Why did my receiver catch fire when i plugged my cable audio line in?

Question

plugged cable box audio lines into my receiver and the R channel caught fire at the connection point. have two power strips with surge protectors, at separate outlets, supporting various equipment. both strips were turned off at the time.

Answer 1

I think STA.. is right about a shorted cable. If it was the reciever it would have happened without the cable.

Answer 2

Without knowing your exact setup, my guess is that you must have shorted the R channel and the high current produced a lot of heat, hence the fire. Either the cable is faulty, or your receiver has a short. If you use a multimeter and do a continuity test, you should be able to tell who the culprit is (depending on how badly the receiver and cable have burned, of course.)