Problem with Denon receiver shutting off (1 Viewer)

[Bruce Morrison]

I've had a very strange problem with my Denon AVR-X4100WE2 receiver. When I play my US Blu-ray of 'The Favourite', the receiver is shutting itself off at 50' 41" into the movie at the point when there is a loud gunshot on the soundtrack. The volume is set to 68 dB, which is my usual volume setting for Blu-ray playback and is certainly not excessive. However if I reduce the volume setting to 67 Db, it is perfectly OK. I repeated these tests several times with consistent results. I also tried the disc on both my Blu-ray players with the same result. The soundtrack is DTS MA 5.1 and one player does the decoding whereas the other player passes the bitstream to the receiver to do the decoding, so it makes no difference whether I have the decoding done by the Blu-ray player or the receiver.

I checked the troubleshooting info in the owner's manual, and it does suggest reducing the volume as a possible solution. That is probably intended for cases where the volume setting is clearly too high and could damage the receiver (not to mention the speakers and the listener's hearing), but it seems ridiculous when the volume setting is the one I use without any problems for all my other Blu-rays.

Can anyone suggest a possible explanation for this?

 

[Dave Moritz]

Wow I have never heard of that happening I would reach out to Denon support and see what feedback they give you. Is the receiver under warranty?

 

[JohnRice]

I have seen this happen. Once. Do you have a subwoofer? If so, what is it? What is the configuration of the system (5.1, 7.1) and what are the speakers? Finally, and maybe most important, what is the crossover point set to for your sub, if you have one?

 

[Bruce Morrison]

I have seen this happen. Once. Do you have a subwoofer? If so, what is it? What is the configuration of the system (5.1, 7.1) and what are the speakers? Finally, and maybe most important, what is the crossover point set to for your sub, if you have one?

Ah... you might be on to something here. At the moment I don't have a subwoofer - my previous one failed recently and I haven't got around to replacing it yet. So my speaker configuration is currently 5.0. The front speakers are KEF Reference 3, the centre speaker is KEF 200C and the rear speakers are Wharfedale Diamond 10.1.

As far as I remember, when my sub failed I updated my receiver setup to specify that there is no sub present. In that case, the crossover point should no longer be relevant. However I will double-check the settings. The Reference 3 speakers can certainly handle plenty of bass anyway.

In any case, what I'm puzzled about is that the receiver copes OK at a volume of 67 Db (or lower) but not at 68 Db or higher. If it was something to do with incorrect settings relating to a sub, would the problem arise once the volume exceeds a particular level?

Anyway I'll check my receiver settings later and post again.

 

[JohnRice]

Where I'm going with this is that when that gunshot goes off, now that you don't have a sub and all those low frequencies are being powered by the receiver to the front speakers, where they used to be taken off the receiver's amps and sent to the powered sub, it may be triggering the receiver's protection circuit. Try this. Turn on the sub output again, like you have a sub, and set all the speakers back to "small". Setting the speakers to small is important. I know you don't have a sub, but just see if that cures the problem. This is exactly the same situation as the one time I ran into this same problem.

Why does it do it at 68dB and not at 67dB? The receiver has a threshold where the protection circuit kicks in. Going from 67 to 68 might cross that threshold.

 

[JohnRice]

I forgot to mention, if adjusting the configuration back to as though you have a powered sub solves the problem, that means the only real solution is to get another powered sub. Your speakers may drop in impedance at low frequencies enough that the receiver goes into protection when a really loud, low sound is reproduced.

 

[Bruce Morrison]

Thanks very much John. I checked my receiver settings and currently it is set to "no sub" as I thought. So I'll try your idea and let you know if it solves the immediate problem.

I do intend to get a new subwoofer - I just need to do some research to find a suitable model for my setup. (I'm in the UK, so I don't know whether you would be able to suggest any possible subwoofers that would complement my existing speakers and receiver. The receiver is rated at 125W per channel, if that helps. I'm happy to spend quite a lot to get a good quality sub that will last.)

 

[JohnRice]

Thry this first to see if it solves the problem. The receiver could be dying.

 

[Bruce Morrison]

Hi John,

I tried what you suggested, and it did indeed solve the immediate problem. But obviously I need to get a new subwoofer as a long-term solution. So meanwhile I've restored the original receiver settings, and I'll just settle for playing 'The Favourite' at a slightly lower volume setting. (I'm not sure that I like the film very much anyway!!)

The receiver is only about 3 years old, so I certainly hope it's not dying!

Anyway many thanks for your help on this - it's much appreciated.