Pioneer VSX-D711 / JBL SCS138 Speaker Impedance
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Anonymous | I have the purchased the above equipment (serperately). PIONEER Receiver VSX-D711 Home Theatre Speaker Package JBL SCS138. It works fine most of the time, however intermittenly the receiver displays "AMP ERROR" (regardless whether it is DVD, CD or Tuner) on the LCD, & it stops working, requiring a reboot. Returned Receiver to Pioneer (Still under warranty) & they suggested it could be a "low speaker impedance" problem. Have done some reading on the Internet, and read my manuals & that looks like the problem. Receiver output is 8 Ohms, Speakers are 4 Ohms. Funnily enough I have found differing doco. on the internet for ths JBL's, some stating they are 4 Ohms others saying 8 Ohms (mine are labelled 4 Ohms). Maybe this is just a region thing (i'm in Australia). So here's my question, can I do anything to make it work (Pioneer doesn't appear to have any switch or setting to make it 4 Ohms) Have looked at specs of other Receivers but they all appear to be 8 Ohms, so what receiver would work with these speakers? I'd be happy to buy a new one, and sell the old one if I was sure the new would work. |
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Unregistered guest | I have the same problem with this model amp. I have had the unit in for repair twice. Pioneer say they cannot replicate the problem. I am running through a set of Aaron speakers (ATS-4 6 Ohms L/R, ATS-1 8 Ohms surround and a CC-120 6 Ohm Centre speaker) |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 1247 Registered: Dec-03 | running speakers with a lower impedance on any amplifier not fit to handle them will cause problems. 4 ohm speakers will cause your receivers to go into protect mode if driven for too long and some never recover. And no, you cannot make it work to handle a 4ohm load, even by using a resistor. You can, however wire your speakers in series to make them 8 ohms. |
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Anonymous | Thanks for the reply Kevin. Sounds like you are in the same situation as me. I'm thinking of replacing my receiver, have noticed that ONKYO receivers claim to be able to drive low impedance speakers, so I may look at these. |
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New member Username: Crackers61Post Number: 1 Registered: Jul-04 | Thanks for the reply Benny. If I wire the speakers in series, will they still be supporting DOLBY 5.1. |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 1269 Registered: Dec-03 | What I meant was you have to wire to speakers on one speaker output in a series to get a load of 8 ohms. It will still fucntion in 5.1 as long as you have enough speakers for all the 5 channels. All you are doing is driving up the load for the receiver to handle. In essence if you are using 2 speakers in series for one channel, you will actually need a total of 10 speakers for the whole system. Not very economical. Do you have a multimeter/tester? |
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Anonymous | yeah i m in sydney and i bought a similar pioneer model too and had to return it back cauz it had an amp err disappointing!!!!!! |
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nnnn Unregistered guest | I m in Thailand and after I used it for 1 year and 6 months, I found the problem like yours. My speaker is Yamaha pack and which front speakers are 8 ohms and center and surround speakers are 6 ohms. After I found this problem, I sent it to Pioneer Services Center. Next day they calll me to grab my AVR and told me that there was no error on my AVR, it was just the self-protection. Afterthat I came home and started to check all my wire by using multimeter but there was no problem with my wire as well. I used my current wire and I found the same problem again after next few days. I have bought new wire yesterday, my AVR is now fine but you never know and I will wait to see what's going on... |
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Anonymous | Anonymous in Sydney. thanks for your post. Did your receiver have a specific fault? or were you using low impedance speakers like me? |
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Anonymous | nnnn Thanks for your post. I tried upgrading the speaker wire to better quality (supposedly!) but it didn't help. |
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nnnn Unregistered guest | Hi it's me again, Could you please explian more about your error? Coz I would like to know more detials like how often it happens or there is any kinds of error like strange sound? Thanks. |
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Anonymous | nnnn Cant really add much to my first post. Haven't really pinpointed any particluar time when the "AMP ERROR" message appears. It has happened whilst playing DVD's, CD's, or the TUNER. I haven't tried to isolate it to particular DVD's etc. Sometimes it happens within 5 minutes other times after a few hours. I dont hear any other "strange sounds". |
