had ignored this because I had an licenced electrician do the wiring. After connecting all speakers directly to the receiver I noticed the problem disappeared. I then narrowed it down to one of the faceplates. I took it apart and the wiring looked completely fine but all evidence was pointing to it as the problem. I re-cut the wires and reconnected the face plate, its been fine ever since. The speakers now pass the Onkyo speaker test and as my neighbors will verify the problems with volume have also disappeared.

I should have known to trust the Polk / Onkyo combo thats taken care of my A/V needs for years without a hitch.

Thanks for the help, guys. Much appreciated.