i decided to make a 2.1 in the spare room and i bought an avr from ebay cheap enough.
i got it out of the box and all seemed well. i thumbed though sources and whatever i could do without a display connected.
i reset it to factory and turned it off before connecting anything to it.
i connected the antenna to hear the radio and plugged in my headphones. turned the avr on and i got this screen full of lights.
noting popped or buzzed and there's no odors. it does look like a cap was replaced before though.
maybe it's a sign to do something else with that room.