Is there any data on receiver failure rates?

[theshade]

I was about to buy a pioneer 1020 receiver but when I looked it up on amazon there are lots of 1 star reviews because the receiver stopped working. However when I looked at other brands(denon and onkyo) in the same price range there were also lots of 1 star reviews due to failure rates. I didn't look at harman cause my current receiver is an HK 235 which stopped working after 2 years. Had it repaired then after about a year it conked out again.

Is this an accurate picture of the situation today wherein receivers work for only a short time. I have a sansui alpha amplifier from the 80's and it still works.

 

[markw]

I can't think of any single ource of this info, but human nature is that when all goes well, most say nothing. When they have a gripe, they tell the world.

 

[jonnythan]

When you buy a receiver, and it's still working 6 months later, do you head to Amazon and post a review? No, you just keep using it.

When you buy a receiver, and it breaks 6 months later, what do you do? Head to Amazon and post a review.

 

[bikdav]

These days, it seems that most people who post a review have something to gripe about. Yet, those who are doing fine with their purchases tend to remain quiet.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Just don't buy any refurbished Denon AVR from eCost.

I recommend Yamaha, Pioneer, & Denon brand new.

 

[GranteedEV]

If you want it to not likely fail, get something

-Made in North America or Japan
-Separates
-With good heatsinking
-with minimum features at the price point.

So maybe these amps:

ATI AT2005 Five Channel x 200 Watt Amplifier - B-Stock (120 V) - Amplifiers


As for a processor, it is what it is. You really have to accept that the circuitry is too complex to have no chance of failure. I recommend this:

Marantz AV7005

Is the above cheap?

No. You're looking at 5 to 7 channels of amplification and a heavy amount of (often useful) features. If it's outside of your budget then you just have to accept that failure is a possibility, and take the gamble. I have had an SR6003 for a while now and no indication of failure, although it does run warmer than I'd like it to.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

With possibility of angering the gods of reliability or breaking the Murphy's Law, I'll state this:
Despite all bad experiences many people had with Onkyo Receivers - there are still TON of other folks, whom happily enjoy their Onkyo products for years, including your humble servant , which got his TX-SR805 almost four year ago - yes the same model notorious for blowing up from overheating [just don't tell this to it ]

 

[markw]

Which brings up another point...

When one considers the number of units sold, even if the number of failures is statistically smaller, the overall numbers will be greater for a big seller than that of a poor selling unit.

So, it's only natural that the number of complaints against the big players in the game will show up in greater numbers than those of the poorer sellers.

 

[sholling]

As long as you stay with mid priced and above (MSRP > $500) from Denon, Onkyo, Marantz, Yamaha, or Pioneer's Elite line you should be in good shape. Personally I'm a fan of Denon and Onkyo (I own 3 Onkyos and have my eye on a 4th) but that's because I like Audyssey. I know receivers can go bad, especially these days with rock bottom production costs but going back to the 70s I have yet to have a receiver flat out die on me. That said everybody puts out a bad batch once in a while.

 

[theshade]

If you want it to not likely fail, get something

-Made in North America or Japan
-Separates
-With good heatsinking
-with minimum features at the price point.

So maybe these amps:

ATI AT2005 Five Channel x 200 Watt Amplifier - B-Stock (120 V) - Amplifiers


As for a processor, it is what it is. You really have to accept that the circuitry is too complex to have no chance of failure. I recommend this:

Marantz AV7005

Is the above cheap?

No. You're looking at 5 to 7 channels of amplification and a heavy amount of (often useful) features. If it's outside of your budget then you just have to accept that failure is a possibility, and take the gamble. I have had an SR6003 for a while now and no indication of failure, although it does run warmer than I'd like it to.

Thanks for the recommendations however those are way above my budget. I can only afford at most US 600 $ and that would already be pushing it. Additionally, I come from the Philippines and prices are different here. I'll give an example below. So I can only get probably entry level units.

hk 156 451.180*USD
hk 165 590.005*USD
hk 265 798.242*USD


Denon 1612 590.005*USD
Denon 1912 775.104*USD


Pioneer
VSX 521 369.968*USD
VSX 821 555.067*USD
VSX 921 693.892*USD
VSX 1021 994.678*USD

Pioneer 1020 532.161 USD

I will be using the receiver to drive Usher x-719 for fronts and energy c-3 for surrounds, no center channel and DIY adire tempest 15 sub in a small room. I just need HDMI inputs and reliability(last for years). Other features like upscaling and room correction are just a plus.

I was planning to get the older model Pioneer 1020 cause it sounded like a good deal. Just got afraid of the reviews in amazon wherein they last only for a few months.

I also found a second hand ATI 1505 multi channel amp for 833 USD which is way above my budget and I will be using my old HK as preamp if I manage to swing this one.

Based on the other posts here, it seems that I am just being hesitant as all brands have lemons or defective units. However I hope to minimize the chance that I will get a bad unit.

 

[theshade]

As long as you stay with mid priced and above (MSRP > $500) from Denon, Onkyo, Marantz, Yamaha, or Pioneer's Elite line you should be in good shape. Personally I'm a fan of Denon and Onkyo (I own 3 Onkyos and have my eye on a 4th) but that's because I like Audyssey. I know receivers can go bad, especially these days with rock bottom production costs but going back to the 70s I have yet to have a receiver flat out die on me. That said everybody puts out a bad batch once in a while.

What about the entry level units? I can only afford those at this time. Or should I just wait a few months to about a year to save more to be able to get mid priced units. Prices here as I mentioned in my post above is different from North America.

 

[sholling]

What about the entry level units? I can only afford those at this time. Or should I just wait a few months to about a year to save more to be able to get mid priced units. Prices here as I mentioned in my post above is different from North America.

The cheaper models will probably be fine. They're built a bit lighter/cheaper but should last for years.

 

[woofersus]

It seems to have been a while since there was a major reliability scare with any particular brand or model of receiver. (really the last one I remember was the Onkyo X05 series from a couple of years ago, and as noted above they certainly didn't all break) I'd wager that unless you try to make it drive a difficult load and fail to provide reasonable fresh air flow most of them are fine. Of course there's always a small percentage, but that's always the risk you take with electronics.

Personally I've only actually ever had two AVR's. An old Technics that I got for Christmas when I was 16 (still works like a champ after almost another 16yrs) and my current Yamaha RX-V663 that has been problem free for nearly 4yrs of almost daily use.

 

[tom67]

Yes, but today you are really buying a piece of audio equipment which incorporates a computer system.....point is that equipment today a lot more complicated and more things to fail...