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nnnn Unregistered guest | Since I told you that I had changed my speaker wire but "AMP ERROR" still occur. I try to find the other solutions step-by-step, so I moved out Coax and all av wires. My AVR is now connected only with speaker wire and optic fiber wire and it still works fine and no "AMP ERROR". I will update you in case my solution is correct. Good day. |
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Unregistered guest | I have a Pioneer vsx audio/video reciever, and it is displaying "Amp Error" right when I turn it on and then it shuts itself off. |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 1667 Registered: Dec-03 | Try resetting it, check the manual on how to do this. Or you could also have a short on your speaker wires. |
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Beast1125 Unregistered guest | i thought it might have been speakers too, but unhooked all the speakers and cables but it still shuts off, I also checked all the fuses and the seem to be ok. |
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nnnn Unregistered guest | Hi Beast1125 It was not speakers but it was coax. My AVR is now fine after I removed coax wire. Good day. |
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Anonymous | hi, i have the same problem as beast 125. shows "amp error" once i turn it on. not a speaker wire problem. how do i reset it? Can't find in manual. thanks. |
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Anonymous | hi, i have the same problem as beast 125. shows "amp error" once i turn it on. not a speaker wire problem. how do i reset it? Can't find in manual. thanks. |
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nnnn Unregistered guest | You have to wait for 1 minute, and turn it on again. |
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Unregistered guest | I have a Pioneer VSX D 711 Amplifier and it displayed also amp error.At first I thought it was the power supply or else a problem in the speaker wiring or the speakers themselves,so I checked both PSU and speakers and wiring and found to be ok.The speaker impedances are 6ohms all that means it is a little low and the amp might be driving high currents when the volume is high but the thing that annoyed me was that how can the amp output stage protection unit come into action when the amplifier volume was set to -60dbs which is considerably very low output and requires only few watts or maybe milliwatts to drive the speakers.Thanks |
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New member Username: Crackers61Post Number: 2 Registered: Jul-04 | Thnaks for all for your posts. Aplogies for not getting back for a while. Since my last post on Sept 27, have upgraded my speaker cable but this didn't help. Have now swapped out the front surround speakers (JBL SCS 138 4 ohms) and swapped in my Yamaha NSX-100?? which are 6 ohms. So far so good! Re. the posts on resetting the Amp. sometines when I get an Amp Error message I have to wait up to 24 hours for it to reset. NAJBS, I agree with your point, but the probelm doesn't always seem related to volume. What sort of speakers are you running? |
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Unregistered guest | The Speakers are mission Fronts M74,RearsM7ds,Center M7C1.Thanks for helping. |
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viper_114 Unregistered guest | Hi, I am in Melbourne and have the same problems, although I do not get an AMP ERROR message. I am running a Pioneer VSX-D711 with 6 Ohm speakers connected to the ports (GLL 150W IC130i Floorspeakers, Jensen SPX-13 100W Centre and Jensen SPX-4 100W Rear Speakers - all 6 Ohm). I also have a Jensen SPX-17 Powered Sub-woofer. When I use the system it often goes into protect mode for a few seconds, then comes back online - usually when the system has to play more sound (ie. action scenes in movies, explosions etc) than normal. I noticed the comment above stating that using lower impendance speakers will cause problems with the amp, however I was wondering if there is someway to make it work without having to purchase 8 Ohm speakers? |
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postrage Unregistered guest | hi, i also have a vsx-d711 for over a year now no problems, then i start getting amp error for about a week and now only the front speakers work for the tv setting but they work for dvd or tuner just not for the tv setting has anyone ran across this problem or am i screwed? thanks |
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Unregistered guest | Did anyone ever figure out why the pioneer tuners get "Amp Error". Just bought a used reciever (VSXD411) and sure enough..Amp Error comes up. Using 8 ohm speakers and good cable so I know thats not the problem. |
