Serviceability/Parts Availability on Costly AV Equipment is a Disgrace.

[TLS Guy]

As many of you know, my five year old Marantz 7705 has developed a serious problem. It developed intermittent hum on all channels even when muted. For some odd reason it was cured by plugging headphones in and out. Anyhow a few days later it made an enormous bang, and I mean enormous, and the hum came back. This time a soft reset stopped the hum but the left rear surround output is silent and stayed that way. Anyhow, I had had enough and took it out of service. I regarded this unit as suspect when the strange hum first appeared and ordered a Marantz AVP 7706. This had arrived by then and so I changed the units over nine days ago.

So I was pondering what to do with the 7705 which is packed away in original packing. I phoned a service center in Indiana and they were exceptionally unhelpful. So I then phoned one in Kansas City. The guy there was exceptionally helpful. I explained the problem and he suspected the power supply board is bad, and so do I. He also thinks it has taken out the digital board as the cause of the left back surround being silent.

He told me that the parts for the 7705 were very hard to come by. Now this is a unit that was only produced from 2018 to 2020. This unit was put into service November 2019. So before failing had only been in service for five years and one month. The guy said there were no power supply boards available and only one rebuilt digital board, which would likely be gone before my unit got there.

There is not a mark on this unit, it looks as if it is brand new, and is now packed up in all its original packing. However it is now going on a one way trip to the recycling center. The unit has never been abused. The house has whole house surge protection and the unit has always been powered from an APC UPS.

Now a unit like that with well over a thousand components will have a chance of failure. That is not the issue. The issue is lamentable after sales service. I would bet Denon Marantz is no worse than anyone else in this regard. However it is still an absolute disgrace and completely unacceptable. When people pay large amounts of cash for these types of units, they have a right to expect better, and a lot better. This will discourage consumers at large from investing in higher end AV, a go for throwaway sound bars.

My point is that for a five year old $2000.00 dollar unit, the only option should not be a one way trip to the recycling center. That is totally unacceptable. Denon Marantz is up for sale, but I fear it may be the end of the road or a further descent into Mediocrity or worse.

 

[isolar8001]

As many of you know, my five year old Marantz 7705 has developed a serious problem. It developed intermittent hum on all channels even when muted. For some odd reason it was cured by plugging headphones in and out. Anyhow a few days later it made an enormous bang, and I mean enormous, and the hum came back. This time a soft reset stopped the hum but the left rear surround output is silent and stayed that way. Anyhow, I had had enough and took it out of service. I regarded this unit as suspect when the strange hum first appeared and ordered a Marantz AVP 7706. This had arrived by then and so I changed the units over nine days ago.

So I was pondering what to do with the 7705 which is packed away in original packing. I phoned a service center in Indiana and they were exceptionally unhelpful. So I then phoned one in Kansas City. The guy there was exceptionally helpful. I explained the problem and he suspected the power supply board is bad, and so do I. He also thinks it has taken out the digital board as the cause of the left back surround being silent.

He told me that the parts for the 7705 were very hard to come by. Now this is a unit that was only produced from 2018 to 2020. This unit was put into service November 2019. So before failing had only been in service for five years and one month. The guy said there were no power supply boards available and only one rebuilt digital board, which would likely be gone before my unit got there.

There is not a mark on this unit, it looks as if it is brand new, and is now packed up in all its original packing. However it is now going on a one way trip to the recycling center. The unit has never been abused. The house has whole house surge protection and the unit has always been powered from an APC UPS.

Now a unit like that with well over a thousand components will have a chance of failure. That is not the issue. The issue is lamentable after sales service. I would bet Denon Marantz is no worse than anyone else in this regard. However it is still an absolute disgrace and completely unacceptable. When people pay large amounts of cash for these types of units, they have a right to expect better, and a lot better. This will discourage consumers at large from investing in higher end AV, a go for throwaway sound bars.

My point is that for a five year old $2000.00 dollar unit, the only option should not be a one way trip to the recycling center. That is totally unacceptable. Denon Marantz is up for sale, but I fear it may be the end of the road or a further descent into Mediocrity or worse.

Same thing goes for modern tv sets....manufactures have a limited supply of repair boards that sell out quick when the problems start arising (if you are lucky enough to have a fault that is board related).

