I think my pioneer vsx-819h receiver is dying

[lovinthehd]

OK, so this is confusing… So the receiver worked flawlessly for a few days straight, and I will admit that I leave it on 24/7. I’m sure that’s probably not good and I should probably turn it off every night but I don’t. Anyway, suddenly one time today while my son was watching some YouTube videos the receiver turned itself off again. I immediately turned it back on and it hasn’t happened again. It’s been about three hours now with no repeat shut offs Does this not just seem kind of strange? That the factory reset would resolve it for several days but then suddenly it happens again once?

What volume level was your son using?

 

[TLS Guy]

OK, so this is confusing… So the receiver worked flawlessly for a few days straight, and I will admit that I leave it on 24/7. I’m sure that’s probably not good and I should probably turn it off every night but I don’t. Anyway, suddenly one time today while my son was watching some YouTube videos the receiver turned itself off again. I immediately turned it back on and it hasn’t happened again. It’s been about three hours now with no repeat shut offs Does this not just seem kind of strange? That the factory reset would resolve it for several days but then suddenly it happens again once?

I am going to stick to my original opinion, that the tailed Darlington pair in the starting circuit has become unstable, most likely due to ageing capacitors. When this happens it is a very intermittent fault and will happen anytime, with long periods of normal working in between and then have periods of increased frequency. Over time it will become increasingly unstable.
I think the fact that it cleared for a few days after the reset was pure chance.

 

[lovinthehd]

I'd simply wait for further failure and even then just try a reset.

 

[DJ in TX]

What volume level was your son using?

It wasn’t extremely high, let’s say 46 or so

 

[lovinthehd]

It wasn’t extremely high, let’s say 46 or so

Calibrated to? If the general absolute volume scale calibrated to movie standards, that's a relatively low level....and "music" is all over the place as to levels

 

[DJ in TX]

So we rented the new Godzilla x Kong new empire movie tonight and my kids were watching at a higher volume than we might watch other shows, and it happened three times within a 20 minute period. Seems like it might be more of an issue at higher volumes if that is possible? I just turned off the subwoofer and we will finish the movie and see if it happens again with the sub off. Will let you know. Not sure if it even really matters but I guess I just want to know if this will just get progressively worse, but also I would hate to shell out $300 for a new receiver to only still have this issue somehow. I hate being forced to spend money on something that doesn’t really give me any new functionality but rather just replaces the same functionality that prior to a couple of weeks ago worked fine. So frustrating.

 

[lovinthehd]

So we rented the new Godzilla x Kong new empire movie tonight and my kids were watching at a higher volume than we might watch other shows, and it happened three times within a 20 minute period. Seems like it might be more of an issue at higher volumes if that is possible? I just turned off the subwoofer and we will finish the movie and see if it happens again with the sub off. Will let you know. Not sure if it even really matters but I guess I just want to know if this will just get progressively worse, but also I would hate to shell out $300 for a new receiver to only still have this issue somehow. I hate being forced to spend money on something that doesn’t really give me any new functionality but rather just replaces the same functionality that prior to a couple of weeks ago worked fine. So frustrating.

Could still be more the avr. The sub being involved or not "shouldn't" affect the avr but...

Higher volume could trigger protection depending on your speakers/distances/eq from them/amp power asked for with your volume setting, so....

 

[mata]

Sorry, I am a newbie, for messing this thread. I don't know where to post this.

But my Onkyo Universal Blu-ray player is playing the CD well but is not able to read my Blu-ray disk.

Software?

Thanks

Mata

 

[DJ in TX]

Could still be more the avr. The sub being involved or not "shouldn't" affect the avr but...

Higher volume could trigger protection depending on your speakers/distances/eq from them/amp power asked for with your volume setting, so....

So of course I am clearly a novice on this stuff. Tell me more about the specific protection you are talking about. I am familiar with a AVR shutdown due to excessive heat, that makes sense. What other “protections” might come into play here? And is it the AVR protecting itself due to its own internal failure? Could there be something going on with my new sub that could be triggering any of this?

you mentioned “speakers/distances/eq from them/amp”. My sub sits right behind my entertainment system on the floor and has good ventilation. My two bookshelves sit on shelves in the entertainment unit, and have fairly good ventilation (could be better) but so far they have not shown any issue. As for my test last night, after I turned off the sub the avr did not shut down again. As for my sub settings on the back panel, believe both knobs (gain and low pass filter) are both set to about 75%. And even if I turn these down to 50% still many shows and movies are so bass heavy that there is lots of vibration going on even at modest avr volume.

 

[lovinthehd]

So of course I am clearly a novice on this stuff. Tell me more about the specific protection you are talking about. I am familiar with a AVR shutdown due to excessive heat, that makes sense. What other “protections” might come into play here? And is it the AVR protecting itself due to its own internal failure? Could there be something going on with my new sub that could be triggering any of this?

you mentioned “speakers/distances/eq from them/amp”. My sub sits right behind my entertainment system on the floor and has good ventilation. My two bookshelves sit on shelves in the entertainment unit, and have fairly good ventilation (could be better) but so far they have not shown any issue. As for my test last night, after I turned off the sub the avr did not shut down again. As for my sub settings on the back panel, believe both knobs (gain and low pass filter) are both set to about 75%. And even if I turn these down to 50% still many shows and movies are so bass heavy that there is lots of vibration going on even at modest avr volume.

The protection I refer to is the same one you are. Could be a fault somewhere in the avr causing the protection kicking in aside from the volume you drive the speakers with. Since the sub has it's own amp it shouldn't matter how you set the gain on the sub, but you would generally want to match the level of the sub to your speakers (MCACC can be helpful with that). The sub or speakers ventilation isn't likely an issue at all, but rather your avr's ventilation (some even use external fans to help out....my 919 ran very warm and think it was more the hdmi board's heat issues, and it was that part of my 919 that failed to begin with).