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New member Username: Crackers61Post Number: 3 Registered: Jul-04 | Hi All, Once again thanks for all the posts, interesting that we are getting the same error but in different circumstance. As per my last post (nov 21) hvae swapped my speakers around & the problem has gone away (though not convinced it will stay that way) Anyway here is a recap: * Purchased Pioneer VSX-D711 used with original Yamaha NS-5X speakers (6 Ohms) no problems (Just stereo). * Purchased JBL SCS 138 Home Theatre Kit (4 Ohms)used wire that came with JBL's, placed existing Yamahas as Speakers B (with original speaker wire). * After a while started getting AMP error, regardles of whether CD, DVD, radio or surround speakers or Yamahas on Speaker B connection. * Returned receiver to Pioneer, they said either faulty wiring or speaker with low impedance. * Purhcased better quality speaker wire (hopefully!) & replaced JBL wire, problem still occurred. * Replaced front JBL SCS 138's with Yamaha's using new speaker wire, since then no problem!!! MAybe the original wire for the Yamahas was faulty (10+ years old) but as this now seems Ok, i'm going to leave it like it is!!! A few ideas: freeze14me - go back to basics, not sure what speakers you have, just start with 2 speakers, & wire you are sure of! If it was used, it may be faulty, is it still covered by warranty? postrage - what are your settings for TV input, is it set to stereo or surround, Dolby etc? viper_411 - Have you checked the settings on page 62 & 64 of the manual, relating to Speaker size, & Crossover frequency setting. I have played with these, but dont ask me what I have set them to!! Good luck guys!!!!! |
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mickalene Unregistered guest | have pioneer VSX-D811S, have had for about 2 years no issue with bose acoustimass theater system speakers. Had issue within past year speakers starting humming, and sure enough speaker starting getting amp error today, and then just shut down. Unplugged all wires and pluggedback in but still got amp error. Back of receiver read 8-16 ohms and speakers read 4-8 ohms. Could only find 2 fueses inside recevr and both were fine. Are going to try letting sit 24 hours and then see if automatic reset becasue there is nothing in the manual about reset and the trouble shooting section is lame. Can anyone give advice on worth keeping or send to shop to fix, or buy new? Issue with ohm compaitbility? Don't thing so , but who knows? thanks |
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Unregistered guest | wish me luck, I have a vsx-d412 getting the same amp err message. 8 months old. found out that my speakers for were 6 ohm and it ran fine, then i tried running extra some small extra 4 ohm speakers in series to add to the load to avoid an over heating issue and that worked fine for 4 months until yesterday and i tried to play my spiderman dvd. it wasn't at a particularly loud part of the movie and it just lost all sound and died only leaving me with the amp err message... the only thing i did strange was i set it to play in the music mode for the minute before it happened. the unit has been off for over 24 hours and tried again unhooked from everything and it still does the same thing...and another thing the remote will not power the unit on now... have to manually power on and that takes a minute or more to do at times... no bad fuses but i did notice some slight discoloration on one of the amp chips so i think it may be really fried... oh well... thank goodness for warranties. another strange thingn is there wasn't any burning smell or popped resistors like I had experienced with past receivers i had owned or worked on. so the fuse protect may need to be revamped by pioneer to look into this issue for future models. so the way i see it the service center will repair it or i'll get a new unit. i guess it's a good thing i never played this thing past -40db... probably would have died sooner...  |
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postrage Unregistered guest | darren: the rear speakers did not work because the surround setting was changed, so i got the sound to work on the back speakers but alas "amp error" is still around so i dosconnected all speakers and inputs, all i had was the receiver plugged in and it went right to amp error, after about an hour it seemed to work ok so i plugged in two speakers and the line in from the tv. worked for ten min and then went back to amp error. are people thinking this might be the speakers and or the wires?? I e-mailed pioneer all they said was to bring it to a tech. and who nows how much that could cost. thanks for any info... |
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TBay Chris Unregistered guest | I own a VSX-D711 which I purchased brand new in November 2002. In the past 6 months or so I've been getting the "AMP ERR" message. Unfortunately, it appears to be happening more frequently as time goes by. I'm running a set of five Omage speakers, all rated at 8 Ohms as is the receiver so no conflict there. Speaker wire was brand new at time of receiver installation, although I've never tested it. The problem occurs at completely random times. Sometimes in DVD, sometimes SAT, VHS, you get the idea. Sometimes it occurs right after I turn it on (as it did today) and sometimes it takes a while. The receiver is out of warranty and I'm not willing to spend $200 to have someone look at it and tell me there's nothing wrong with it. I read nnnn's post above and it looked like removing the coax connections helped him, although I've no idea why. I'll give that a try though. I have a multimeter, which I've hardly ever used, and want to double check my speaker wire so can someone tell me how to do this? Thanks |