Not unusual for a 2000 dollar tv set to go belly up in 3 to 4 years...then off to the recycler.
The sad times we live in.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

So you had experience with one or two mediocre so-called "repair" centers. Even tiny one-man shops like https://www.youtube.com/@MendItMark could do SMD component-level repair and not look for easy board replacement "repairs." Power supply boards aren't magical and are mostly built using old-school analog components.

Unfortunately voting with a dollar is not really appliable here, as EVERY single electronics manufacture today does. If you can get 7 years of support on a newly made electronic device - consider yourself very lucky. Welcome to a disposable future.

 

[TLS Guy]

So you had experience with one or two mediocre so-called "repair" centers. Even tiny one-man shops like https://www.youtube.com/@MendItMark could do SMD component-level repair and not look for easy board replacement "repairs." Power supply boards aren't magical and are mostly built using old-school analog components.

Not now, power supply boards are very complicated. With robotic hot air soldering of surface mount components, component change is difficult, uncertain and of questionable reliability. Anyhow I phoned and spoke with two Marantz authorized service centers. I am not going to waste my time of phoning more of them. Unauthorized service centers won't even have access to the service manuals, which is another disgrace.

 

[mono-bloc]

Welcome to the world of un'repairable. The Chinese factories churn these things out by the thousand every day., And when things go belly up, no one claims responsibility..Owners simply dump, the faulty unit and buy another one. Frankly your lucky you got 5 years out of it. And you never learn, And as you know, you only get what you pay for But your quick to ridicule the high end market, as over priced. The fact most carry a long warranty, simply escapes you. You will remember the faults with HDMI boards years ago, . What was the outcome of that It simply faded away over time. And people continue to buy AVR's as according to them there the only way to control a home theater system..

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Utter Bull crap!
Here's AV7705 Power board right here (time at 11:30). There's nothing magical about it - not a single surface-mounted component on it.

Here's even a redneck could fix a similar (AV8802) unit:

If you don't give a damn about throwing away 3k$ pre-pro go ahead, but simply ignoring non-authorized repair shops is just stupid. Louis Rossmann can tell you about how utter garbage so-called authorized apple repair centers are.

 

[TLS Guy]

Utter Bull crap!
Here's AV7705 Power board right here (time at 11:30). There's nothing magical about it - not a single surface-mounted component on it.

Here's even a redneck could fix a similar (AV8802) unit:

If you don't give a damn about throwing away 3k$ pre-pro go ahead, but simply ignoring non-authorized repair shops is just stupid. Louis Rossmann can tell you about how utter garbage so-called authorized apple repair centers are.

I have seen that video last week, but it is only part of the power supply and does not include the regulation board. Further that guy was only dismantling the AVP, not fixing it and getting it back together. The other issue is that to find the fault with a board, you have to power it. So that requires specialized equipment to plug it into. Boards these days are not really serviceable in any realistic sense. If you think you can repair my 7705 I will gladly give it to you. It is all packed up and you pay shipping. In any event after an event like that, I doubt I could trust it again realistically. So yes, unless you want, it goes to the recycling center.

The power supply issue has definitely done further damage.

 

[TLS Guy]

I have seen that video last week, but it is only part of the power supply and does not include the regulation board. Further that guy was only dismantling the AVP, not fixing it and getting it back together. The other issue is that to find the fault with a board, you have to power it. So that requires specialized equipment to plug it into. Boards these days are not really serviceable in any realistic sense. If you think you can repair my 7705 I will gladly give it to you. It is all packed up and you pay shipping. In any event after an event like that, I doubt I could trust it again realistically. So yes, unless you want, it goes to the recycling center.

The power supply issue has definitely done further damage.

Welcome to the world of un'repairable. The Chinese factories churn these things out by the thousand every day., And when things go belly up, no one claims responsibility..Owners simply dump, the faulty unit and buy another one. Frankly your lucky you got 5 years out of it. And you never learn, And as you know, you only get what you pay for But your quick to ridicule the high end market, as over priced. The fact most carry a long warranty, simply escapes you. You will remember the faults with HDMI boards years ago, . What was the outcome of that It simply faded away over time. And people continue to buy AVR's as according to them there the only way to control a home theater system..

