Tom Adams Posted November 10, 2001 Share Posted November 10, 2001 In preparation for the installation of my new wall unit (it's finally here - YIPPEE! ), I decided to perform some experiments to see if I could isolate the source or conclude what was making my Denon 3300 shut itself down. Taking DD2's advice, I tried various speaker hook-ups to the Denon in various combinations. For the test, I used my Heresy's, the Cornwalls, and the RS3's. In a nutshell, it's got to be the Denon's surround 'A' out that's the culprit. Here's what I tried: First of all, using 9v battery, speaker polarity was verified to rule out incorrect speaker wire hook-up to speakers. Side note - banana plugs made all this testing so much simpler. Thank ged they were invented. 1. All speakers hooked up "by the book" (BTB). Volume increased progressively. At -19 unit shuts down. 2. Surround speakers and mains swapped with wires hooked up BTB. Volume increased progressively. At -18 unit shuts down. 3. Mains & surrounds swapped back to their proper hook-up with mains hooked-up BTB. Leads for surrounds are switched - i.e. positive speaker lead to negative Denon output and vice versa. Volume brought up progressively to +10 and held. No shut down. 4. Mains & surrounds swapped using hook-up described in #3 above. Volume increased to +10. Again, no shut down. 5. Mains & surrounds swapped back to their proper hook-up with all speaker + leads connected to the Denon's negative outputs and vice versa. Volume increased to +10 and no shut down. 6. For verification, many of the above hook-ups were tried again and each time, I got the same results. BTW, I didn't mention the center channel, but its speaker leads were also moved from positive to negative along with the various combinations of hook-ups I tried. One thing I haven't tried is the 'B' surround outputs. Not sure I will, but now that I've mentioned it, it'll probably bug me. The main thing is that I know it's not the speakers for it didn't matter what was hooked up to the Denon's surround 'A' output "backwards", the unit would always shut down. Now, why it does that is waaaaay beyond me. All I know is that I need to hook-up my surround speakers "backwards", if you will, in order to keep the Denon from shutting itself down. Of course, this means I'll have to also hook-up the mains & center "backwards" as well to preserve correct phasing. Tom Adams Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougdrake2 Posted November 10, 2001 Share Posted November 10, 2001 Tom - Wow, how's your back (and your ears) from all the testing? Have you ruled out a short in the surround sound wiring? Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Adams Posted November 10, 2001 Author Share Posted November 10, 2001 Hey DD2 - Actually, the testing wasn't too bad since the equipment was laying about on the floor and easy to get to. OTOH, my ears took a minor beating. I mean, +10 volume into a pair of Cornwalls is freakin' el-oh-you-dee LOUD!!! I can't say beyond a shadow of a doubt that there's no short in the surround wiring, but I really don't think there is cause the unit keeps playing when the surrounds are wired "backwards". I'm also certain I tried every possible speaker connection combination. But now that you've put the bug in me ear, I might just try hooking up the Heresy's as surrounds and the Cornwalls as mains and eliminate the RS3's from the equation. Hmmmmm.... Well crap - gee thanks DD2, now I got more testing to do. Sheesh. Tom Adams Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted November 10, 2001 Share Posted November 10, 2001 Tom, I doubt the problem is your shorts. I still maintain the opinion that it has something to do with your socks. fini Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted November 15, 2001 Share Posted November 15, 2001 I once saw a short in a parallel printer cable short out several PC mother boards before they found the problem ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forresthump Posted November 15, 2001 Share Posted November 15, 2001 You mean you haven't checked to see if there a short in a speaker cable? Happens a lot even with some new ones. And how long has this been going Can you figure out how to test the wires? Take all off then connect each to a front or any connection really. The bad one would trip the breaker. ------------------ go forth & hump the world Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eq_shadimar Posted November 15, 2001 Share Posted November 15, 2001 Tom - I may have missed something here but is it possible that your amp is f**ked? I don't remember all the ins and outs of your troubleshooting so I was just wondering if you have had your amp checked? Laters, ------------------ ...wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world... My Home Theater Page Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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