Receiver flashing 'overload' when loud events are on tv, why?

Question

My sister asked me to come look at her 4 yr old pioneer receiver today after work. Apparently a few weeks ago it just started flashing 'overload' when the show/movie she was watching got loud. She can watch two people talking without a problem, but when things like the Olympics are on the volume turns off and the overload message appears. The only thing I could think of is perhaps the RCA cable has just gone bad. Any other ideas as to what it could be?

Answer 1

Maybe a speaker wire is shorted at the back of the receiver or at the speakers themselves.  Even if one small strand of wire is touching the other wire, that can cause a short and overload the receiver.

Check all the wiring.  If that does not fix it, maybe you need a new receiver.

Answer 2

Daniel got the right answer.

If the system is 4 years old - you need to do some maintenance:

- Cut the ends off of every speaker wire.

- Strip and re-attach every wire.

- Tighten everything as wires mysteriously loosen over time

Over time, the wires sag and cause shorts.  When loud volume events happen - this draws a lot of current and over-heats the receiver. So it goes into "Protect" or "Overload" mode to avoid damage.

This happened to my system and I visually inspected EVERYTHING and could not find a wire sticking out/short (I am very careful).  But prior to hauling the receiver to the repair shop, I did the trim/strip/re-attach thing and the problem went away.