Audio Systems: Stereo receiver, pioneer receivers, bose speakers

Question
HI Kevin, I have 3 Pioneer VSX model and all three have had the same problem with AMP ERROR and shutting off. Pioeneer cant tell me what is wrong with the dam thing but I have read in other forums that many people have had the same problems. I currenly have 2 Bose for my front speakers a KLH for a front speaker and two RCA for my surround speakers. I dont think this is the problem as the first set up I had came as a package and that receiver blew too! Could you suggest an affordable receiver that would work with 5.1 surround sound pro-logic ststem? As you can tell I am not super litterate on elctronics and could use some help buying a new system. Thank you

Answer
Dear Michelle,

I recommend the Sony STR-D598, which just dropped in price from $199.99 to $169.99. It's generally widely available and can be gotten at a substantial street discount from Best Buy or Circuit City.

What concerns me, however, is how three Pioneer receivers could *all* have the same problem, unless you got all three from the same production run, and the problem was/is endemic.

It could be that your speakers are overloading the amplifier section of the receiver. The Sony puts out 90 watts per channel, so you shouldn't have a problem. FYI, Bose speakers usually have a fairly low impedance, so they need more power than a higher impedance speaker, which the KLH and RCA probably are. (Don't worry about the "higher power"; the amplifier makes the adjustment automatically.) You shouldn't have a problem with the Sony, but I would have said that about the Pioneer. If you do, then we should take a closer look as your speaker array.

Good luck. And thanks for choosing allexperts.com!

Kindest regards,

Kevin