How long does your AV Receiver Last

[lemmingjames]

Just wondering how long your AV Receiver lasts via natural causes (i.e. internal failure) as opposed to being sold on?

Back in 06 i purchased an Onkyo (sub £500) and it lasted for around 10 years before the HDMI out port stopped working

Purchased a Denon X2300 in Jan 2017, one HDMI out failed about a week ago then last night the other HDMI out died. So lasted (from date of purchase), 3 years 3 months.

The Incoming Signal is fine as i can hear the source (PS4) but cant see the image. Ive tried swapping hdmi cables (no joy), direct wired ps4 to screen with same cables (joy) so its all pointing to issues with the Visual card.

Anyway, just wondering what is classed as normal working life really or did i just get lucky with the Onkyo?

[Megaflow]

never had one fail in 18 years. Granted that only amounts to 2 Denon’s. But given they are mostly electronic with little to no moving parts I wouldn’t have thought that was unusual.

[lemmingjames]

Megaflow said:

never had one fail in 18 years. Granted that only amounts to 2 Denon’s. But given they are mostly electronic with little to no moving parts I wouldn’t have thought that was unusual.

I starting to think that i might have killed it by not having enough airflow around it though the space it was in was never hot either. Guess ill speak to Denon and see if i can get a replacement board or their suggestion

[Glosphil]

Only had my first AV Receiver since last December but the Trio amplifier & Kenwood receiver it replaced were both more than 35 years old and still working perfectly. For the last few years the Trio had been used with our television via a optical to phono converter.

[Toltec]

I've had my Denon since 2001, no HDMI then though, just used with the optical in from an HDMI switch now.

[itsnotarace]

Had a Yamaha AX fail due to dust buildup, was repaired fairly cheaply with a new PCB board. Must be 20 years old now. Currently powering my kitchen speakers

Did buy a new Denon for the lounge but that was only because it supported newer functions like HDMI

[lemmingjames]

A replacement board is around £270 supplied or supplied and installed £350. Ive removed the cover and its definitely not something ill be able to DIY so guess ill be getting a new one now.

Cant even plug the ps4/tv into it and use it for sound only (Ps4 could have a splitter running to a different monitor), as i undertook a reset and so needs resetting/calibrating and of course, you need to tv screen for it

[Zirconia]

Think I got my Onkyo in 06 (edit, might have 08). Still does 5.1 adequately even though I have to route through the TV to the reviewer, all HDMI is 1.4.

Only fault is the remote will not volume up, only volume down.

Not really looked at the guts of mine but is it that bad inside?

[lemmingjames]

This is from a newer model than mine;


On the right, mine has another board stood up vertically and each pin is micro soldered (or what ever its called, basically a pin needle blob on the connectors), which puts it past my DIY capabilities. If it was a plug and play swap over, then id stump up for the replacement parts but its a no can do.

So just browsing ebay/ AV Forums looking for a bargain or something before biting the bullet on buying new.

Plus ill be adding air flow and stuff to my AV unit as well now

You sure its not just your remote thats broken?

[Zirconia]

Tricky then. Never did like soldered daughter boards.

My volume is something I just live with and never really faulted. I was going to split open the remote and check the contact but the power of Meh! set in.

[VEX]

Heat Soak / Build Up is a nightmare, especially when we are forced to install kit in restricted spaces. Air movement can become very important.

I used to fit any Sky HD Box that went into a cupboard, onto a laptop cooler to keep air moving through it. None of these ever failed because of heat.

The other thing it could be is a spurious HDMI spike from source quipment. I have had sky boxes and games machines kit out a spike and it knock out the weakest component in the link. Traditionally this was caused by 'hotplugging' live equipment. This is less of an issue now, but a lot of devices are built to a price and therefore component are forced to get cheaper.

The wierdest one I have ever had is a Sky HD box that blew something or other in its HDMI circuitry, but in doing so it retained the image of the channel when it blew. It was actually burnt into the chip, so even a full power off, leave for an hour, restart resulted in the same image re-appearing!

V.

Edited by VEX on Friday 1st May 15:33

[lemmingjames]

When you say hot plugging, would an example be;
PS4 turns on - send signal to avr
AVR send signal out but cables not connected to the monitor (long story)
Plug HDMI into Monitor and the amp displays the picture?

Yeah i forgot about airflow tbh and thought that there was enough around it as when i put my hand in the alcove/cubby hole it was never warm.

[lemmingjames]

Zirconia said:

Tricky then. Never did like soldered daughter boards.

My volume is something I just live with and never really faulted. I was going to split open the remote and check the contact but the power of Meh! set in.

