Yamaha RXV-659 Setup Issues

[Hbcueducated]

I started setting up my new receiver and have encountered the following issues: 1) get a speaker wiring error, 2) does not recognize my surrounds, 3) center channel plays, but the when I turn the power on the little graphic on the receiver display only shows the front and left speakers!

I'm using Monster XP wire and I've wired each speaker the same way. I've checked this four times. I suspect the speaker wiring error is related to the surrounds, but I can't figure out why.

I tried the YPAO Auto Setup and I got loud distinct tones from all speakers except one of the surrounds, which was kinda weak and then the unit shuts off.

Any thoughts?

 

[TLS Guy]

I started setting up my new receiver and have encountered the following issues: 1) get a speaker wiring error, 2) does not recognize my surrounds, 3) center channel plays, but the when I turn the power on the little graphic on the receiver display only shows the front and left speakers!

I'm using Monster XP wire and I've wired each speaker the same way. I've checked this four times. I suspect the speaker wiring error is related to the surrounds, but I can't figure out why.

I tried the YPAO Auto Setup and I got loud distinct tones from all speakers except one of the surrounds, which was kinda weak and then the unit shuts off.

Any thoughts?

Do you know the speaker with the weak sound to be a good speaker? Test it on something else. It sounds as if this speaker my have a shorted voice coil and is activating the amp protection. That would also account for the wiring error display. If all the speakers are good and you have made no short circuits, than you likely have a defective receiver.

 

[Hbcueducated]

Well, it seems like the receiver is faulty. I'm listening to the suspect (left) surround on another receiver and it sounds just fine. As a matter of fact, I had decided to give everything another once over. I played a CD and music was coming from all channels! However, the signal was very weak from the left surround, which prompted me to test it on another receiver.

Also, according to the graphic on the receiver display it's still only recognizing the two fronts when I power it up and play a DVD, CD, etc. And get this, when I cranked up the volume a little it shut off!!

 

[junchoon]

your amp graphic will shows the input and the DSP u are using. even if you have 7.1 speakers, but if the DSP program is stereo, the graphic will always show L+R. graphic does NOT show the speaker output. if you have a DVD with 5.1 or more soundtracks, the graphic will change to 5.1. try this, when u play a 5.1 DD track from a DVD, press the button 5 on the amp's remote to select the standard DSP. the amp will automatically select the matching decoding DSP. in this case, you will be given Dolby Digital, and you will see 5.1 "speakers" showing on the amp. this is provided u r using optical/digital input.

the manual should explain this more clearly.

as for the amp shutting down (either u crank up the volume or not), most likely the polarity in one of your speaker is wrong. the Yamaha RX-V659 will shut down itself to prevent damage to speaker(s) and/or amp.

it happened to me before, as RX-V659 keep on shutting down after i turn up the volume - caused by my left channel wrongly wired.

good luck!

hth,
wps

 

[DavidG]

I have the same receiver and when I ran the YPAO I had polarity issues on a couple of speakers, even though sound was coming through them. I just reversed the speaker wire inputs and ran YPAO again and it corrected the issues. These polarity issues could also cause the receiver to shut down if the volume is turned up.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Be careful doing that. Many speakers will cause the YPAO to give you a reversed polarity error (the manual even tells you this). If you know your speakers are wired properly just ignore the error.

I have the same receiver and when I ran the YPAO I had polarity issues on a couple of speakers, even though sound was coming through them. I just reversed the speaker wire inputs and ran YPAO again and it corrected the issues. These polarity issues could also cause the receiver to shut down if the volume is turned up.

 

[Hbcueducated]

your amp graphic will shows the input and the DSP u are using. even if you have 7.1 speakers, but if the DSP program is stereo, the graphic will always show L+R. graphic does NOT show the speaker output. if you have a DVD with 5.1 or more soundtracks, the graphic will change to 5.1. try this, when u play a 5.1 DD track from a DVD, press the button 5 on the amp's remote to select the standard DSP. the amp will automatically select the matching decoding DSP. in this case, you will be given Dolby Digital, and you will see 5.1 "speakers" showing on the amp. this is provided u r using optical/digital input.

the manual should explain this more clearly.

as for the amp shutting down (either u crank up the volume or not), most likely the polarity in one of your speaker is wrong. the Yamaha RX-V659 will shut down itself to prevent damage to speaker(s) and/or amp.

it happened to me before, as RX-V659 keep on shutting down after i turn up the volume - caused by my left channel wrongly wired.

good luck!

hth,
wps

Junchoon, I will need the luck. I am using the digital audio connection for the DVD. I did what you suggested. No matter what DSP I select for the DVD, only the L and R fronts are displayed. I did this for a movie and a CD in the DVD.

