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AVR(s) randomly turns off

LunaTempesta

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Hello everybody. Recently joined the forums after setting up my first decent audio experience.

My issue is as followed:
I have a pair of focal aria 926. They - used - to be hooked up to a cheap AVR, yamaha htr 4067. When listening to music I put the AVR in direct/pure mode and all seems to work fine. Till at some point it randomly turns of. 10 minutes, 20 minutes. No telling.
I thought the issue was with the AVR since I have had it for quite some time. Anyhow when using anything but direct mode I didn't have any issues. Could listen for hours and nothing. Checked connection etc prior and could never find anything wrong with it. Just happened over and over again in the direct mode.

Now I managed to swap the AVR for a brand new Denon X4700H. Went through the whole set up. During the speaker measurements it told me left/and or right were out of phase. Reran it a few times and sometimes it was fine and other times one (or both) gave the phase error. Skipped it after reading audyssey related issues. Completed the set up. Threw in my usb/music and put it in Pure mode... And guess what after some time it randomly turned itself off.

So since this denon is brand new I happen to think the issue is somewhere else. But since I checked the cables I just don't know what it could be. Potentially the cable somewhere halfway through causing issues? Or could it be the speakers themselves? If there was an issue with those things wouldn't it happen during other sound playbacks as well?

Internet cookies n milk for the winning answer. I'm desperate to know what's wrong :)!
 

Slayer

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Since this is happening with the new and old avr.
You're just going to have to do some light investigation.
Assuming you have checked your speaker wires themselves.
Start with the drivers, make sure one isn't froze, make sure all are wired correctly. make sure both are wired correctly in phase.
Check wiring to and from crossover ( in-out )
Check the wiring at the speaker connect inside the speaker at it's terminal.

Going to be a pain to remove the drivers, but that's just what you may have to do. Doing this small investigation, I think you will find the issue.
 
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LunaTempesta

LunaTempesta

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Since this is happening with the new and old avr.
You're just going to have to do some light investigation.
Assuming you have checked your speaker wires themselves.
Start with the drivers, make sure one isn't froze, make sure all are wired correctly. make sure both are wired correctly in phase.
Check wiring to and from crossover ( in-out )
Check the wiring at the speaker connect inside the speaker at it's terminal.

Going to be a pain to remove the drivers, but that's just what you may have to do. Doing this small investigation, I think you will find the issue.
With frozen drivers you mean woofers which don't move? If that's the case, non issue. Not like I can just open up my speakers to check the wiring inside .

I forgot to mention as well, I tried the same with my old speakers (a pair of q acoustics) and they made the AVR turn off as well.

Currently unplugged the left speaker and running a test to see if it does or does not turn off. Maybe the error on Audyssey set up was fair and the cable itself is trash.
 

AdamG

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Just a wild ass guess here. But sounds like a loose speaker wire or a loose strand of this wire and as the speakers vibrate this loose wire is shorting out. Check each end or every speaker wire you have and ensure the wiring is correct and tight.
 

amper42

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I would replace the speaker cables and the banana plugs:

You have already replaced the receiver and tried different speakers. That's the last thing to try in the chain.
 

gene_stl

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I have a Marantz PrePro AV 7005 from about 2010. It came to me doing that exact same shit.
It has a switching power supply that powers the stuff that monitors the remote control and the timers and anything else that can turn the unit on and off.

There is a ribbon cable going between this power supply and the main board. I unhooked it and then reseated it and it has not misbehaved since.
 

DVDdoug

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I don't get the shutting-off thing at all... Are you listening LOUD and possibly over-heating it, or does it also happen at low levels?



--------------------------------
The speakers should only be out-of-phase is if the wiring is wrong... I assume you have "polarized" speaker wire so that should be easy to check.

Out-of-phase speakers are pretty good a canceling the bass so if disconnecting one speaker increases the bass that's another good indication that one is inverted. And, that might tempt you into cranking-up the volume and/or cranking-up the bass, putting more stress on the AVR.

You can also check the speakers by connecting a 1.5V battery. With battery+ to speaker+ you should see the woofer pop-outward. (Or at-least both speakers should behave the same.) That only works with the woofer. The crossover blocks DC from the other drivers so you can't as-easily check those but it's highly-unlikely that there's anything wrong with the speakers.

(or both) gave the phase error.
It's not a problem if both are inverted.... The midrange (or tweeter in a 2-way) is often inverted anyway because the crossover tends to introduce a leading phase-shift in the high-pass and a phase-lag in the low-pass (at the crossover frequency) so inverting one driver puts them back in-phase (at the crossover frequency).
 

JeffS7444

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As those are current-model speakers, I would not want to take them apart. In any event, woofer phase can be determined by hooking up AA battery and seeing which way the drivers move, and mids/tweeters, by a listening for proper phantom stereo image. Manufacturer's specifications for Aria 926 indicate nominal 8 ohm impedance, 2.9 ohm minimum, and I wonder if the latter is causing some problems.
 
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LunaTempesta

LunaTempesta

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Receiver turned off even when playing on low to moderate volumes. Heat wasn't an issue.

Just had it playing with the left disconnected for a good hour or so and it didn't turn off.
Still had some spare speaker cable and plugs so just fixed a new cable and hooked that to the left.
Turned itself off again after like 15 minutes of playing.

On the note of bass/volume, no it did not get louder/bass-ier when the left was unhooked.

I just find this whole issue so stupidly weird.
Why does it only happen in the Pure Direct modes. Why does the AVR keep playing normally in any other setting or mode. Arghhh.
Was assured fixing a new cable would do the trick after that 1h test run.
 

JeffS7444

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Got a 1 ohm, 10 watt resistor that you can wire in series with the speaker in order to raise it's minimum impedance to 3.9 ohms? Start at lower listening levels to ensure that it's not becoming excessively hot. Not an ideal fix as it messes up the amplifier's damping factor and thus, your overall frequency response, but it may help you to track down the source of your troubles.
 
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LunaTempesta

LunaTempesta

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Update to the situation.
Swapped the cables + and - with each other into the speaker and AVR.
Erhh, 1 hour in without a random turn off. Had the red connected with positive at first maybe it had to be the other way around?
Still confused the hell outta me. Wires were all copper, but the one I swapped on the left thinking it was faulty has copper and silver wire. Silver is now on the positive connection and the copper on the negative.
I wouldn't think it would matter initially with full copper wires? But I realize more and more after delving into this whole hobby how lacking in knowledge I am :').

Fingers crossed this was it! I thank all of you for the speedy feedback yesterday!
 
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