Our RX-A3080 receiver has an annoying and frankly scary problem. It occasionally, unexpectedly and randomly makes a loud pop/bang sound. I would say this happens about once a day.
The sound does not appear to always come out of the same speaker. It may come from a front or side speaker and even the subwoofer. The sound seems to be volume control independent: It is loud no matter the position of the volume control.
As far as I have seen, the popping sound only happens when using a flavor of Dolby: Digital or Digital+. I can run Internet radio all day (I do) using nine channel stereo through all 11 speakers in my 7.2.4 system and all we hear is great music. Not a peep of a pop.
BTW the receiver is cooled with an AC Infinity Aircom T8 and runs at 86 degrees max.
If I am streaming YouTube videos via ARC from my Sony XBR-65X930E, where the sound comes through PCM rather than Dolby Digital or Dolby Digital Plus, the sound is perfect. However, when I use an app like HBO Max or Disney Plus that uses a Dolby format via bitstream I get the pop. I tried switching from a Certified 4K HDMI cable to a Certified 8K HDMI cable between the TV and receiver and that didn’t make a difference.
All cables are Monoprice Certified.
The same goes with watching cable TV. When the cable box is set to output Dolby Digital and the receiver decodes Dolby, I get the pop. I tried:
- Switching cable boxes – no difference
- Switching HDMI cables from Certified 4K to Certified 8K – no difference
- Switching from HDMI to optical cable with Audio Select – no difference
- Switching from HDMI to analog cable with Audio Select – no difference
I finally gave up and am sending a stereo signal from the cable box rather than Dolby bitstream and set the Yamaha to 9 channel stereo so we can enjoy watching TV without fear of a startling pop.
What else have I tried?
- I plugged the Yamaha power cord into an outlet on a different circuit – no difference
- I plugged the Yamaha power cord into a Monster Power HTS2500 – no difference
- I plugged the Yamaha receiver into a CyberPower UPS – no difference
I have been using receivers with a flavor of Dolby Digital since before the turn of the century including a Sony STR-DA80ES, Denon AVR-3803, Onkyo TX-NR737, Onkyo TX-RZ830, Yamaha RX-A800 and Yamaha RX-A3000 and have never encountered this issue. Ever.
Am I missing something? What should I do?