H/K 520 shutting down!!! (1 Viewer)

[BradJudy]

Just to balance the feedback, I have not had any problems with my H/K AVR-520 randomly shutting down.

 

[Jo_M]

I have had a 520 for two days now. If the shutdowns occur I hope it's within the 30 day return time.

 

[Ryan Wright]

So, this is a little scary. I had my heart set on a 325. If H/Ks have build problems... I don't know.

Then again, maybe it wouldn't affect me. All of my HT equipment is on a SmartUPS 1400.

One thought: Are you sure this isn't a heat issue? My current receiver (TEAC) used to shutdown on me any time I pushed it - usually during a good movie with heavy bass. It is mounted in a 19" rack and too much heat was building up. I simply bought one of those clip-on fans for $5 at Home Depot, clipped it to a mount point on my rack, plugged it into the switched 120v output of the amp and directed the air stream across it. Haven't had a problem since.

Anyone else who has a H/K receiver and has NOT had this problem, I'd like to hear it. I'm now worried about my upcoming purchase.

 

[Ted Drain]

I've got the H/K 520 and it's only shutdown on me 1 time. Of course the whole house got hit with a surge/spike/black out or something and the TV, receiver, and a computer that was on all shut down. The H/K has performed great with every piece of music and DVD I've tried.

It does put a out a LOT of heat though. I had it mounted in one of the shelves of the TV stand. There wasn't a lot of clearance and it was really getting hot during movies. I've since moved it out and am in the process of building a flexy-rack to hold all my components which should provide much better air flow. The heat didn't cause any problems that I could see but I'm sure it wasn't good for the long term performance of the receiver.

 

[DavidAM]

I've had my 520 for over a year and it has never shut down on me. It may sound like a bad problem reading this post because its happened to 10 people, but think of the thousands of people that bought the 520 and has never had a problem. I really wouldn't blame H/K on quality too much....they've really shaped up and the 520 is a solid unit. Remember this is the 3rd year for this model (500, 510 and 520) so most all the bugs were worked out in the 510 and any others were worked out with the 520, so buying a 520 or 525 should get you a solid unit.

 

[Steve Adams]

Well, my pioneer 810 is mounted in my rack just stacked below every other peice of equipment, i have to do this because it's the heaviest peice of equipment in my rack. It does not shut down even when driven hard on bass heavy movies and music. like I said earlier, I would not buy HK. They sound amazing but this reliability issue that has plauged them for a long time is not going away!

 

[MarkO]

I would be reluctant to buy another h/k also. Funny thing is if i was in the market for a new reciever I most likey would still buy h/k. Why?,,,, The amp section is still to this day mostly unchanged. I just love the sound of thier amps. Powerfull and clean.

 

[CraigF]

Agree. The H/K amps do tend to sound better to me than other receiver amps, and their receivers do have a lot of good features for the $$. I would (likely will) get another one.

Re the shutting down: the 8000 doesn't seem to do it (bigger amps), I have a 320 that doesn't do it (smaller amps). I run amps that are more powerful than the 520 amps (all put together) per channel on a 15A circuit, no shutdown or problems. It's a weird thing with the 520. As somebody mentioned, the relay, or the relay triggering (gets upset with AC line spikes or something, why the UPS may help, though a bad idea for sound quality), or a sensitive thermal trigger.

 

[MikeRP]

I think one thing eluded to here that could be a cause of shutdown is line voltage into the house.

Voltage drop for the feeder that supplies electric to your house is variable and in the age of deregulation - companies are not as concerned about the quality of your power supply especially residential power supply.

Electronic components are increasingly sensitive to voltage drops and excursions.

The only way to know for sure is to put monitoring equipment on your supply and see if the voltage drop occurs when you have a shutdown.

If your in an apartment, the voltage drop could occur because of the complex's electrical setup too and problems with its usage.

Just food for thought...........

BTW: I had a 520 and loved it. It never shutdown but I'm on a municipal electric system and the line voltage is high not low.

Mike

 

[Wyatt_Y]

HK 320 - just setting up as a processor to my Carver C1000 receiver for DPL-II for non-5.1 movies/TV and Logic-7 for CD's - which I am really impressed with both. But when watching the depth charge scene from U571 in DTS and comparing the Carver to the 320, it shut down 3 times at the exact same point - I was replaying the scene and probably had it louder than I've ever listened to it. I'm guessing minor voltage fluctuations due to the draw of the C1000 and Infitinity HPS 1000 sub which are all on the same circuit. The C1000 causes a momentary dimming of the lights when powered on...

FWIW - Wyatt

PS - I'm merely noting this - not complaining as I don't ever listen to movies at EXTEMELY loud levels anyway. I'm very happy with the purchase ($399).

 

[Ryan Wright]

The C1000 causes a momentary dimming of the lights when powered on...

Then I'm going to say with a high level of confidence that the H/K shut down due to a voltage drop. Looks like they're just extremely sensitive and need a nice solid power supply. Nothing wrong with that.
I'd think about putting that Carver on a dedicated circuit if it's dimming lights. Probably would be better for it's lifespan.

 

[MikeRP]

Ryan:

I agree with you in principle but probably some testing needs to be done to look at the current draw while the system is operating to make sure there is a problem with the present circuit before investing in a new circuit.

There may be other contributing factors to the voltage drop.


But, I agree that a dedicated circuit is something one should have for the theater if he's ready to invest in the wiring. I did several weeks ago and I'm very pleased.

I guess one needs to make sure the incoming power supply is not the problem. A new circuit wouldn't fix this issue. That's what I'm trying to say but not artfully.


