amp shuts down when listening on high volume

[emotivaxpa5]

I own a XPR-5 these days.  I am using it to drive Magnepan 3.7's and the CCR5 center channel.  When I turn the volume near - 6 or -5'sh db, the amp would go in protection mode.  Sadly I do like to listen loud enough for music preferably around 0db, but unable to enjoy that  and have to frequently move my butt out of the sofa and reset the amp.  Any ideas how to solve it?

[stiehl11]

More power or less volume.

[trinhsman]

Or more efficient speakers.

[dally]

Are you maxing out the meters (red led's) when this happens?

[pedrocols]

Well he is using the XPR series amps so how much more power is he going to need?

[emotivaxpa5]

I'd say the meters have to naturally spike 'closer' to the max when listening music ... i'll now have to watch it more closely.

I dont know if this has to do anything.  The problem became more evident to me, when I hooked up the center center. 

[garbulky]

It could be a short in your wires. But I'm betting the maggies are arcing or causing a protection fault at powerful watts and the amp is shutting down.

[paintedklown]

The XPR-5 is putting 600W into those Maggies. I can't even imagine how your hearing can handle those volume levels! LOL!

On a serious note, you may want to call Emo and talk to one of their techs about this issue. I have played my XPA amps at EXTREMELY high volume levels for hours and hours on end and never had any of them shut down. There also may be some other issue going on, not sure TBH.

Good luck, and let us know how everything works out.

[bootman]

Or there is an issue with what is feeding the amps....

[mgbpuff]

If you are listening to Maggies at that high a level, you have probably damaged them (delamination). If you want ear punishing SPLs, you should look into professional horn loudspeakers/subwoofers and amps that put out thousands of watts. Neighbors of course will either complain to authorities or move.

[leadliner]

you ever hear of tinnitus,be careful.

[mgbpuff]

Whattttttttt diddddddddd you sayyyyyyyy?

[Dan Laufman]

Hi Maggie man,
Well, first off, high SPL's and Maggie's do not go together. They are incredibly inefficient and the impedance they reflect back to the amplifier is very low. They are not, by their nature, LOUD speakers. Pushing them to play really loud will only lead to tears.

Also, when you really get on them with a big amp, it is quite possible to overload the panels and that makes the amp see bad things. We have a set of the big Maggie's at work and they can suck a pair of XPR-1's dry when you try to play them loud, and that is a very hard thing to do. Those are powerful amps! At the same time, they are relatively fragile speakers.

Also, remember, the Maggie's are a purely resistive load. They make the amp work MUCH harder than a conventional speaker. Make sure your amp is not getting starved for AC power. You really need a 20 amp service for this application.

I can't advise you strongly enough, as wonderful as the Maggie's are, they do not like being pushed to their limits.

As my old man used to tell me "turn it down!!!"

Cheers,
Big Dan

[audiobill]

Jan 5, 2014 9:21:32 GMT -5 Dan Laufman said:

Hi Maggie man,
Well, first off, high SPL's and Maggie's do not go together. They are incredibly inefficient and the impedance they reflect back to the amplifier is very low. They are not, by their nature, LOUD speakers. Pushing them to play really loud will only lead to tears.

Also, when you really get on them with a big amp, it is quite possible to overload the panels and that makes the amp see bad things. We have a set of the big Maggie's at work and they can suck a pair of XPR-1's dry when you try to play them loud, and that is a very hard thing to do. Those are powerful amps! At the same time, they are relatively fragile speakers.

Also, remember, the Maggie's are a purely resistive load. They make the amp work MUCH harder than a conventional speaker. Make sure your amp is not getting starved for AC power. You really need a 20 amp service for this application.

I can't advise you strongly enough, as wonderful as the Maggie's are, they do not like being pushed to their limits.

As my old man used to tell me "turn it down!!!"

Cheers,
Big Dan

From another Maggie owner, Amen.

They are for lifelike detail and subtlety, not head banging.

[klinemj]

Yeah - what Dan and Bill said...Maggie owner here also. I don't ever have an issue with them overloading my ncores, but I don't listen at extremely high volumes either. If I did, I'd have different speakers.

Noting that you say it got worse when you added the center channel...what is the center channel? Another Maggie model?

Mark

[leadliner]

Jan 5, 2014 8:20:34 GMT -5 mgbpuff said:

Whattttttttt diddddddddd you sayyyyyyyy?
[/thats my point.i remember the time befor i got ringing in my ears, i really enjoyed listening.its not the same any more,ugh.

[leonski]

The FIRST question to ask is 'How Hot is the amp running when it shuts down?' Is is in a well ventilated place and running cool? Is it on its OWN circuit? Do you have a Kill-A-Watt or other means to measure line voltage when you crank it up? An exclusive 20 amp circuit would sure help!

And yes, playing Panels to 'nosebleed' levels is pretty much a waste of time. They don't distort like cone speakers, either, being prone to Mylar Slap. And for models with Ribbons….the 3 series UP, the Fuse can be seen to be protected BY the ribbon, not the other way around! Good thing that Magnepan has a reasonably priced Ribbon Exchange program and it is an easy DIY project.

Now, Dan, I must disagree. Maggies are Low Sensitivity…….'inefficient' is not quite right. And they are not quite 'pure resistive', either. They ARE very low reactance, however, so that point is nearly moot. But, they ARE a very easy load on an amplifier. They store Very Little energy to reflect back to any amp. I'd love to see how an Emo amp would respond to a Power Cube measuring scheme. +- 60 degrees in 15 degree increments….and from 8 ohms to 2 ohms. Many highly regarded amps do not do well at this measure. Even 2 amps which measure the 'same' into a resistor will measure very differently into this kind of load. Admittedly, this is absolute worst case scenario and FEW if any speakers will try an amp to this degree. Certainly NOT most Magnepan models. Maybe some B&W 800 series? or some Thiels?

[Accurus]

Sounds to me like and issue with the amplifier. 600 watts should be plenty to make the panels slap before the amp gives out. Also disregard the comment about Magnepans arcing. Simply not going to happen unless you are cranking so much power that you cause the wires to somehow arc through the adhesive and Mylar that separate the wires and the magnet panel.

Oh and two more things Magnepajs are not fragile speaker any more so than comes and yes if probably driven and setup with acoustic treatment they can play rock and roll just fine at loud levels. People often overlook acoustic treatment and with Magnepans it is a fatal mistake. The room is their box even the best drivers in a bad cabinet with sound poor. Magnepans are the same way.

[stustan]

I have an all Maggie HT/Music system and while my amplification is the XPA series I think my recent experience might be helpful. Previously I have used my XPA-5 to drive my entire system. I never had a shutdown, My XPA-5 always ran cool even after long, long sessions. Just for curiosity's sake I purchased an XPA-2 Gen 2 to drive my 1.7's primarily to see what difference it would make in 2 track music playback. The Xpa-2 Gen2 made enough of a difference in stereo music playback that it was a no brainer and a keeper.

The biggest improvement in my system, however, was my center channel's improvement. My CC5/DWM combo never, ever sounded so full bodied and unstrained until I freed up the XPA-5's workload. So I propose you purchase an XPR-2 for your 3.7's and let the XPR-5 drive your center and surrounds. See/hear what happens........or as others have suggested........turn the volume down a bit. Take care of your ears please!!!!!!!!! You do have 30 days, I believe, if it doesn't help.