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ben_ji81 Unregistered guest | I get my VSX-D412 back monday was told I had 2 blown amp chips. I recently read another post on a site and it said that that problem generally has to do with excessive current draw and I believe that my 2 small Sony's that I have for surrounds may be suspect. The sticker rates them 8ohms @ 100W, but upon testing them with my multimeter found them to be only 6ohms. So when I was watching the Spiderman movie in the music mode it trasfered more current to the surrounds that left it wide open for the fault that had occured. So adding extra speakers to the front in series was fine, believing the sticker rated impedance on the Sony's is what caused the prob...I'll never believe the sticker rating again I'll tell you that. |
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nnnn Unregistered guest | Hi everyone, Finally I have found the correct solution. As I mentioned you before that my AVR was fine after I changed the coax wire, I bought new coax wire with 75 ohms. After I used it for a couple months since last time I posted here, my AVR is now good and no any error. |
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Anonymous | Hi I have a pioneer vsx-d412 and when i turn it on it says "amp err" and then it turns off... if anyone has any information please email me at devin@directunderground.com |
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poo-poo pants Unregistered guest | thats what you nubs get for buying something from pioneer... |
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Bronze Member Username: YamahaboyOrland Park, Illinois USA Post Number: 47 Registered: Jul-04 | ok, this is not good...now I have this problem too! i have a pioneer vsx-D511. i unplugged EVERYTHING from the back and nothing...the fuses are in my hand right now and look perfect. i dont know what els to check. i was just listing to music quietly and it went off with a "amp err" message. and new idea's? btw this set up was working perfect in my room for 5 months. |
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nnnn Unregistered guest | buy the coax wire with 75 Ohms impedance |
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Bronze Member Username: YamahaboyOrland Park, Illinois USA Post Number: 49 Registered: Jul-04 | what im saying is, that it does this "amp err" when NOTHING is pluged into the reciever. |
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Unregistered guest | I have a pioneer vsx-c300 which is also have AMP error problem. Even removing all the speakers and cables the problem still occuring. Need some advise from you guys. |
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New member Username: GuilhermePost Number: 1 Registered: Apr-05 | Hello. I live in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, I have a VSX-D711 for two years, and this "AMP ERROR" problem often appears. Once I took it to the assistance, and the technician said there were no problem with the unit. But the problem persists. Now I want to buy a new one: VSX-1014-THX-K. Does anyone knows if this Receiver have this intermitent problem too, I mean, this "protection"? My speakers are: JBL N-28 II, JBL E-50, JBL EC-35 and JBL E-250P. All of them are 8-ohms. The VSX-1014 accept 6-8 ohms speakers. Thanks a lot. |
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Unregistered guest | Hi! I bought the pioneer vsx-c300 3,5years ago and since a while it gives a loud click and after that the sound is gone... only the subwoofer and centre speaker get a signal somehow and keep making sound, but the other 4 speakers are sort of dead. After hitting the machine a couple of times on the side it gives a loud click and the sound is on again. There is no message on the display of the receiver, it just keeps showing the frequency of the radio when it happens. Has anyone of you had the same experience? I really would like to know what is wrong with it. Thanx!!! |
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Anonymous | I had a similar problem with my VSX-D710, no amp error but with 5 channel modes you had to rise the volume quite a bit to get sound, so I have opened the receiver and passed over the solder with new solder and voila, it's now 3 years and is working fine, apparently the heat cracked the original soldering. |
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Anonymous | The problem with the D711 model is not a speaker problem. I am using the speakers that came in the package and after 3 years am now getting the amp error. The problem lies inside the receiver. Anyone smart enough to figure this out, please help us out! Thanks |
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YOMO Unregistered guest | I have a Kenwood receiver that I had to open up and for some reason this worked I unpluged the ac power cord from the internal board inside the receiver and then pput it back together and its started to work like nothing happened mabey pioneer is the same way |