I am positive the center channel and the two fronts are wired correctly. Maybe I screwed up on one of the surrounds, but after 5 checks, I can't see where it might be.

Man, I never thought this would be so taxing. At least it's good to know somebody has their amp up and running!

 

[TLS Guy]

I will need the luck. I am using the digital audio connection for the DVD. I did what you suggested. No matter what DSP I select for the DVD, only the L and R fronts are displayed. I did this for a movie and a CD in the DVD.

I am positive the center channel and the two fronts are wired correctly. Maybe I screwed up on one of the surrounds, but after 5 checks, I can't see where it might be.

Man, I never thought this would be so taxing. At least it's good to know somebody has their amp up and running!

Wiring a speaker out of phase will not damage an amp. It just sounds bad. You can have a wiring error with many speakers that are wired correctly. If a speaker has second order high and low pass crossovers, then the tweeter is usually wired out of phase. The reason is that the bass driver will lag 90 degrees and the tweeter will lead 90 degrees, putting the woofer and tweeter 180 degrees out of phase at crossover. This causes an excessive response dip at crossover. Reversing the tweeter polarity gives better output at crossover.

 

[junchoon]

Junchoon, I will need the luck. I am using the digital audio connection for the DVD. I did what you suggested. No matter what DSP I select for the DVD, only the L and R fronts are displayed. I did this for a movie and a CD in the DVD.

I am positive the center channel and the two fronts are wired correctly. Maybe I screwed up on one of the surrounds, but after 5 checks, I can't see where it might be.

Man, I never thought this would be so taxing. At least it's good to know somebody has their amp up and running!

oops, sorry, my mistake - it has little to do with the DSP.

normally, a DVD will have multiple selection of soundtracks, from DD 2.0, 5.1, to DTS 5.1. please make sure u select a 5.1 track from a DVD player, and not a DD 2.0, then press 5 on the amp's remote. it should work.

do make sure u only connect using digital connection and output from DVD as RAW if that helps, and certainly do not down sample your 5.1 track to stereo. what DVD player r u using?

it's a great amp, don't throw it out yet.

hth,
wps

 

[Hbcueducated]

Junchoon, it worked. Now, I have to figure out why the left surround has such low output. I have the option of sending it back to the vendor for a replacement. Based on the great review I've read about this puppy and the fact that I bought the IPOD dock, I'm sticking with the Yamaha.

 

[junchoon]

great to know that the amp shows the right graphic now.

on to the other problem...

I am positive the center channel and the two fronts are wired correctly. Maybe I screwed up on one of the surrounds, but after 5 checks, I can't see where it might be.

please note that the yammy have the option to change the gain or decible of EACH speaker individually. u might have accidentally pressed the "TITLE" button on the remote and selected the SL and changed the db to lower then the rest. if the surround right (SR) channel is at +1 db, the surround left (SL) is usually the same at +1 or 0. if you see something like -3db then this might be causing the low volume from SL.

but seeing that yr amp shuts down when turning the volume up, i suspect the SL wiring or the connector might be the the main cause. u did swap the SR speaker to check the SL wiring, correct? in any case, use another wire to test the SL out.

if u checked 'em all, then the amp is at fault.

hth,
wps

 

[Hbcueducated]

Yeah, that is a relief. I'm going to re-do the wiring on the surrounds this weekend. I need to step back from this for a day. I did check the gain/decible on the surrounds as I suspected that might be the culprit initially, but both are set at the same level.

Great advice, dude!

 

[Hbcueducated]

Success!

Well the final verdict is in and there was a problem with the wiring of one of the surrounds. Everything is connected and playing properly.

I learned and benefited from everyone's posts. You guys are awesome.

Previously, I've owned a Denon and there's been a bit of learning curve for the Yamaha.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Glad you are getting it worked out. I find the 659 to be a great little AVR and it will likley last for years if my experience with other Yamaha AVRs hold true. I guess any newer AVR can seem quite complicated as they will do so much stuff. I find it best to leave the owners manual in the bathroom for the 1st 2 months so you have plenty of time to read about it undisturbed! I dont use any DSP modes except with the ipod so it is pretty straightforward. 2 ch stereo for music, standard surround-PL2 X for movies, and enhanced 7 ch for ipod. My Harmony is programed to select the proper settings depending on what I am doing.

 

[fmw]

These complex products can baffle anyone. I can't count the number of times I've failed to connect something so that it worked in a modern receiver. Head scratching, references to the manual and starting again from scratch have always solved the problem but, for me, at least, a perfect installation hasn't ever happened to me.

 

[junchoon]

that is great! glad things worked out for you eventually!

wps

 

[TLS Guy]

that is great! glad things worked out for you eventually!

wps

That goes for me too!