Well I have a couple of AVPs in daily use that are 15 years old and working fine. Both Marantz. By the way I don't buy AVRs just AVPs.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I have seen that video last week, but it is only part of the power supply and does not include the regulation board. Further that guy was only dismantling the AVP, not fixing it and getting it back together. The other issue is that to find the fault with a board, you have to power it. So that requires specialized equipment to plug it into. Boards these days are not really serviceable in any realistic sense. If you think you can repair my 7705 I will gladly give it to you. It is all packed up and you pay shipping. In any event after an event like that, I doubt I could trust it again realistically. So yes, unless you want, it goes to the recycling center.

The power supply issue has definitely done further damage.

Thanks, but I don't have enough testing equipment, specifically multiple variable lab power supplies, scopes, and high-accuracy probes. etc.. While I repaired electronics in the military, it was a bit too long ago. My point watching channels like Mend-it-Mark - this SEEMS not that hard. Sure, some more specialized chips, like clearly on the HDMI board are very unique and specialized and most likely long gone from even gray markets, but if you suspect an issue in the power supply, how hard could be?
That said, even if you pay 100% shipping and just gift it to me, I don't want/need it - I still have plenty of other projects, and whatever free time left to spend with my kids/family. Thx for the offer though.

Lastly, I will this thread with two highly-rated local (to you) electronic repair shops. If I were you, I'd at least ask for quotes.

PTR Electronics LLC · 6520 Edenvale Blvd #113, Eden Prairie, MN 55346

★★★★★ · Electronics repair shop

www.google.com

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

 

[TLS Guy]

Thanks, but I don't have enough testing equipment, specifically multiple variable lab power supplies, scopes, and high-accuracy probes. etc.. While I repaired electronics in the military, it was a bit too long ago. My point watching channels like Mend-it-Mark - this SEEMS not that hard. Sure, some more specialized chips, like clearly on the HDMI board are very unique and specialized and most likely long gone from even gray markets, but if you suspect an issue in the power supply, how hard could be?
That said, even if you pay 100% shipping and just gift it to me, I don't want/need it - I still have plenty of other projects, and whatever free time left to spend with my kids/family. Thx for the offer though.

Lastly, I will this thread with two highly-rated local (to you) electronic repair shops. If I were you, I'd at least ask for quotes.

PTR Electronics LLC · 6520 Edenvale Blvd #113, Eden Prairie, MN 55346

★★★★★ · Electronics repair shop

www.google.com

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

I have already done that and my dealer Hi-Fi sound has asked around, including the reps, and no one wants to have anything to do with that unit, not here or anywhere else I suspect. Any member who wants it can have it for shipping, otherwise the recycling center it is. I already have my 7706 installed and it is fine. Hopefully it will have longer legs. I think those 7705s were duff units from what I can find out. They were only in production from 2018 to 2020. I have seen reports on the Net of similar issues to mine.

The repair center in Kansas, told me he knows of one of those units that tore out the spiders in every woofer in a guys system. I think these 7705s were misbegotten from the start. My SEAS Excel, Dynaudio woofers with 2.5" VC and my KEF B139s seem to have survived the hit thank goodness. I just hope I never have an occurence like that again.

 

[Kleinst]

It's interesting. These AVRs and Processors somewhat become disposable, don't they? And does that kind of make you wonder what level of $ is worth investing? Granted they could last 20 years, it's a bit of a luck of the draw. For an AVP, you certainly wouldn't think they would fail other than maybe HDMI board without AMPs driving heat but what do I know? I'm hopeful that my Denon 4700 that I'm running in pre amp mode only in my living room will last a long time since it's nicely dialed in for this room. I'm curious about other units but i don't really want to screw with it in reality.

I will say this. I bought a combo from someone that included a Outlaw 976 and an Outlaw 7220 AMP for a very low price. Turns out the 976 processor was not working. It would power up then immediately power down. It was ok because for what I paid, the AMP was the prize. Still I contacted Outlaw and they fixed it for less than $200 including shipping. So props to Outlaw. Unfortunately it's not as nice a processor as your Marantz. But it speaks to the fact that Denon/Marantz don't see the juice is worth the squeeze to repair anything.

