Getting ready to fire up your favorite CD or DVD, only to have your receiver continually shut itself off for no reason other than "Protect"? What is it protecting? Why does it continue to turn itself off?

Receivers can go into a protect mode for a varity of reasons, but here is the quick skinny on how to diagnose which of the common reasons your receiver is protecting itself:

1. The most likely is that the positive and negative wires on one of the speaker lines are touching. This causes a short, and the receiver will turn off to protect the amplifier from blowing up. This commonly happens when your receiver or speakers uses five-way binding posts like those shown in the image. Verify that the positive and negative wires aren't touching at the back of the receiver and all speakers.


2. It is possible that one of the speakers is blown. Try disconnecting one at a time until the receiver no longer turns off. If one speaker is the problem, it is either blown or there is a problem with the wire connecting it.


3. If you have more than one pair of speakers connected to a single output at the same time, this can often cause a receiver to go into protect. If this is the case, do not connect both pairs to the same output.


4. In the worst case, the receiver will shut down even if nothing is connected, and the volume is turned up. If this is the case, you'll need to have your receiver serviced.

Have other tips and tricks on how to diagnose a receiver in protect mode? Post them below.