What happens when stereo speakers short circuit?

Perhaps someone can correct me if I am wrong but although it is common to experience a short circuit in speaker wire it is not very common to have a short circuit in the speakers themselves. A short circuit occurs in an audio system when positive and negative charges meet, interrupting the way the current was supposed to flow and causing an undesirably high current flow from the amplifier. This usually happens when the positive and negative wires touch at either speaker or amplifier terminals. It is possible for there to be a short circuit inside of a speaker but if this is the problem it can be repaired. I would check to make sure you have no exposed positive and negative wires touching (not even a little!). The Onkyo tech should have advised you as to how to isolate the problem. You should try some other speakers with the receiver and try the speakers on a different receiver. A possible source of your problem could be that the receiver cannot drive a 4 ohm load. Many Polk bookshelf speakers have a 4 ohm impedance. Eight ohms is the norm and the lower 4 ohm impedance causes the amplifier to work harder. Some receivers can only drive a 4 ohm speaker for a limited time before overheating and going into protect mode (no output). I would expect, however, your Onkyo to have no trouble with a pair of 4 ohm bookshelf speakers. As for the Onkyo tech...I am sure Onkyo has a very skilled staff, but I am also sure that standard procedure is to get customers to look at every other possible source of a problem before concluding the source of their problem is in the Onkyo product. Unless one of the experienced techs that sometimes answer questions here rules out the receiver as a possible source of trouble I would not assume that all is well with your receiver until you have checked to see if your speakers cause a similar problem with a different receiver.

I went to the Onkyo spec page, and they only rate this receiver at 8 ohms. The 6 ohm section is left blank.

If your speakers present a composite load that resembles 4 ohms, you may be tripping protection circuits. Speakers present very complicated loads, and typically the load will vary from below the spec to way above. Amps don't mind higher impedance loads, but they do not like low impedance loads, as this causes them to draw more amperage to swing the power output.

I doubt the short-circuit theory. I don't believe that the amp would last 10 minutes under that type of load (0 ohms), and I think it is more likely that the receiver just doesn't like what it is seeing. One more thing - if you are running it on the loud side, that will cause distress too. Try putting your amp on quietly for a while. Does it still shut off? If so, borrow some speakers that are 8 ohm or higher from a friend, and run those in place of yours. If the problem goes away, then you may need a different match of speakers/receiver. If it stays, I would return it to try a different one. Yours may have a hair-trigger protection device (or one that is out-of-spec) that wouldn't be the case with a different one.

Good luck!

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well of course it never happened before. i installed $2k worth of audio equipment about 20 yrs ago in my 5.0. now 20 years ago, when my dash is suddenly frying with 2k of equipment, and i cant get the battery cables off! i yanked fuses while my cuz went for any tool! no what caused it? the seatbelt buzzer. it wasnt my fault, but i wired the damn thing, and i re-wired it and replaced wire segments from the glove box to the engine and ignition module. the stupid thing seized instead of buzzing, melted some insulation, and burnt and grounded its way across the wiring harness. why is this important? lets take the mystery out of installing a head unit.(you pay to have it beautiful and working, not just working) all radios must be grounded, and also usually must have the antenna hooked up. its basic ground and loop. ok now the important side. you have a red wire, it goes to 12v switched power. yellow with a fuse generally goes to 12v constant. black wire is of course ground. usually blue/lt blue and originally shrinkwrapped is your remote/antenna, and in some cases your light dimmer.(violet) any other wires are pairs or a common ground and 4 speaker wires. that said, how did it short circuit your car? you had an existing high resistance spot, it got warm and cooked your harness and maybe your computer. the only thing this has to do with stereo installation is a new high power stereo can rob dedicated voltage, causing the wiring harness to heat up. 2 things cause heat in wires, 1 is load, the other is resistance. re wire your car, and flash your computer if your lucky.

Do the speakers "crackel"? I doubt they are shorted. If they were it wouldn't take that long for them to cut out. I would think the reciever is overheating. The speakers canbe checked with an ohm meter not difficult at all if you can borrow one.

If they indeed are crackling then yes it's possible they heat up and paritally short. I say partially because if you had whats called a"dead short" you blow your reciever or the fuses(if you have fused outputs).

try blowing a fan onthe reviever to see if it takes longer to cut off. Thats a quickand dirty test. Get back to me or someone if all that fails.

Since your speakers work for a period of time (any sound coming out is considered working), your speakers do not have a short. The amp (read output transistor) in your receiver is over heating and fortunately for you automatically shuts off.

i have this same reciever, so i should be able to help. if there is a short in the speaker cables coming from the reciever the reciever will automaically shut itself off to protect it from being damaged. so if the music stops and the reciver is still on the problem is definently in your speakers. i would remove the speaker from the enclosure and check all the wiring you may just have a loose connection on the wires inside the speaker box there's only a few wires inside the enclosure so just about anyone can figure it out. alot of ties there are crimp connections on the speakers that come loose that would be the first thing i would check.

good luck.

Onkyo Tx-sr504

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