Help a struggling home theater setup

[cgeorg07]

Hi all - I've spent the last 6 months finishing my basement into a home theater / lounge area, and I have had such terrible luck with my AV Receivers...making it impossible to actually enjoy the space!

Onkyo - Fried after a few days, and stopped working. Returned.
Sony STR DH720 - Would constantly go into Protect Mode, and finally confirmed the unit was defective. Returned.

My max budget is $300, and the only pre-requisite is (4) HDMI...which seem pretty standard. LAN and DLNA would be nice to haves, but I've got some other devices I can leverage instead.

I have 4 in-ceiling Speakers and 2 In-Wall.

(4) In-Ceiling Specs - Yamaha NSIW280:
Frequency Response: 65 Hz - 28 kHz
Input Power (Max / Nominal): 100W / 30W
Sensitivity: 85 dB/2.83 V/1 m
Impedance: 6 Ohms

(2) In Wall Specs - Yamaha NSIW760:
Frequency Response: 50Hz to 24 kHz
Input Power (Max / Nominal): 100W / 30W
Sensitivity: 88 dB
Impedance: 6 Ohms

Based upon my budget and speaker setup, can someone help me out with some recommendations so I can finally have a smooth setup and enjoy a movie!

-Chris

 

[reubensm]

Have you managed to run a root cause check on the reasons behind the failures of both AVRs? Were they just due to bad luck or were they induced? Going into protect mode may indicate that there may be a short circuit somewhere or the amps may have been overheating. Hope the electricals and ventilation in your basement are fine too. With quality control in place these days, it is highly unlikely that one would encounter one burn-out after another.

 

[cgeorg07]

Thanks so much for your reply, reubensm. I actually had the electrician come and check things out, and he gave it the OK. There has also been other devices attached to the same power with no issues thus far. Just the AVRs.

There is good ventilation in the basement, with nothing blocking the air-flow from all sides of the Receiver.

In regards to the Protect Mode, I've re-wired everything, and tested one speaker at a time with no luck.

 

[jagdish_p]

Thanks so much for your reply, reubensm. I actually had the electrician come and check things out, and he gave it the OK. There has also been other devices attached to the same power with no issues thus far. Just the AVRs.

There is good ventilation in the basement, with nothing blocking the air-flow from all sides of the Receiver.

In regards to the Protect Mode, I've re-wired everything, and tested one speaker at a time with no luck.

Check the following

A) The speaker wires in the ceiling are not shorting any where
B) please confirm that you are not connecting two speakers in parallel to the same output post on the AVR
C) what is the recommended setting on the AVR for 6 ohm speakers ? Most AVR have different settings for different speaker resistances.

 

[cgeorg07]

Thanks for all the replies... I double checked the speaker wires, and there were two that were the problem.

Thank you all for your patience, and saving me the hassle of getting another receiver, when this one was fine!