Thank you for the input. I have all speakers connected to the 770 with 2 runs of 14 gauge wire each, with fine strands and definitely a concern of a strand or two crossed over(which is also suggested to check for in the troubleshooting part of the 770 manual).Your experience sure sounds familiar, Oil Can.

I thought that I was very careful in the connections, plus I also checked them all for resistance at the amp end of each respective speaker and they all seemed OK. However, I am certainly going to disconnect them all and check very close. The hottest part of the amp is above the center channel area. The rack is ajoining another room, which is open in the back & not very hot.

The speakers & all of the in wall wiring was put in during construction, none of this system has been used before as we only recently moved in. I may very well have a shorting problem with one wire somewhere, as I have also really not heard of this amp having this problem, as bestbang4thebuck stated. Would you try connectors for termination? I have always been comfortable with inserting speaker wires directly into the binding posts, but maybe connectors would reduce the risk of strands contacting each other. Sure hope that this isn't the amp. Thanks again for the help.

[This message has been edited by Jas1 (edited April 13, 2004).]

[This message has been edited by Jas1 (edited April 13, 2004).]