I have been enjoying my marantz sr5300 for a month now but was surprised last night when it shutdown by itself 7-8 times while watching black hawk down. It is the first time i had trouble with my receiver as this never happened in the previous dvd titles i watched. Each time it shut down last night, I just turned the receiver on again. What do you think is the root problem? Is it the dvd or is something wrong with the receiver?
J. Vigne
Unregistered guest
Posted on
The way to answer your question is for you to do some back tracking and re-tracking in a logical manner. You are trying to think of all the possiblities that could make the receiver shut down when this movie is played. Is it the receiver, the disc or something in the system? If you think the situation through logically you will start to eliminate the possibilites as you go along. It is a B follows A situation. The first thing you want to know is what was different about last night that you may have never done before. Did you play the disc at a higher volume level? Had you changed any of the settings on the reciever since you last played that movie or one similar? Had anything changed that you might attribute a cause and effect relationship to your problem? Is it possible someone else did or changed something in the system and you are unaware of the change? Have you physically inspected the connections and the set up parameters to make certain nothing is different? If you have absolutely confirmed nothing has changed, then you move on to what about this movie could have made the reciever have problems? Explosions? Silence in quieter portions of the movie? Does the reciever have any type of auto on/off facilities such as a TV off function. I have an older HK that would shut down when the TV input is selected but the reciever doesn't sense a TV on line. This would occassionally reset itself if there was an electrical disruption of power. The first few times it happened I had no idea what was going on since the Auto Power function was buried in the owner's manual among comments that had little to do with the set up procedure where it could be defeated. Did you pay attention to when and where in the disc the problem occurred? If so, when you go back and play just those parts of the disc do you still have a problem or is this something that only occurrs when you are pushing the reciever to constantly hit hard dynamic peaks? If you are still getting the same response as you work through those questions you will then want to see if the problem still exists at lower volume levels. Take the volume down by about 10 dB and see if the problem still exists. Now, if you're still having a problem you want to know if the problem exists with your reciever or posibly with a bad disc. Is there a possiblity that the problem exists when you have a digital or optical connection made but not if you run analog cables only? If that was a rental disc, try exchanging it for another of the same title. Otherwise try a few other discs that offer the same type of workout for the reciever and see what happens. Could this possibly be a problem with the AC in your house? A series of spikes that had not occurred before? If you have done all of these things and you are certain the problem exists in the reciever then you should unplug the reciever and check your owner's manual for troubleshooting tips. If this doesn't solve the problem give the manufacturer a call to ask if they can help. Make sure you have ruled out every possiblity that would amount to something other than the reciever being faulty and that you can verify the answers you are going to give the factory. Have the results of your tests written down to refer to when they ask questions. If after all that is done and you still have a problem you should call your dealer and ask if they have anything that might help you. Maybe they have seen the same problem and know about a fix that hasn't made it to the factory people yet. If this fails to resolve the problem you will have to get the amp serviced. If it comes to that you will want to provide the service center with the same information you have gathered here. If they can duplicate the problem easily and repeatably you stand a good chance of getting the problem solved and repaired. If you just take it in to the shop with the complaint that it shuts down you are likely to get back a "no problen found" reciever. Give the shop all the information you can and provide them with sample discs that show the problem with notations as to when on the disc you have observed the problem. Then make sure the person taking the information from you is competent to relay this to the tech. If you give them all the information and you see the person write on the ticket, "cuts out", as the only description of the problem ask them to give the tech all the information you have provided in writing. In fact, write it down as clearly and concisely as you possibly can and have your note attached to the repair ticket or the reciever itself. Make sure you have your receipt as proof of purchase date or you may not get warranty work performed. Keep a note of all the accessories you provided the shop so you will know what you are supposed to get back. Have the shop make a note of the same and make the request you would like to have the old parts returned to you with the repaired reciever. If all that fails, and you have sincerely followed ALL my instructions here, it is time for anarchism. I'll leave that up to you to figure out.
If you want a first guess, consider that the receiver may be getting too hot and going into overload protection. If this is the cause, then you would predict that it only happens when the receiver is delivering more power than it can, safely, without overheating. This will depend on the programme material (the last time ours did this was on the edge of Mount Doom...); the volume setting; the speaker settings. "All speakers large" means every amp channel is called upon to deliver the full whack. "Main speakers large; no sub" can be even more demanding; depending on the mains, and the programme material.
Plus, you can tell how much power the receiver has been called on to deliver by its operating temperature- just put your hand on the top, and feel the temp. If overheating is the cause, then there are lots of possible cures, a simple one being increased ventilation (if you have restricted air flow to or from the receiver). You could also try "All speakers small" and get and active sub if you do not already have one. That usually give the power amp stages a quieter life, but there are compromises in sound quality. You could also consider whether the impedance of you speakers matches that of the receiver. The Marantz wants 8 OHM speakers, I think. If you are using 4 OHM speakers (what?) then that could be it, and you will then have to live with other solutions, such as above.
Of course, it could be "something completely different", so there is no point on going on about overheating. Jan has the whole thing covered as far as I can see. It would be helpful to know about the rest of your system and settings.
Just try it and see, and report back.
The Marantz SR5300 User Manual should have some suggestions, too. What does it say?
The first time it shut down last night was at 18:40, i played it again from the start and it shut down again at the same spot of the movie, at that point i just turned the receiver on again. The succeeding 6-7 times it shut down did'nt have any pattern as far as timing in between. Overheating might not be the cause because after the last shut down at around 62:00, it went on uninterrupted. Wirings and settings are unchanged. Volume level is at my usual range of -15 to -10, -12 last night to be exact. On my set up: Marantz SR5300 90w - 6.1, two WHarfedale Diamond 8.3 as main, Definitive Technology's Prosub 100TL for sub, old JVC speakers as temporary surround speakers, and no center speaker (i plan to get Wharfedale's Diamond Center and Diamond WH2 surrounds+rear next payday). The strange thing is, I played black hawk down again this afternoon and it didnt shut down, not even once! Maybe I should continue observing the unit but any more inputs shall be greatly appreciated. Jan, your advise is really sound, thanks.
Wharfedale Diamonds are 6 Ohms nominal impedance so that could just be a problem, but Wharfdale says "suitable for amps rated at 8 Ohms". Check the impedance of the "old JVC speakers", too. Also check the Marantz manual. I think I have read other reports on this forum of Marantz AV receivers shutting down with certain speakers, I think Mordaunt-Short. Try "search".
As Jan said, what was different, the first time this happened?
Anonymous
Posted on
Marantz can comfortably handle a 6 Ohm load, it's just not designed for 4 Ohm loads. A bit unfortunate but how many speakers are 4 Ohm? The vast majority are not!