Not just that. Grassy's AVP-A1 also died prematurely. He's in Australia and I'm in the USA, but we're on the same forum.
Prior to buying my brand new AVP-A1HDCI 8 years ago, I bought a refurbished AVP-A1. It was DOA! No OUTPUT. I had to return it.
Didn't those bastards at the New Jersey factory fix that refurbished AVP-A1HDCI? It was a foreshadowing of what would happen to my AVP-A1HDCI 8 years later, but I just didn't know. They couldn't fix that AVP-A1 THEN, and they couldn't fix my AVP-A1 NOW.
I should have thought it out. Should have asked, "If this NJ factory can't fix that AVP-A1, will they be able to fix any of my Denon later?"
Don't forget the other 3 DOA Denon's I bought. They were not from A4L, but those Denon's had to come from that main factory in New Jersey at some time. What? That NJ factory couldn't fix those 3 Denon's either?
And, let's not forget I sent in another Denon AVR about 8 or 9 years ago to the New Jersey factory. Same problem as my AVP-A1 - NO OUTPUT.
Oh, yeah, the NJ factory sent that Denon back to me alright. I plugged it in. You recall what I said happened? First, there was still NO VOLUME OUTPUT. Then minutes later, it literally went up in smoke!
Those damn NJ bastards couldn't fix any of those Denon's to save their lives!
Was I just too loyal or just too stupid?
If I were not so loyal to Denon back then, I would have jumped ship and gone with Yamaha. I can't believe I didn't switch to Yamaha after all that.
So switching from Denon to Yamaha like this for me wasn't an overnight decision. I think it had been brewing over the last 8 years.
Hopefully I will never see any issues with Yamaha. Time will tell.