Mike

 

[CraigF]

Ryan: Yes, audiophiles will give you lots of reasons for not using UPS's. Perhaps ask at an audiophile-specific board to get a good opinion sampling. The main one is that they don't put out clean sinusoidal AC, though some of the very expensive (large) ones are quite good. Most audiophiles even eschew any type of line filters for amplifiers as being sonically restrictive, prefer to connect directly to AC line if possible. Some will use AC power regenerators (not the same as a UPS) for their audio sources.

I am suggesting that the restrictive nature of your typical small UPS to load current surges plus its inherent filtering is what's keeping noise out of your HK and preventing the shutdown. Just a theory, mind you! Anyway, one has to consider the practical aspects, and you do what you have to do to make something work. For instance, I dedicate the circuit just to my A/V gear, nothing else on it. I do use a powerline filter for my HK unit. Two things that are really bad to have on an audio 120VAC circuit are fridge and furnace, motors that switch on and off randomly. Actually, I could go on and on, I'm a bit of an AC power freak, got lots of power tweaks here, I doubt there's anything better you can do for your sound quality than clean up the AC. It's not very sexy though, and often ignored.

I would suggest a good quality powerline filter instead of the UPS. They can be quite expensive. Not the type for small computers. Many report the relatively inexpensive Monster 2000 model to be fine, though not for large power amps. I build my own, so am not really up on what's available and good, lots of models. If you are a builder I can give you a link to a company who has a kit of a well-respected design, reasonably priced, though I've never tried one myself.

It would be nice to have schematics for the 520/320 to maybe get a better idea of what might be going on.

Re U-571: I wonder how many people have wrecked stuff with that depth charge scene? There's something about it that makes you crank the system, it's out of your control. I have never had my system so loud before.

 

[Ryan Wright]

Regarding this shutting down problem...

I bought a Harman/Kardon 525 last week. Works beautifully. However, I'm using my TV's built-in speakers as a center. They are way too loud, probably only meant to take a few watts. At any rate, I was playing with the surround config while listening to music and switched the center on. This resulted in a LOUD, distorted blare from the TV's speakers (the fault of the speakers, not my HK), and the HK immediately shut itself down.

I repeated this twice. It appears to be a protection circuit for the speakers. Once I tuned everything (as good as could be expected considering the center speakers), I had no problems at all. However, I suspect that if I were to run at a very high volume, a loud scene in a movie could overload the center channel and shut the HK down again.

So, I'm wondering if the problems some of you are having could be related to this...

The main one is that they don't put out clean sinusoidal AC, though some of the very expensive (large) ones are quite good.

Well, I tried my new 525 both on and off the UPS and couldn't hear a difference. Granted, I don't have a cheap UPS - think I spent in the neighborhood of $800 for it a couple of years back.

 

[Guy Usher]

I have had problems with HK amps 1 little speaker wire (hair) was touching the back plate, I loooked and looked and was ready to toss it, then I found the 1 little hair,, cleaned it up, no more trouuble. . . You should be able to run it at whatevver volume you want as long ass it doesn;t overheat, thank god it does shut down if it iis getting too hot, some dont.
If it iss overheating you need to trouble shoot, put it out in the open with a fan on it. . .You don't by chance have a baddriver in one of your speakeers????? Scratchy voicecoil eetc?

 

[Ryan Wright]

You should be able to run it at whatevver volume you want

Not if your speakers can't take it. Even my 12 year old TEAC receiver has a built-in protection circuit that cuts the speakers if you push them too hard. I've had it happen on a couple of occasions.

 

[Matthew Ar]

Hi All,

Add me to the list of people having 520 shutdown problems. Mine shuts down roughly once or twice per day, at seemingly random times. At this point, my guess is that it has something to do with the electricity in the house. Here's why I don't think it's any of the other suggested possibilites.

1) It's not heat related because it happens when the 520 is sitting on top of the entertainment center, out in the open air.

2) It's not speaker related (a short in the wires, etc) because it happens when I use the 520 as a preamp and have no speakers attached to it

3) It's not related to volume level because it happens most often at soft levels, although it did happen a few times at moderate levels as well.

I live in an older 2-family home so the quality of electricity could be suspect. But the bottom line it doesn't work in my house, so it has to go. I'm going to take it back and avoid HK.

Matt

 

[Gary Joe]

What line conditioner is it your having luck with? One ofe these would be a good idea anyway.

 

[Hal_J]

hi folks - i am a soon-to-be owner of this part, and wanted to get some thoughts on the a/c line quality issues. i also have an older house, but prior to moving in, i had our electrical service entrance/panel updated, and had a dedicated and properly grounded circuit run for my computer equipment. well, HT is here, and the computer stuff is moving. my question for you guys is do you think with a brand new service panel and a dedicated circuit i'll have problems with the shutdown stuff?
also it seems like the thing shuts down when it's idle, or doing very little, but not when youre watching a movie? frankly, what the receiver does on its own time is fine with me, but when im watching a movie, i want it to stay turned on. so has anyone has this cut-out during use? (one guy during low current use...)
thanks,
hal

 

[RahulG]

This may be pretty stupid...but I figured out why my 525 shut down twice 'for no reason'.

Depending on which component you're controlling on the remote, the Channel Up button is the same as the Sleep button.

So, unbeknown to me, when I was trying to change the channel on Video 1, I was actually controlling AVR and turning the sleep function on. Sure enough, 80 or 70 or 60...minutes later, my 525 would shut off 'for no reason'.

I'm sure most of you are a bit quicker than me, but I wouldn't be surprised if the same thing is happening to someone else.

(At least that's what I keep telling myself!)