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Anonymous | I'm experiencing the same problem with VSX-814. The "Amp Input error" message occured and the receiver shut down. I was never able to restart it. Pioneer Support has replaced 2 internal ICs ... but said the receiver was under too higher AC or striked by lightning ???? This is the second time in one month with the same behaviour even if the receiver was plugged behind a Power plug protected against voltage peaks, overvoltages & lightning. For sure, the problem resides inside the receiver !!! If someone knows how to avoid this. I'll appreciate. Thanks ! |
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Bronze Member Username: Divin11112000Michigan Post Number: 48 Registered: Dec-04 | I am running the VSX-D811s, and I have not had any problems, I am currently using Klipsch reference speakers (lots of sound from low power). I was using 6ohm Pioneer speakers as fronts (about 14yrs old) and some advents for rear surrounds and polks for side surrounds. I havne't had any issues with amp error. Try only using 2 speakers (fronts) and set them to small run for a while, then add in the sides run the same time same music/ht passages and see what happens. Probably are dipping into lower ohms than just 6 during some passages in the music/ht drawing more power than the receiver can dish out. If you have speakers set to large change them to small or just leave fronts as large and set rest to small. If you have a good sub you probably won't notice the difference Good luck |
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New member Username: SicwithitMountain Top, PA USA Post Number: 1 Registered: Oct-05 | It seems there is a similar problem with these Pioneer SX series. I have a Pioneer SX-D412 and it has been working fine until I was listening to music and the darn thing just clicked off! I turned it on and the ever-so-annoying "amp error" comes up. Everytime I turn it on the same message comes up and it shuts off. Its well over warranty. I have been all over the web with this message and can't seem to find anything that usefull. There is NOTHING plugged into the back and the message still comes up. Need help please! |
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cheezit Unregistered guest | I was getting the same message from my Pioneer VSX-D711 "amp err". I took the cover off, found the relay that was turning off (the only black one) popped the top off soldered the contacts together. It has been working perfectly ever since. |
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New member Username: OliveiccPost Number: 1 Registered: Dec-05 | Gen, I'm still getting the message "AMP ERR", cold you someone help me on this? The model of my receive is also Pioneer VSX-D711!! Thanks, |
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Unregistered guest | I just wanted to add a "me too". I have the vsx-d711, running with the included speakers and heavy speaker wire. Setup has not changed since I bought the system about 2 years ago. AMP ERROR has been happening faster and faster - used to be after several hours of running at a medium volume (~50%). Now happens after less than a half hour. I was hoping it was something easy - maybe internal dust and heat buildup. Now I am starting to worry with all the other reports I am seeing online, it looks like a bad design or faulty components. |
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Anonymous | OK, it's not a speaker impedance load issue, or wiring, etc., that's a load of crap. Bad product i.e. circuit board, bad design, bad support. They won't tell you the truth either. Mine has been "repaired" twice. After about 2 weeks, it goes right back to doing it. Who wants to keep unwiring all of their stuff over and over??? Just go buy a new one and count your losses. |
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Henrik Unregistered guest | I have a VSX-C300 that had the "AMP ERR" problem, but I removed the PCBs and found that the actual amplifier circuit (the two big ones that are screwed to the big heatsink in the middle) had bad solderings. I solder them again and it started working without problem. This might be the solution to many of your problems when it shows AMP ERR when no speakers are connected to the device. This problem is likely to happen if the amplifier curicuts are screwed to the heatsink before the heatsink is screwed to the chassi. |
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Unregistered guest | I have a vsx-D412 and have the same excact error AMP ERROR. I have had three different units that the company keeps replacing for me and have tried NUMEROUS different types of speakers. Getting expensive. I will never buy another Pioneer. One thing tho I dont know how to check the fuse can someone tell me where they are? |
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mikem1234 Unregistered guest | I had the same amp err message and was skeptical that a loose wire could be the cause. It never seems to be quite so simple or even better - inexpensive to fix, but that's what it was. Always check the wires. Also - I heard some on and off crackling in the speakers for about a week before this happened. Thats obviously a good indication of the loose wire. |
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New member Username: Tom1245Post Number: 1 Registered: Apr-06 | Does anyone know where I can find a free download for the Pioneer VSX C300 owners manual? |
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