Receiver shuts off when hooking 2 Front Speakers

[nocampo]

I just bought a new Yamaha RXV381 receiver and trying to set up my existing speakers which is an Infinity RS5 model and having trouble on how to make it work. I did trouble shoot each speakers and all work individually, but when I try to plug them all together and put up the volume (not really loud enough) the receiver shuts off, when i turn it back on i got the "Check SP wires" ( im pretty sure the wires are ok ). I tried removing 1 Front speaker and crank up the volume and works fine and it can handle a very loud volume. Im suspecting that my receiver can't handle the two Front speakers plug at the same time.

Hope you guys can share some inputs.

 

[DD66000]

Could be one set of speaker wire is shorting out.
Also check to make sure both speakers are wired in phase.

 

[mtrycrafts]

...
Also check to make sure both speakers are wired in phase.

That would just make them sound weird, not shut the receiver off.

 

[DD66000]

With Yamaha, I would not exclude anything.
As for my first thought, I'd be trying another set of wires.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I just bought a new Yamaha RXV381 receiver and trying to set up my existing speakers which is an Infinity RS5 model and having trouble on how to make it work. I did trouble shoot each speakers and all work individually, but when I try to plug them all together and put up the volume (not really loud enough) the receiver shuts off, when i turn it back on i got the "Check SP wires" ( im pretty sure the wires are ok ). I tried removing 1 Front speaker and crank up the volume and works fine and it can handle a very loud volume. Im suspecting that my receiver can't handle the two Front speakers plug at the same time.

Hope you guys can share some inputs.

You have to troubleshoot your setup again.
Did you try each speaker by itself on each channel?
Does it work with both speakers at low volume?
Do you have an SPL meter? Perhaps you are driving that low power receiver too hard.

What powered those speakers before?

 

[markw]

First thing I would do is to see if it happens with only one pair of speakers.

You do realize that it's not designed to run two set of front speakers, don't you?

If it were, it would have some way to select which pair (or both) of speakers you want to run and, even more telling, speaker terminals for two sets of speakers.

Your receiver has neither.

 

[nocampo]

You have to troubleshoot your setup again.
Did you try each speaker by itself on each channel? YES
Does it work with both speakers at low volume? YES
Do you have an SPL meter? Perhaps you are driving that low power receiver too hard. I have no idea

What powered those speakers before? Pioneer VSX D1S

I will try to troubleshoot again, and check my wires individually.

 

[nocampo]

First thing I would do is to see if it happens with only one pair of speakers.

You do realize that it's not designed to run two set of front speakers, don't you?

If it were, it would have some way to select which pair (or both) of speakers you want to run and, even more telling, speaker terminals for two sets of speakers.

Your receiver has neither.

Its no 2 sets of front speakers. It's a pair ( standard 5.1 setup)

 

[TLS Guy]

Its no 2 sets of front speakers. It's a pair ( standard 5.1 setup)

To be clear which RS-5 speakers are we talking about.

These: -

or these: -

If it is the first set then no receiver will drive them, as the impedance drops to around 1 ohm.

I can't find a lot of info on the newer ones. They are rated nominal at 8 ohm but they will not be. They will be 4 ohm or less.

Check your wiring very carefully. If there is no problem, then you have the wrong speakers with the wrong receiver, or you are playing at too high a level.

I suspect that receiver is not up to the load offered by those speakers. Receivers in the price range of that Yamaha are not much use. That receiver is not 4 ohm rated. You know darn well that for two speakers in MTM with the quoted sensitivity they will not be 8 ohm. Manufacturers lie through their teeth on speaker specs.

 

[nocampo]

To be clear which RS-5 speakers are we talking about.

These: -

or these: -

If it is the first set then no receiver will drive them, as the impedance drops to around 1 ohm.

I can't find a lot of info on the newer ones. They are rated nominal at 8 ohm but they will not be. They will be 4 ohm or less.

Check your wiring very carefully. If there is no problem, then you have the wrong speakers with the wrong receiver, or you are playing at too high a level.

I suspect that receiver is not up to the load offered by those speakers. Receivers in the price range of that Yamaha are not much use. That receiver is not 4 ohm rated. You know darn well that for two speakers in MTM with the quoted sensitivity they will not be 8 ohm. Manufacturers lie through their teeth on speaker specs.

I have the black one. their 8 ohm, 15-200W

Just an update,i tried to re-splice the speaker wires so that it would be clean, and it works! both front speakers are now working on a higher level sound. and putting it all together with the rest of the speakers sounds great!.

