Expert: Garry S. McLemore - 2/9/2007

Question
my pioneer vsx d409 reciever overloads and shuts down when i turn it up a past 20db

Answer
i believe that model uses large pins on one side integrated circuits for outputs, and it sounds like they're failing, or something drastic has happened to your speakers' internal crossovers. i'd check for burnt parts or capacitors with the end pooking out denoting failure. if all seems fine with speakers (including your wires are large enough; i've seen wiring be problem many times) then open stereo up to determine which kinds of outputs you have. if it has the ic's i described earlier, they're not hard to replace. if not ic outputs, i'd suggest letting someone professional check it, there's many things that need to be addressed before replacing outputs.