CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

jeffslife · Joined: 17 Apr 2010 Posts: 4190 Location: ohio usa

OK so I am running an integra 7.8 DTR. I have a crown amp driving the front speakers (which I thought would free up power to run the other 5 speakers.) The subs are on separate amps. Everything is set at THX 80 hz. All the speakers are rated to handle more than what I am throwing at them. All gains are set at zero.

I like the volume level at ZERO decibels, Even at 5.1 it is kicking out the protect circuit. It shouldnt be. What am I doing wrong ?

ecrabb · Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2013 6:44 pm Post subject:

Jeff, are the center and surrounds set to "small" or "large"?

What are the center and surrounds' impedance, and have you set the menu setting appropriately in Speaker Settings?

Also, are you running any of the individual channel gains hotter than normal? If so, 0dB isn't really 0dB.

SC

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2013 6:55 pm Post subject:

You can also disconnect each speaker one at a time to see if you can narrow it down to 1 channel. I'd say that yes, one speaker impedance isn't playing nice with the receiver.

jeffslife · Joined: 17 Apr 2010 Posts: 4190 Location: ohio usa

All speakers are 8 ohms and all gain adjustments are set at zero. Should the integra be set at 4 or 6 ohms ? It says this in the manual which is confusing to me.
If the impedance of any speaker is 4 ohms or more but
less than 6, set the Speaker Impedance to 4 ohms.

EDIT, I didnt see an option in the set up menu for a large or small center.

jeffslife · Joined: 17 Apr 2010 Posts: 4190 Location: ohio usa

Ok it says to set at 6 ohms if the speakers are between 4 to 16 ohms. thats what it is set at.

ecrabb · Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2013 7:54 pm Post subject:

OK, then setup is fine. Just wanted to make sure you didn't have some low-impedance speakers and driving the amp a bit too hard. Like Curt said, the best next step (I was waiting to have the basics covered) is to disconnect one speaker a time and play a clipe that will consistently make it go into protect mode and see if it's just one speaker causing the problem, or if merely having them all connected at the same time is causing the issue.

Oh, the center... It may not have a 'large/small' setting, but simply a crossover point, i.e. 80hz.

SC

jeffslife · Joined: 17 Apr 2010 Posts: 4190 Location: ohio usa

OK Thanks, I rased the crossover and didnt have any luck. I tried killing speakers and it still went into PROTECT. I am in the process now of using the 125 WPC of the Kenwood KR V990D to run the front surrounds. I set the Kenwood to stereo and ran the pre amp outs from the integra to the CD inputs on the Kenwood. It sounds really clear,its definitly louder. It shouldnt have any effect on the surround mode should it ? I mean why would the Kenwood be any different than any other amp. I see no reason why, but I dont know much about how these formats work.It should output whatever I input right ?

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2013 11:24 pm Post subject:

I'm guessing there's a fault in the internal amp. IF as you say, you disconnected all speakers, and the amp still shuts down, it's pooched. If you have enough external power amps, I'd go that route.

Frankly, to me, any external amp is better than the tiny amps they jam into a receiver. More headroom, reserve power, and plain balls. A guy can never have too many balls, right? Well, save for that guy that had a 100lb sack..... (google that one, I won't link to it).

jeffslife · Joined: 17 Apr 2010 Posts: 4190 Location: ohio usa

OK to be clear, I disconnected the speakers one at a time and it still went into PROTECT. I am using the Kenwood AVR like I stated earlier and it is working great. Just one more question, I have everything connected to an industrial power strip to avoid ground fault issues, It is rated at 15 amps. This is connected to a single ac outlet. Could the INTEGRA be starving for AC power ? Should I add another ac outlet and split up the power consumption ? Just wondering.

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2013 11:15 pm Post subject:

OK, now disconnect the pairs of speakers. LEft/Right and surround pairs.

This has nothing to do with AC power.

jeffslife · Joined: 17 Apr 2010 Posts: 4190 Location: ohio usa

You mean disconnect them from the current set up using multiple amps ? EDIT it is working the way it is now but the INTEGRA is only driving the center and (in 7.1 mode) the back surrounds.

jeffslife · Joined: 17 Apr 2010 Posts: 4190 Location: ohio usa

Ok so I wired it back up to the integra ( thank god for banana clips) and unplugged the speakers in pairs. Same problem. So I hooked it back up to the kenwood and it works fine so I guess I will just deal with it. Its really not a problem and it sounds great. Thank you Steve and Curt ! Still wondering if that 15 amp strip is enough, I guess it must be it aint kicking the breaker out .

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 12:51 am Post subject:

Nope, I don't buy it. Something is triggering the protect circuit...

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 12:58 am Post subject:

Just re-reading your original post, your protection kicks in at high volumes only? You may be clipping the amp.. badly.. for those circuits to kick in. Amps will clip long before you hear distortion, in fact the rule usually is, if you hear the speakers distorting, your volume level is WAYYY too high, and you're doing speaker damage already.

jeffslife · Joined: 17 Apr 2010 Posts: 4190 Location: ohio usa

I discovered tonite that it only does it when the AUDESSEY is on.

ecrabb · Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 3:28 pm Post subject:

jeffslife · Joined: 17 Apr 2010 Posts: 4190 Location: ohio usa

Thanks AGAIN Steve, I will figure out how to check the Audessy settings tonite and make the necessary adjustments. I really like the Audessy, It tweaks the surround in very well and very easily. There isnt a lot of difference in the distance of the speakers except on the front surrounds, they are about 4 foot closer but thats because I am limited on one side by a wall and I cant move i further back.
I dont hear any speaker that is low on the mid bass range I will check the numbers tonite and probably be bugging you with more questions later tonite. I REALLY love that Integra amp its sweet. Also I know what you mean about the Crown amps being loud, I installed a switch to turn off the fans on the front of the amp. I couldnt run Audessey with the crown running because there was too much noise. Once I am up and running though I dont hear it,I believe it would be fine without the fans no harder than what I am driving it during normal use. The Integra throws some heat though,I think it could use a fan.

ecrabb · Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 4:41 pm Post subject:

Yes, the Integras run hot. I've been told its the video processing hardware.

Yeah, I think you could easily get by with the Crown fans not running at all. A local guy I know wired a snap switch on his and mounted it in the tunnel of the Crown, so the fans are never one, but if it were to get hot, the fans will turn on. But, honestly... Mine never blow anything but cool air - even when I'm railing on it awhile. The things are designed to be used in hot sun on a 100-degree day driving big stage monitors. Our little HT speakers in our basements are nothing.

SC

macgyver655 · Joined: 22 Aug 2007 Posts: 8508

Try reducing the IntelliVolume setting on the inputs your using.