I am running m60tis, VP150 and 4 qs8s. I just experienced a receiver shutdown when I was watching a movie with a very low bass. The receiver went to "PROTECTED" mode. Does this mean that my amp needs more power to drive the M60s? I asked futureshop and they suggested that I get some power bar from Monster Cable. They guarantee that that will solve the problem reducing the power noise going to the amp.

Any advise would be appreciated.

Cheers...

What kind of receiver is it? It's much more likely that it's shorting out. Double check your cabling and make sure there are no loose strands.

My receiver is HK AVR335. I tried it few times and it happens when the bass is FULL. When I throttle it a bit, it was fine and shutdown didn't happen.

Cheers.

I mean when I throttle down the bass (3/4s of full), the shutdown doesn't happen.

DB, the first piece of advice is to totally ignore that ridiculous suggestion from Futureshop. Next, as Ken suggested, reconnect your speakers just in case there's a loose strand of wire. Your 335 should drive your M60s easily, but turning the bass tone control on the 335 all the way up, if that's what you mean, is hardly a recommended way to listen since the bass would almost certainly be unnaturally boomy. Use it more sparingly.

Yeah, I'd call Harman/Kardon. You may need repair.

Do you have a subwoofer? Are you running all your speakers large or small or both? What is your crossover set at?

I get the feeling that he doesn't have a sub from the fact that he's turning the bass all the way up. I think it's time to look for a sub after you check out your speaker wires for shorts.

Gents. I don't have a sub yet as I will be moving the hometheater to the basement in 2 months (under construction). I would like to get it then so that I can test the sub or return it when I am not satisfied. But I am looking at the SVS or Axiom subs.

My amp is just less than a month old... It's awesome with the M60ti except on this problem.

I agree with all here, making a special nod to JohnK's suggestion. You're probably trying to compensate too much for your lack of a subwoofer by driving your M60's bass very hard. The low end (bass) is the hardest on your receiver's amps. That's the beauty of a sub. First, it adds the low end no speaker can duplicate. Second, it takes a great deal of load off of your amps, almost guranteeing it not have the shut down. Unless, as kcarlile suggested, double check for loose speaker cables. I know when I had my Yamaha it had a sequence that it ran through to check if the speaker wire was connected properly. If it detected a bad connection it would shut the receiver down. So I'd certainly start there. It's quick, simple, and free

And I'd also second that you don't need a Monster Power strip to solve all your problems. Don't get me wrong, I have one. But I don't think that's the "solution" to your problem. You can't necessarily blame them though. They may have just been brainwashed to tell you that as a solution in order to sell more Moster stuff.

Good luck! Let us know if any of those things resolve the issue.

Hi dbbx0,

MisFit Toy is correct. When you are not running a subwoofer and you boost the bass that much with the bass control, you are asking the H/K's amplifier to deliver at least three times as much power at low frequencies (if you are using 6 dB of bass boost, which would approximate your setting of the bass control). The H/K's protection circuit senses too much current flowing through the output transistors and shuts it down to prevent it from overheating or blowing the output transistors.

Get a subwoofer!! And if you like really deep bass that much (most people do), think about the Axiom EP500. It's spectacular.

Regards,

Hi again dbbx,

Good heavens! I just read your post again and realized the shutdown was happening when you used full bass boost. If the tone controls on the H/K give a maximum of 10 dB boost with full rotation (fairly common; check the specs), the H/K amp would have to deliver ten times as much power to the M60s at low frequencies. I'm surprised it doesn't shut down with 3/4 boost. Certainly testimony to the beefy output of H/Ks but full boost is asking too much.

Regards,

M60's with the bass cranked all the way up must also sound like poop.

One of the things I love about the M60's is their clean, tight bass. Mucking with the tone controls/bass boost is going to turn that tight bass into a muddy, yucky mess.

Start saving your pennies and get a good sub.

Thanks for the advise. I am definitely getting the subs but like I said, I am waiting till I get my hometheater down to the basement (just finishing mudding and taping right now). In two months I should be able to. I just can't get the subs now because I would like to make sure that the subs that I will be getting will be enough for the basement. I can't get the subs now and return it after two months. I only have 12x10 room right now.

For now I just wanted to make sure that I don't have a mismatch problem between my HK and axiom speakers.

Just so everyone is on the same page, are you saying that it only shuts down when the tone controls are set to full bass boost ?

If so, I guess the consensus message is "yeah, no surprise, turn down the bass boost "

The bass boost on my receiver...ok I'm not even sure what it's set too... I think +3? out of +6?.... although if you check my individual speaker settings, the sub is at +2.5, this setting goes all the way to +12...

cranking it high = death to receiver.

it's that simple.

- D

EDIT: I just checked... my "Bass Boost" (that may not be exactly what it's called" is at 0db! not even on! eek .. I have a powerful sub

- D

???

OK, now I'm really confused. Subs are normally self powered, so turning up the sub output level should have ZERO effect on the receiver.

Daphoid, you're confusing us... unless you're the same person who started the thread. Turning up the sub output level = instant death for the receiver ? Huh ??

Ok, my receiver, can control bass boost across the board from -6DB to +6DB. it ALSO can control the output of my subwoofer pre-out, from -12DB to +12DB, FINALLY my subwoofer has it's own gain knob which affects it's volume as well

Basically the only setting the original poster should be woried about (since he/she has no sub) is the "bass boost" or whatever the receiver calls it, boosting the bass to all the channels = BAD as Alan mentioned.

- D