Thanks for your help!

 

[DD66000]

I have the black one. their 8 ohm, 15-200W

Just an update,i tried to re-splice the speaker wires so that it would be clean, and it works! both front speakers are now working on a higher level sound. and putting it all together with the rest of the speakers sounds great!.

Thanks for your help!

Yep, always try the simple things first.
Most certainly sounded like a wire problem to me.

 

[highfigh]

I have the black one. their 8 ohm, 15-200W

Just an update,i tried to re-splice the speaker wires so that it would be clean, and it works! both front speakers are now working on a higher level sound. and putting it all together with the rest of the speakers sounds great!.

Just to clarify, by 'splice', do you mean "make the cable run longer by adding a second piece" or do you mean that you trimmed (stripped) about 1/2" of insulation from each end, twisted the wires and inserted them into the terminal? If you mean the latter, that's fine but if you made the wires longer, don't, unless it's done in a way that makes shorting impossible.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I have the black one. their 8 ohm, 15-200W

Just an update,i tried to re-splice the speaker wires so that it would be clean, and it works! both front speakers are now working on a higher level sound. and putting it all together with the rest of the speakers sounds great!.

Thanks for your help!

Well, that is good news. You may want to use banana plugs on both ends to prevent strand shortings.

 

[lovinthehd]

I have the black one. their 8 ohm, 15-200W

Just an update,i tried to re-splice the speaker wires so that it would be clean, and it works! both front speakers are now working on a higher level sound. and putting it all together with the rest of the speakers sounds great!.

Thanks for your help!

...or maybe consider getting rid of the spliced wires and run a new continuous length.....

 

[KenM10759]

...or maybe consider getting rid of the spliced wires and run a new continuous length.....

Agreed. Decent speaker wire is dirt cheap compared to a shorted out, blown up receiver!

 

[mtrycrafts]

...

Just an update,i tried to re-splice the speaker wires so that it would be clean, ...!

What do you mean by re-splice? A slice of two length of wire or just the ends were cut off and re-stripped.

 

[Greengecko]

I realize it's been a while since this post, but I found a cause for this that I hope would help someone. I've been having the same "Check SP wires" message for many months, very frustrating. In the middle of so many movies, my receiver (Yamaha Aventage RX-A720) would display that message and then shut down. I had checked the external speaker wires many times and found nothing. I have everything connected with banana plugs so it's very unlikely to have stray wire strands hanging out. So I finally got inspired yesterday to really look into it. I put my ear next to every driver in my speakers and found the left front (a JBL S38II) woofer not producing any sound. So I opened the speaker, took a good look around and found something interesting -- the tinsel leads had gradually leaned in toward each other were touching, just barely, causing a short. So I re-soldered them to curve away from each other and problem solved!

 

[mtrycrafts]

I realize it's been a while since this post, but I found a cause for this that I hope would help someone. I've been having the same "Check SP wires" message for many months, very frustrating. In the middle of so many movies, my receiver (Yamaha Aventage RX-A720) would display that message and then shut down. I had checked the external speaker wires many times and found nothing. I have everything connected with banana plugs so it's very unlikely to have stray wire strands hanging out. So I finally got inspired yesterday to really look into it. I put my ear next to every driver in my speakers and found the left front (a JBL S38II) woofer not producing any sound. So I opened the speaker, took a good look around and found something interesting -- the tinsel leads had gradually leaned in toward each other were touching, just barely, causing a short. So I re-soldered them to curve away from each other and problem solved!

Great, thanks for this update. Looking inside speaker enclosure is usually not thought about but perhaps now will try to remember.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

I realize it's been a while since this post, but I found a cause for this that I hope would help someone. I've been having the same "Check SP wires" message for many months, very frustrating. In the middle of so many movies, my receiver (Yamaha Aventage RX-A720) would display that message and then shut down. I had checked the external speaker wires many times and found nothing. I have everything connected with banana plugs so it's very unlikely to have stray wire strands hanging out. So I finally got inspired yesterday to really look into it. I put my ear next to every driver in my speakers and found the left front (a JBL S38II) woofer not producing any sound. So I opened the speaker, took a good look around and found something interesting -- the tinsel leads had gradually leaned in toward each other were touching, just barely, causing a short. So I re-soldered them to curve away from each other and problem solved!

Nice work!
I had a pair of of S-38ii’s for surrounds for a looong time. They’re great speakers. I loved their imaging.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Come to think of it, I am wondering if that was really wire contact or the solder creating whiskers, really, and arced. this can be a problem.