Thanks Alan for the clarification, sorry if I misconstrued your comments.
That party does sound very memorable! Ian must be quite over the top.
I'm not sure the amp is overheating though. I picked up an spl meter and am measuring 90-100 dbls in HT (doesn't happen with music at this spl) when the protection fault kicks in, which can happen within a minute or so of initiating a movie (e.g., the intro to Hulk).
Thank you everyone, I appreciate your help and efforts to increase my knowledgeability, at this point it clearly seems to be an Emotiva issue so I will pursue it via their tech support, and of course will let you all know if there are any solutions found.