To start, I'm not a complete idiot when it comes to Electronics...I've built my last 3 computers (2 water-cooled) and my brother's last 2. I've done some searching on these forums but haven't found any thread *simple* enough to solve my problem.

From what I've read, I've recently been the extremely lucky recipient of a Sony STR-DA5ES, handed down to me from my older brother. My prior HT experience consisted of a Sony HT-in-a-box, so please bear with me. Connected to my STR-DA5ES are just a Directv Tivo and Xbox360 and I have a Sony KDSR-50XBR1. I'm also inherited a dual 10" Sony powered sub (don't remember model#)

I set the front/center/surrounds to SMALL, 80 Hz and dropped the LFE High Cut down to 80Hz as well. I'm using a set of SBS-01 speakers from SVSound. The other LFE High Cut setting I dropped to -20dB because in my blind tweaking, it seemed to help out a little bit.

Here's the problem. When I play a DVD and get to a scene with a lot of action (bass, explosions, etc.), I crash in Forza Motorsport2 or a grenade goes off in Halo 3/R6:Vegas, my receiver shuts down and I get a message that says, "PROTECTION: PLEASE POWER OFF". This happens at anything louder than 60db volume, so 60 - 0...sorry, not so knowledgeable on the AV terminology yet.

I've checked & re-checked my connections of the speaker wires to the receiver and to the speakers and cannot find anything loose or any cuts in the wires. Is this a heat problem, a not enough juice/power problem, a connection problem with the power, or some short that I'm missing?

I find it hard to believe that the receiver is the problem. I guess HT A/V stuff isn't quite as Plug & Play as computer stuff?

Thanks in advance for any and all help, input, etc.

In my experience when my receiver has gone into protect mode it's almost always due to some loose strand of speaker wire that isn't securely connected or maybe even touching another speaker wire. I'd start by reconnecting all of the speakers, being very careful with their connections. Sometimes just reconnecting things can make a difference. Also, pay attention to making sure you have the + and - polarity matching between the speaker and receiver.

Rgr rgr...I'll give that a dance. I just made sure nothing was loose before. Thx JJ.

:p

If it's shutting down, the receiver is protecting itself. The problem is either a short somewhere, or the receiver is overheating.

1) Disconnect and reconnect each speaker connection at the speaker and the receiver. Stranded wire has very small strands, just looking you may easily not see a stray strand that is causing you a shorted connection.

2) Check to make sure your receiver is adequately ventilated, place on a hard surface with no vents top or bottom blocked, and if equipped with a fan that the fan works. Make sure there are not significant hear sources that would be causing the receiver to be hot and unable to cool properly (heater vents, other hot electronics, bright sunshine, whatever).

3) If after 1 and 3 the problem persists, check each speaker to make sure none are blown and sound correct, and if possible connect or disconnect one speaker at a time to troubleshoot if a speaker has been damaged and is shorted out and is causing the problem.

1) Make sure there is adequate ventilation for the receiver. Overheating means shutting down.

2) Make sure your speakers are of a supported impedance (i e, perhaps the receiver doesn't like 4 Ohm speakers)

3) Make sure there is no short, or near-short, between the speaker terminals, either at the speakers, or at the receiver.

I was outta town this weekend when I entered my OP. I got back home yesterday afternoon, went to Lowe's for some supplies just in case, and proceeded to disconnect every cable input and output from my receiver. After carefully inspecting all 5 wires, I did not see any cuts or stray wires that would cause a short. Unbeknownst to me, my brother had wasted his $$$ on Monster speaker wire. But he did buy some nice connects; they look like thick needles that are gold plated and crimped onto the speaker wire ends.

One thing I did notice on the speaker wires was some tiny print that said, "SIGNAL FLOW >>>>>". 3 out of the 5 speakers had their signal flow going in the wrong direction. I fixed that, re-connected everything, fired up all the components and BAM, NO MORE SHUTDOWN!!!

YAY! :D

I'm not TOO worried about overheating because my receiver is on a TV stand that is open to the surrounding air. The one concern I DO have though, there's only a little over an inch clearance between the top of the receiver and the bottom of the top shelf. But I've got some old computer fans that I can rig to keep the air flowing if overheating starts to become an issue.

Thanks very much for everyone's input. Sometimes people just need to be reminded of the simplest things, hehe.

Soooooo, now I have to thing about calibrating...:eek:

The one concern I DO have though, there's only a little over an inch clearance between the top of the receiver and the bottom of the top shelf. But I've got some old computer fans that I can rig to keep the air flowing if overheating starts to become an issue.

That's what I did. Computer fan spliced to wall wart and attached to the AC outlet on the receiver. That way the fan kicks on and off when the receiver does.

Pardon my ignorance once again, but what is a wall wart? I can't see your setup pics at work :(

One of these.

http://secure.transtronics.com/osc/images/medium/wall_wart.jpg

Just about every decent electronics store has them for under $10. Some have adjustable voltages so you can spin the fan at different speeds. I run mine at 3.5v, I think.

Just clip off the ends and splice the wires into a PC fan, and then install it (might have to get creative with mounting it using scraps of whatever is handy). If your receiver has an AC outlet on the back (usually for a DVD player or something), you can hook it up there and have it turn on automatically with the receiver so you don't have to unplug it after use.

edit: It looks like your receiver has two AC outlets, but a wall wart will probably cover both of them. Not a problem unless you want something else plugged in.

omg, DUH!!! I never knew that's what those were called. That should be a simple thing to do...just need some butt cap connectors or those little circle ones.

:o

I doubt I'll need those 2 A/C outlets for anything. Thx again Tulpa.