Reliability of AVR's and Amps

N

noclue

Audioholic
Just wondered if it is expected for a AVR's and amps to have short life span or should they last till you are done with them and want something new. i seem to get like 1-2 years from a AV have have Marantz, Denon, Onkyo Anthem and Yamaha. The Yamaha got fried by a power surge from the cable company. the rest last 2 years at the most. they are getting to expensive to fail that fast in my opinion.
wondered if others have had the same issues.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Do you manage heat? I have several avrs, youngest is 6 years old...

ps Thats two Denons, an Onkyo and a Sony
 
Last edited:
S

shkumar4963

Audioholic
Just wondered if it is expected for a AVR's and amps to have short life span or should they last till you are done with them and want something new. i seem to get like 1-2 years from a AV have have Marantz, Denon, Onkyo Anthem and Yamaha. The Yamaha got fried by a power surge from the cable company. the rest last 2 years at the most. they are getting to expensive to fail that fast in my opinion.
wondered if others have had the same issues.
My Yamaha lasted 15 years and is still working great. Only the remote needed to be changed.

I now bought a Denon because I wanted to try Audyssey xt32.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
 
N

noclue

Audioholic
Do you manage heat? I have several avrs, youngest is 6 years old...

ps Thats two Denons, an Onkyo and a Sony
Yes it is on a top shelf with plenty of air flow and the Anthem AVR was ruining cool, lucky i had a older Denon i didn't use much for my man cave i brought out to replace the anthem,
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
The Yamaha got fried by a power surge from the cable company.
Well, getting fried by power surge doesn't count against Yamaha for reliability.

According to MCode, Yamaha is supposed to be #1 in reliability. But there are no guarantees.

I think most of these components should last 5-8 years. Yamaha might last longer. At least I hope so since I'm changing all my Denon's to Yamaha's. :D
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
OTOH, Amps should last a long time, especially something like an ATI amp.
 
S

shkumar4963

Audioholic
OTOH, Amps should last a long time, especially something like an ATI amp.
I have a 15 years old Parasound high current amp that is still going strong. I called Parasound to see if I need to change its caps etc. The technician suggested that if caps were going bad you would hear loud and clear.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
I have a 15 years old Parasound high current amp that is still going strong. I called Parasound to see if I need to change its caps etc. The technician suggested that if caps were going bad you would hear loud and clear.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
Yeah, if it ain't broke..... :D
 
slipperybidness

slipperybidness

Audioholic Warlord
Just wondered if it is expected for a AVR's and amps to have short life span or should they last till you are done with them and want something new. i seem to get like 1-2 years from a AV have have Marantz, Denon, Onkyo Anthem and Yamaha. The Yamaha got fried by a power surge from the cable company. the rest last 2 years at the most. they are getting to expensive to fail that fast in my opinion.
wondered if others have had the same issues.
With this type of failure rate, I suspect that you have dirty power or something else going on with either your power grid or your home's wiring!

This is not normal nor expected. Do you have other electronics that have failed over this time frame? In particular, anything with any type of processor tends to be most susceptible to this type of mains power problems.
 
N

noclue

Audioholic
With this type of failure rate, I suspect that you have dirty power or something else going on with either your power grid or your home's wiring!

This is not normal nor expected. Do you have other electronics that have failed over this time frame? In particular, anything with any type of processor tends to be most susceptible to this type of mains power problems.
No i have n o issues with nothing else and i have surge protection on everything and have a whole house surge protection from our electrical company.
This crossed my mind also but after thinking about it i ruled it out.
I just have noticed a lot of other things are built cheaper IE a AC unit and could mention others was just hoping this was not a issue with AVR's and amps
 
slipperybidness

slipperybidness

Audioholic Warlord
No i have n o issues with nothing else and i have surge protection on everything and have a whole house surge protection from our electrical company.
This crossed my mind also but after thinking about it i ruled it out.
I just have noticed a lot of other things are built cheaper IE a AC unit and could mention others was just hoping this was not a issue with AVR's and amps
Whole house surge protection is the way to go. Is it possible that this system has malfunctioned? Seems that the cable co coax cable was a weak spot in your surge protection? Not uncommon.

As far as "power strip surge protectors", those are a joke, don't put any confidence in those and their ability to protect anything from a surge.

Seems that maybe you have just had a run of bad luck. But, if you are really losing AVRs every couple of years across multiple brands, SOMETHING ISN'T RIGHT, SOMEWHERE.

I have a Pio AVR that has seen hours of daily service for 13 years now! It is now on bedroom duty, I upgraded the L/R to a new Denon for newer bells and whistles.
 
Verdinut

Verdinut

Audioholic Spartan
As far as "power strip surge protectors", those are a joke, don't put any confidence in those and their ability to protect anything from a surge.
Not with an APC or a Tripp-Lite power strip. These are covered by thousands of dollars of protection.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Not with an APC or a Tripp-Lite power strip. These are covered by thousands of dollars of protection.
I wonder how many people actually get reimbursed by the "thousands of dollars of protection" or if they find reasons they're not liable....
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Yes it is on a top shelf with plenty of air flow and the Anthem AVR was ruining cool, lucky i had a older Denon i didn't use much for my man cave i brought out to replace the anthem,
Then sounds more like an electrical problem as mentioned.
 
Verdinut

Verdinut

Audioholic Spartan
I wonder how many people actually get reimbursed by the "thousands of dollars of protection" or if they find reasons they're not liable....
I know. The question is: If the manufacturer asks you, how can you prove that the damaged equipment was indeed connected to the power strip ?
 
Verdinut

Verdinut

Audioholic Spartan
I know. The question is: If the manufacturer asks you, how can you prove that the damaged equipment was indeed connected to the power strip ?
I think that the varistors used in the good surge protectors are reliable enough, so the percentage of damage to electronic equipment must be small. However, when a varistor has been acting to its joules limit, there is no more surge protection, so how can the manufacturer know that the unit was used with an ineffective varistor?
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
I just wouldn't expect much "protection" from such a device let alone your wallet :)
 
G

Gmoney

Audioholic Ninja
Funny I was Researching today how long AVR’s should last as you would guess it’s all over the place.
AVR 5 years, cheap 2, 3 years amp 10 to 15 years with Maintenance. Tube amps 50 years I Googled it so don’t jump me but that’s what I found on the subject of how long gear should last.
Oh and speakers 20 years with maintenance
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Funny I was Researching today how long AVR’s should last as you would guess it’s all over the place.
AVR 5 years, cheap 2, 3 years amp 10 to 15 years with Maintenance. Tube amps 50 years I Googled it so don’t jump me but that’s what I found on the subject of how long gear should last.
Does the avr "lasting" refer to the technology it can offer as "current"?
 
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