How many functional hours do you get from a receiver?

[willliamssvg]

I use my receiver in a bar environment for on average 12hrs a day, everyday.

Its been about 13 months and my receiver died (Pioneer VSX-519v). Can I expect this from a new receiver?

What receivers amplifiers would you recommend for this continuous/prolonged use?

 

[pzaur]

I use my receiver in a bar environment for on average 12hrs a day, everyday.

Its been about 13 months and my receiver died (Pioneer VSX-519v). Can I expect this from a new receiver?

What receivers amplifiers would you recommend for this continuous/prolonged use?

In general, I'd say that consumer products are not designed for use in a commercial establishment like you are talking about. You should be looking at pro level stuff and amplifiers.

I cannot comment on longevity of products since that will also depend on environmental and usage factors.

-pat

 

[KEW]

That seems below average.
What type of temperature and humidity does it see.
What about when the bar is closed - How hot or cold does the room get?
Are you running it hard?
Is it up near the ceiling where it will see extra heat?
Does it have good ventilation?

Depending on some of these answers, you may want to replace it with a pro amp setup.

 

[jostenmeat]

What Pat said.

Get whatever as your pre/pro, even some old garage sale stereo unit, and use a pro amplifier, whether Yamaha, Crown, QSC, Behringer, etc. If you get a cheapie pre/pro, you might* have to use a voltage converter to get the preamp voltage high enough to use the amp's capability, but I think in most modern cases this is not necessary.

 

[its phillip]

I have no idea how much use it sees on average, but I've been using a Yamaha RX-V795 for 13 years or so.

 

[yepimonfire]

i have been running my USED marantz about 16 hours a day as my family uses it watching tv which they never seem to turn off for the last year and a half and it is still working fine it was also used for about three years prior to that. a receiver dieing in 13 months? doesent sound right to me....

 

[TLS Guy]

I use my receiver in a bar environment for on average 12hrs a day, everyday.

Its been about 13 months and my receiver died (Pioneer VSX-519v). Can I expect this from a new receiver?

What receivers amplifiers would you recommend for this continuous/prolonged use?

As they say mileage will vary.

I don't think a receiver is the correct device to use in a bar or commercial establishment. You need a pro type PA system.

I suspect the life of receivers will probably get less rather then increase.

Are you just using the audio capabilities of the receiver or video as well?

By the way use of domestic equipment the way you are using it is not covered by warranty. So if you buy a receiver and it dies in a month you are out of luck.

 

[willliamssvg]

Thanks everyone for the replies.

To answer a bit of everyone's questions.

When in use the room temp is about 75degrees. Not sure on the humidity but it should be low as used in an A/Ced room. When business is closed however the temperature can rise to possibly 85.

Most of the time the volume is "moderate".

I am not sure if this could have done it but I was showing video one night, running the HDMI through it, and the source volume was quite low so had to turn it up quite high. This is when it died. I figured maybe it overheated because I was able to use it about 20mins later. I then dropped the room temperature to about 65 and used it without any problems for the rest of the evening.
In the morning, I turned it on, it stayed on for a few secs, and that has been it since then.

What pro systems would everyone recommend? I want something that can hopefully handle HDMI as well for when I use the projector?

My knowledge is somewhat limited in regards to pro systems. I will only need about 500 watts.

Thanks again.

 

[highfigh]

Thanks everyone for the replies.

To answer a bit of everyone's questions.

When in use the room temp is about 75degrees. Not sure on the humidity but it should be low as used in an A/Ced room. When business is closed however the temperature can rise to possibly 85.

Most of the time the volume is "moderate".

I am not sure if this could have done it but I was showing video one night, running the HDMI through it, and the source volume was quite low so had to turn it up quite high. This is when it died. I figured maybe it overheated because I was able to use it about 20mins later. I then dropped the room temperature to about 65 and used it without any problems for the rest of the evening.
In the morning, I turned it on, it stayed on for a few secs, and that has been it since then.

What pro systems would everyone recommend? I want something that can hopefully handle HDMI as well for when I use the projector?

My knowledge is somewhat limited in regards to pro systems. I will only need about 500 watts.

Thanks again.

"ONLY" 500 Watts? You're kidding, right?

First, what speakers are you using, how many are connected and how are they connected? If you have more than two connected to each channel and they're wired parallel, that's your problem. If you crank the stereo, that's a problem, too. If the speakers are wired parallel AND you crank it, it was bound to happen.

Consumer electronics companies specifically state that, if the equipment is used in a commercial application, the warranty is void. They do this for a reason- they don't make the equipment for this kind of use. That said, there's a whole lot of consumer equipment in bars, restaurants, offices and industrial locations that has worked fine for a long time, so as TLS posted, "your mileage may vary". Heat, humidity, CIGARETTE SMOKE, placing things over the vents on the cover and shorted wires/bad speakers will kill a receiver very fast.