Yep, spoke to Denon's part department, the board is 220+ vat then another 90 to fit. Total came to £350.

Man Maths say sell this one for spares/repairs and look on ebay/av forums for a decent 2nd hand one (bit of a gamble on ebay) before taking a cheeky low bid offer on a refurbished one or buy another for around £450.

Was looking around and notice some avr's are £12k+ - wonder what sort of system theyve got it plugged into

[VEX]

lemmingjames said:

When you say hot plugging, would an example be;
PS4 turns on - send signal to avr
AVR send signal out but cables not connected to the monitor (long story)
Plug HDMI into Monitor and the amp displays the picture?

Yeah i forgot about airflow tbh and thought that there was enough around it as when i put my hand in the alcove/cubby hole it was never warm.

Yes, absolutely that could do it, depending on the age, quality and protection of the circuits and components in there.

Its alot better that it used to be, but is an often forgotten requirement when connecting kit. I think we even had a screen fail because of it last year and that was a 2019 model.

Also agree on your idea to change / upgrade. The technical capabilities of new AVR's compared to cost is amazing.

And as for £12k ones, yes you can hear a difference in performance, if you know what you are listening for (alot dont but have money to burn), and equally you need the same sort of spend in speakers to really hear something different. That end of the market is very much one of diminising returns. (Still happy to sell you one though! lol)

V.

Edited by VEX on Friday 1st May 16:20

Edited by VEX on Friday 1st May 16:21

[Zirconia]

Tricky.

Depends on your needs and pocket. I am all in viewing for 4k for a night in. With HDMI2.1 now out in the wild my wants would be Atmos and 2.1 minimum. Of course that raises issues of speakers for my system but would just have to work it in to the existing.

[VEX]

Zirconia said:

Tricky.

Depends on your needs and pocket. I am all in viewing for 4k for a night in. With HDMI2.1 now out in the wild my wants would be Atmos and 2.1 minimum. Of course that raises issues of speakers for my system but would just have to work it in to the existing.

There are now a number of speaker manufacturers that offer little angled ones to sit on top of floor standers for atmos dutys. They point upwards and use the ceiling to reflect sound back down fo the atmos effect. KEF and Monitor Audio are two that spring to mind straightaway.

V.

[lemmingjames]

VEX said:

There are now a number of speaker manufacturers that offer little angled ones to sit on top of floor standers for atmos dutys. They point upwards and use the ceiling to reflect sound back down fo the atmos effect. KEF and Monitor Audio are two that spring to mind straightaway.

V.

Thats interesting and thanks for the tip, was tempted to turn mine into a 7.1 system (taking up floor so would be an idle time to add more cables) but will look at that solution.

Sounds like i need to install a HDMI port in the wall as opposed to cables across the floor to stop it from damaging it in the future

Edited by lemmingjames on Friday 1st May 17:18

[HorneyMX5]

Get on Richer Sounds, I bet they have some good deals on at the moment.

[lemmingjames]

HorneyMX5 said:

Get on Richer Sounds, I bet they have some good deals on at the moment.

i have but their prices are all the same as the others. I spoke to one of the branches as well and they havent got stock of the Denon @ £440 but due in some soon.

Just watching a Denon 2400 at the mo for £200, 1 year newer than mine so might have a cheeky low last minute bid on it. Or Peter Tyson have some refurbed units in that i might make a low offer on (ie £100 less than asking https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Part-Exchange-Denon-AVR..., they can only tell me to do one!)

[Type R Tom]

VEX said:

Heat Soak / Build Up is a nightmare, especially when we are forced to install kit in restricted spaces. Air movement can become very important.

I used to fit any Sky HD Box that went into a cupboard, onto a laptop cooler to keep air moving through it. None of these ever failed because of heat.

The other thing it could be is a spurious HDMI spike from source quipment. I have had sky boxes and games machines kit out a spike and it knock out the weakest component in the link. Traditionally this was caused by 'hotplugging' live equipment. This is less of an issue now, but a lot of devices are built to a price and therefore component are forced to get cheaper.

The wierdest one I have ever had is a Sky HD box that blew something or other in its HDMI circuitry, but in doing so it retained the image of the channel when it blew. It was actually burnt into the chip, so even a full power off, leave for an hour, restart resulted in the same image re-appearing!

V.

Edited by VEX on Friday 1st May 15:33

Slightly off topic but when plugging stuff into the front HDMI on my Sony amp, I've seen tiny sparks. I'm guessing that's not good! Sounds like I need to make sure the source is off before plugging in?