Zone 3 issue?

[ParadigmDawg]

Has anyone ever had an issue with just 1 zone of their AVR?

We had friends over for the race yesterday and I had the patio speakers on while I was grilling. I noticed the music was cutting on and off. I asked my wife how long that had been occuring and she said every since they had been out there. I walked in and over to my AVR and it was audibly kicking on and off, the other 2 zones were fine.

This is a sudden issue, any thoughts?

 

[Alex2507]

To see if the problem is with the speakers and/or wiring, hook up spare speakers with different wire to your AVR as a test. If the AVR runs those fine check the resistance of each speaker's voice coil and continuity/resistance of your speaker wire by splicing the + and - together at one end and taking a reading at the other. That's a MarkW trick. Okay, he probably didn't invent it ... then again he is pretty old.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

That's going to cause me to have to go out in the rain, get on a ladder and disconnect the speakers. That sounds like fun.

What the heck takes a resistance reading? I really hope it not my $50 speakers.

 

[Alex2507]

That's going to cause me to have to go out in the rain, get on a ladder and disconnect the speakers. That sounds like fun.

What the heck takes a resistance reading?

Stay inside. Disconnect the speaker wire at your AVR and test the resistance of each speaker and wire (meter hooked up to + and -) with an Ohm meter or multi-meter. Cheap multi-meters are $10 and nicer ones are $25 at Sears and probably at Radio Shack. At rat shack you can probably get the sales girl to show you how to use it.

Man Card Demerit: 3 points

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Not a chance of me pulling out the credenza again, I would rather be on a ladder in the rain.

Got 10 bucks saying that I can get the Rat Shack girl over here and have her test it without me buying anything....

Man Card bonus: 4 points

 

[Nomo]

Not a chance of me pulling out the credenza again, I would rather be on a ladder in the rain.

Got 10 bucks saying that I can get the Rat Shack girl over here and have her test it without me buying anything....

Man Card bonus: 4 points

You have girls at your Rat Shack? Do they have facial hair?
Either way I'm livin' in the wrong state.
All we got here is geeks and old guys.

 

[highfigh]

Has anyone ever had an issue with just 1 zone of their AVR?

We had friends over for the race yesterday and I had the patio speakers on while I was grilling. I noticed the music was cutting on and off. I asked my wife how long that had been occuring and she said every since they had been out there. I walked in and over to my AVR and it was audibly kicking on and off, the other 2 zones were fine.

This is a sudden issue, any thoughts?

Do you have a volume control on the wall for the patio speakers? It may be that the Zone 3 volume is too high on the receiver because it was adjusted when the wall mounted VC was set lower.

Now that I see it's raining there, I'd be looking at the speaker terminals, wiring and whether any of it is wet.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

No VC on the patio speakers, they run from the AVR to a small amp.

The are well protected from rain.

 

[Alex2507]

Move the credenza.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

But Dad.........

Move the credenza.

 

[bmf795]

Are the speakers running in surround? When I use my patio speakers, I change the avr to 2 channel.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

No, they are the main and only speakers for zone 3. This system has worked this way for 3 years, the problem is new.

Are the speakers running in surround? When I use my patio speakers, I change the avr to 2 channel.

 

[Alex2507]

No, they are the main and only speakers for zone 3. This system has worked this way for 3 years, the problem is new.

Then get a ladder and check the speakers with an ohm meter and you can splice into the speaker wire there and hook up other speakers to see where the fault lies. After three years of your abuse those speakers may be hurting. Didn't you want to upgrade those anyway?

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Speakers seem fine via multi-meter.

Stay inside. Disconnect the speaker wire at your AVR and test the resistance of each speaker and wire (meter hooked up to + and -) with an Ohm meter or multi-meter. Cheap multi-meters are $10 and nicer ones are $25 at Sears and probably at Radio Shack. At rat shack you can probably get the sales girl to show you how to use it.

Man Card Demerit: 3 points

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Seems to be the little amp. It runs fine at louder volumes but once turned down lower than -27 (AVR setting) it doesn't respond to the signal and shuts itself off. This is a new issue because I could always play it very low in the past. Any options for this?

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Wait, I may have figured out the solution. I cranked the gain down on the amp and raised the volume on the AVR. Seems to be tricking it and it is now playing at low volumes.