 

[lovinthehd]

Sorry, I am a newbie, for messing this thread. I don't know where to post this.

But my Onkyo Universal Blu-ray player is playing the CD well but is not able to read my Blu-ray disk.

Software?

Thanks

Mata

Best to start your own thread rather than hi-jack a thread on a different subject. Include the specifics of which player and discs, too.

 

[DJ in TX]

The protection I refer to is the same one you are. Could be a fault somewhere in the avr causing the protection kicking in aside from the volume you drive the speakers with. Since the sub has it's own amp it shouldn't matter how you set the gain on the sub, but you would generally want to match the level of the sub to your speakers (MCACC can be helpful with that). The sub or speakers ventilation isn't likely an issue at all, but rather your avr's ventilation (some even use external fans to help out....my 919 ran very warm and think it was more the hdmi board's heat issues, and it was that part of my 919 that failed to begin with).

As for my receiver, I have never felt it anymore than just warm. This includes before during and after the shutdowns. The receiver never seems hot

 

[lovinthehd]

As for my receiver, I have never felt it anymore than just warm. This includes before during and after the shutdowns. The receiver never seems hot

If the issue persisted in any case I'd need to go shopping

 

[DJ in TX]

If the issue persisted in any case I'd need to go shopping

Yes I probably will have to. Normally I love having the opportunity to buy some new electronics, but in this case it won’t give me a new toy to play with or any fancy new functionality. Just get me back to where I was.

 

[lovinthehd]

Yes I probably will have to. Normally I love having the opportunity to buy some new electronics, but in this case it won’t give me a new toy to play with or any fancy new functionality. Just get me back to where I was.

I'd just look at craigslist first

 

[DJ in TX]

Ok so not going to buy used for sure. I might be willing to buy renewed/refurbished if they come with a good warranty?

Could a few of you with strong opinions on brand give me a rundown of overall brands to avoid right now? Likewise what brands are typically regarded as a good bet? And in my budget am I really going to find anything that blows the others out of the water? If everything at this price point is relatively similar then maybe I can stop stressing about this decision and just pull the trigger on something. I keep reading reviews that seem to trash pretty much every brand. As noted I don’t want to spend more than $350 max. I see some good deals on accessories4less and they seem to be trusted?
Any suggestions/input/advice?

 

[Tankini]

Check out this Onkyo.

Amazon.com

 

[lovinthehd]

Ok so not going to buy used for sure. I might be willing to buy renewed/refurbished if they come with a good warranty?

Could a few of you with strong opinions on brand give me a rundown of overall brands to avoid right now? Likewise what brands are typically regarded as a good bet? And in my budget am I really going to find anything that blows the others out of the water? If everything at this price point is relatively similar then maybe I can stop stressing about this decision and just pull the trigger on something. I keep reading reviews that seem to trash pretty much every brand. As noted I don’t want to spend more than $350 max. I see some good deals on accessories4less and they seem to be trusted?
Any suggestions/input/advice?

One of my avrs I bought used quite a few years ago, a Denon 3808 (here on AH classifieds) that still does very nicely for my use (for my garage/workshop, a 7.3 setup mostly music but some video on an old 720P set). Th,at was $200 plus shipping. I see on our local craigslist basic avrs at reasonable prices and that's for a relatively small metro area (Eugene OR), when newer tech comes out sometimes you can get a very good unit but perhaps without something like HDMI 2.1 or other newest features.

Personally I'd stick to the major brands like Denon/Marantz, Yamaha, Sony and perhaps Onkyo/Integra/Pioneer. (I say perhaps because it wasn't long ago Onkyo was in serious trouble and they got bailed out by Voxx, but so far Voxx seems to be going forward).

I bought a Denon 4520 refurb from A4L and it failed, replaced it with another and that one failed (and just beyond the 30 days but A4L treated it as if it happened within the 30 day period in their terms)....they happened to have a new unit also so I bought that as was getting tired of setting it up and tearing it down (and using a spare while waiting for shipping). I've had good buying experiences there but the refurbs have particular warranties (sometimes factory, sometimes 3rd party) and can vary in length (usually at least one year manufacturer's warranty). Also terms of sale are particular when it comes to returns, so acquaint yourself with them if going that route.

 

[isolar8001]

Ok so not going to buy used for sure. I might be willing to buy renewed/refurbished if they come with a good warranty?

Could a few of you with strong opinions on brand give me a rundown of overall brands to avoid right now? Likewise what brands are typically regarded as a good bet? And in my budget am I really going to find anything that blows the others out of the water? If everything at this price point is relatively similar then maybe I can stop stressing about this decision and just pull the trigger on something. I keep reading reviews that seem to trash pretty much every brand. As noted I don’t want to spend more than $350 max. I see some good deals on accessories4less and they seem to be trusted?
Any suggestions/input/advice?

I've got a Denon AVR-S950H in the closet from accessories4less gathering dust.
Shame you are clear in Texas, I would sell it for a couple hundred. It's in perfect shape, used for about 9 months.
Don't hesitate to buy from them...they are good people.

And yes, everything in your price range is similar...and are similar way above your range for that matter.

 

[lovinthehd]

I've got a Denon AVR-S950H in the closet from accessories4less gathering dust.
Shame you are clear in Texas, I would sell it for a couple hundred. It's in perfect shape, used for about 9 months.
Don't hesitate to buy from them...they are good people.

And yes, everything in your price range is similar...and are similar way above your range for that matter.

The non-similarity is often simply additional features (and wouldn't be surprised most couldn't just be addressed by a firmware update if they so desired)