The first thing I would do is check the speakers and speaker wires for problems. If you don't find problems there, look at how it was used- if it was cranked to maximum, that's a problem and you clearly need more power. If the receiver has pre-amp outputs and everything BUT the amp works, you could always use the preamp and add a separate power amp. It would be best to disconnect the power supply from the internal power amp section if you do, though.

I don't like electronics being considered as disposable, but you could always buy something fairly cheap and replace it when it, too, dies. I see this as completely wasteful, but it's your decision.

Is this a commercial bar? Is smoking allowed? If so, I would move the electronics to a place where the smoke and humidity from the sinks/glass washer can't reach it.

 

[TLS Guy]

We need to know your set up in great detail. The video issue complicates matters. HDMI was conceived as a domestic standard and is not always present on pro gear.

You best bet in view of what you have now told us, is likely, a receiver used as a pre pro or a pre/pro. Then use pro amps.

We need all details of your speaker system.

A pre/pro and powered speakers may be a solution. If you have ceiling speakers, etc, then a pro 70 volt system may be called for.

We need all the details for this reason. Commercial installations are a different ball game from domestic ones.

 

[willliamssvg]

My music requirements a very small/basic
Its really only 'back ground' music for the most part.

I have 4 Usher S-520's (110W max 8ohms)connected in stereo. One on each channel.

My A/V equipment is placed in a separate room away from everything (smoke, excess moisture etc) and connected to the speakers via 16 gauge Monster cables. The distance ranges from 30-50 feet.

 

[Seth=L]

It doesn't help matters much that this Pioneer is bottom of the barrel.

How many speakers are there, and what are they (make and model)? Depending on how many speakers you had connected, and their impedance, the receiver might not have been able to handle it. In any case, you're just not going to cut it with a $200 receiver.

Edit: posted my response before I saw yours

Now that we know what speakers you're using I think we can narrow down a selection. So is this bar pretty quiet in terms of bars? I normally associate loud music with bars that you have to yell to talk over them and by the time you're ready to leave your voice has gone out. If you're not running them very loud I don't see why you couldn't get away with using a receiver only.

I'm assuming you were using some kind of All Channel Stereo mode to operate all 4 speakers since the VSX-519 doesn't have A/B speaker outputs?

I'd probably feel comfortable powering those speakers at moderate levels with a mid level receiver, however, utilizing preouts to external amplification would be the preferred method and much safer for your electronics. Take for example the Yamaha RX-V667 paired with a couple Behringer A500 professional amplifiers and you'd be safe with those speakers or something much larger.

 

[BassAddictJ]

i guess it depends alot also on the build quality...alot of the old school gear might be better built than new age stuff. you can get a 10 yer old receiver that will outlast a 2010 model of a lesser quality build...

 

[just-some-guy]

i agree with Seth

low level receiver, running 4ohms. not good.

i would get a older receiver with pre-outs off craigslist = inexpensive. and a cheaper pro amp.
that should last nearly forever.

 

[3db]

A shamless plug fro Yamaha My daughter's former dance studio is using an old Yamaha stereo receiver with a pair of Mission tower speakers in their largest studio for at least 5 years and its still going strong. In fact, someone had layed a binder on top of it which cause it to shutdown in thermal overload. I told the owners to shutoff the receiver, tkeep the top clear for airflow and wait several minutes for it to cool down. It fire backed up after about 5 minutes and cranked away for the rest of the show.

 

[TapeMaster]

If you want Serious Power and professional Sound Quality I reccomend the Kenwood VR-309 Stereo Receiver. It was a $400.00 Receiver and is built too last! I just received mine from an ebay seller Igggone is his username! I tested the amp with Velvet Revolver,and Jackyl

 

[digicidal]

I use my receiver in a bar environment for on average 12hrs a day, everyday.

Its been about 13 months and my receiver died (Pioneer VSX-519v). Can I expect this from a new receiver?

I agree with the others here... this seems like only one of two possibilities:

1) You got one a bad production item (it happens) and it was doomed from the moment it rolled off the assembly line. (Less likely).

2) Your enviroment can eat a less durable component design for breakfast because it's too hot, too hard a load driven, or too dusty/wet for a consumer product. (More likely).

By way of comparison, I use my old Pioneer VSX-D508 (which actually does have A/B switching despite being slightly older) as my PC 'sound card' in my office at work. This is after being used for years nearly every day since I purchased it used sometime in 2001. Although it did sit in a closet for about a year during the last decade I would say it's had at least 15K hours of use total and probably been powered on for more than 3-4X that much time.

Never had a problem with it at all... however, I've never run anything but very benign loads on it (mostly Klipsch and Polk surround setups) which were all 8ohm speakers.

I agree that you would be best served using pro gear rather than consumer grade gear for your bar - but you definitely should have gotten much, much more life out of that AVR were it used as the manufacturer intended.