P12 shuts down when watching opening scene in Dunkirk

Power Components
1

Hello, I’ve recently purchased a P12 power regenerator to power my 5.1 home theater.
I started watching Dunkirk. P12 shutdown when the soldier buries his head in the sand while the planes above started firing on the beach.

I’m not even listening at reference levels, the volume is still at -10db and only these devices are connected to P12,

  1. Parasound A51
  2. Emotiva RMC-1L
  3. Panasonic UB820P
  4. Xbox (not powered on)

Parasound A 51 is powering SVS Ultra Tower Surround System (8 ohm, 5 speakers)
In my earlier setup, I also had JVC NX5 connected to P12, but I moved it to Furman with the assumption that it would reduce overload on P12.
Wondering if anyone has a similar experience can share some thoughts :slight_smile:

Thank you!

2

What does the power meter of the P12 read when playing the loud part of a movie like that?

4

Here’s the video, you can hear the plane dropping bombs as it approaches closer to the soldier,

5

Welcome,

Try U-571

Clearly your system is exceeding the capacity of the P12 during those transient peaks. Move the Parasound A51 back to the wall outlet or get a P15 or P20.

P.S. Even -10dB below reference will cause hearing damage. Best to check the dB levels at your listening seat and avoid going over 90dB for too long…or 30 years from now you’ll probably wish you had.

6

You running your speakers full range? Meter looks like you are. I have the Parasound 2205 which is very similar to the A51 on the P12 and never had it shutdown. I am running Aerial Acoustics 7B’s, CC3B and surrounds crossed over at 65hz(fronts only) with the low bass going to a subwoofer. That takes a some of the load off the amp. My sub is plugged directly into the wall.

7

My subwoofer is directly connected to the power outlet. I’ve set the speakers levels to 75dB. When the volume is at -10dB, my understanding it’s still 10dB below the reference level. I’m audiophile newbie :slight_smile: I’ll be adding two M700s (for the fronts) in the coming weeks and that should take the load off a bit from the P12.

8

Moving the Parasound A51 back to the wall outlet is not an option, as I want the amp to have clean power for that near-perfect sound :slight_smile: My room dimensions are 17x25, so I’m sitting at least 15 feet away from Ultra towers :slight_smile: I’ll certainly not watch a movie at -10db, mostly will watch around -15dB or -20dB. -10dB is only for demos :slight_smile:

9

Are your speakers set to large or small on Emotiva? -10 is most likely reference level not 0.

10

Good to know, I’ve set the speakers to small. Also, PB-16 is plugged into the wall outlet.

11

Sounds like you ‘need’ a bigger regen.

1 Like
12

How many circuits do you have? Are they 15 amp or 20 amp?

If pushed to it’s limit your Parasound A 51 could max out the P12.

13

Be careful with those THX deaference levels. This is from my man Bob Pariseau over on AVS fourms. He was discussing Anthem processors at the time but can be applied to other brands and receivers. It always made sense to me.

From Bob:

Assuming you have followed instructions in setting up the Anthem manually or with ARC, you will end up with a 75dB solution. “Reference Level” content from movies or whatever will play at 75dB when you have Main Volume set to the Anthem selected level of -10dB. This choice of assigning Main Volume -10dB the role of “reproduce calibrated level” is specifically so that it is easier to raise the calibrated level to 85dB by simply turning up the volume to 0dB. For most folks that will be too loud for home theater use which is why 75dB is the recommended calibration level for home theater.

But the way movie theaters are set up, that SAME “reference level” movie content will play at 85dB. This is done quite deliberately to overcome the extra ambient noise in a movie crowd. Movie theaters are set to play movies more loudly. It’s like they leave their Main Volume setting on 0dB all the time.

NOTE: “Peak” levels in movie content (or whatever) can easily exceed “reference level” by +15dB, or even more in some cases.

Dolby Volume Cinema changes playback to target the 85dB level. This is not quite the same as raising Main Volume to 0dB as it alters the way Dolby Volume’s algorithm adjusts the content playback for frequency contour and volume leveling.

14

I don’t know the movie but can imagine there’s quite some low frequency energy happening. The Parasound amps, of course, are what’s kicking off the P12. I can imagine with all 5 channels blazing that’s easily possible.

15

Yeah, that looks right. It’s the Parasound and the P12’s just a bit too small for this system. You’d be better off with a P15. Call us 800PSAUDIO and we can help make that happen without a lot of pain.

16

Thank you for the response Paul. I’m getting Stellar M700s, which could take some load off the P12. I’ll keep the P12 for now as P15 is out of reach :slight_smile:

17

Thank you for the reference @Mcroth, thank you for the reference, point taken :slight_smile:

18

Perfect! Please keep me in the loop of how that goes and what happens.

19

Sure, will let you know Paul :slight_smile:

20

I have the same issue with a P15 using I have disconnected everything but the preamp and the 2 classe" m600s running full range Wilson speakers I have decided that they cause the amps to draw to much power at -10db when low frequencies hit. if I stay at -12 I usually don’t have an issue

21

Good to know, I’ll work on the sweet spot after I get my M700s. Thanks!