i have had the same problem several times and after letting it sit with power on for hours i turn the power switch off and back on again and voila! it works again.dont know what triggered it!

i have a similar problem with mine. it's stuck in "PROTECT" mode and will not change volume at all. is there a way to reset this? i've hit every button and tried every one on the remote, but it still just blinks protect. this has nothing to do with the speakers....

I would like to know if you had gotten your reciever working? Did you have to take it in as the last reply stated? If I may ask.......is it an expensive or cheap fix? Thanks fo the help!! God Bless, Jim

upgrading speakers has nothing to do with problem with unit.Most probable your unit has bad audio output or bad preamp IC..Protect mode is being activated by DC voltage sensing on speaker output or DC on output of preamp and feeding DC to main out signal input legs. IC (STK)..Your unit need to be sent to service shop

your rec. goes into protect mode or as its better known overload mode whats happening is that it senses your speakers output and shuts down before it damages your speakers. to fix this problem is simply a matter of upgrading your speakers.