 

[TLS Guy]

Thanks, but I don't have enough testing equipment, specifically multiple variable lab power supplies, scopes, and high-accuracy probes. etc.. While I repaired electronics in the military, it was a bit too long ago. My point watching channels like Mend-it-Mark - this SEEMS not that hard. Sure, some more specialized chips, like clearly on the HDMI board are very unique and specialized and most likely long gone from even gray markets, but if you suspect an issue in the power supply, how hard could be?
That said, even if you pay 100% shipping and just gift it to me, I don't want/need it - I still have plenty of other projects, and whatever free time left to spend with my kids/family. Thx for the offer though.

Lastly, I will this thread with two highly-rated local (to you) electronic repair shops. If I were you, I'd at least ask for quotes.

PTR Electronics LLC · 6520 Edenvale Blvd #113, Eden Prairie, MN 55346

★★★★★ · Electronics repair shop

www.google.com

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

They only do Industrial equipment repair and are no use to me. They are also part of an islamic center!

 

[TLS Guy]

It's interesting. These AVRs and Processors somewhat become disposable, don't they? And does that kind of make you wonder what level of $ is worth investing? Granted they could last 20 years, it's a bit of a luck of the draw. For an AVP, you certainly wouldn't think they would fail other than maybe HDMI board without AMPs driving heat but what do I know? I'm hopeful that my Denon 4700 that I'm running in pre amp mode only in my living room will last a long time since it's nicely dialed in for this room. I'm curious about other units but i don't really want to screw with it in reality.

I will say this. I bought a combo from someone that included a Outlaw 976 and an Outlaw 7220 AMP for a very low price. Turns out the 976 processor was not working. It would power up then immediately power down. It was ok because for what I paid, the AMP was the prize. Still I contacted Outlaw and they fixed it for less than $200 including shipping. So props to Outlaw. Unfortunately it's not as nice a processor as your Marantz. But it speaks to the fact that Denon/Marantz don't see the juice is worth the squeeze to repair anything.

Your points are well taken. These units have become increasingly complex with higher and higher part count. Their interior design is awful for all brands.

These units need much better service access. Above all, they need diagnostic ports like vehicles have that give you an error code. If it was not for that approach all vehicles would be virtually unfixable. You would have no idea which sensor or device had gone bad.

I have done enough electronics repair to know that you have to have access to a powered board to diagnose it. There is zero chance of that in an AVR or AVP. This needs to change. I think actually a change in law is required to require diagnostic codes and access for all for electronics above a certain price point.

So, we do need universal fault codes and a requirement for parts to be available for a specified time like 10 or 15 years.

This throw away mentality is costly, inconvenient and very bad for our planet.

 

[PENG]

There is not a mark on this unit, it looks as if it is brand new, and is now packed up in all its original packing. However it is now going on a one way trip to the recycling center. The unit has never been abused. The house has whole house surge protection and the unit has always been powered from an APC UPS.

You deserved better service support than this!! Anyway, that's why unless money is not remotely an issue or even a concern, I don't recommend anyone spending extra $ on such so called "separates" for HT multichannel applications. There are too many things to go wrong on be "buggy" (think those boutique brands Arcam, Anthem, even NADs, Emotiva when first launch, and some remain buggy for many months before a few FW updates).

Well I have a couple of AVPs in daily use that are 15 years old and working fine. Both Marantz. By the way I don't buy AVRs just AVPs.

And I have AVRs that are almost 20 years old, and working 100% fine just not on my racks anymore!

It is better to seriously consider AVR models that just got superseded by a new model, at deep discounts, and just use it with external amps. I know that makes even less sense and seems unthinkable for those who insist on not paying for features they don't use even if there are significant net savings if they go that route, but for many, why argue with money, if as example, an AVR-X3800H, even the X4800H would cost much less and have more useful features than an AV7706? Again, that doesn't apply to you, but to those on a tight budget and maybe money matters a lot more to them. It also doesn't apply to those who must have something that looks pleasing to them. My whole point, is an AVP or AVR that has 11 or more channel processing not counting multiple discrete subwoofer outputs have a lot more that can go wrong than those less than 10 years old models, and are often not practically repairable. I know you are one who would think AVRs are even worse, much worse because of the large numbers of power amps jammed into one box, but can't argue with the facts that they don't seem to be failing any more than AVPs, as power amps are usually trouble free if only used lightly, or on standby mode only all the time, like the preamp mode, or even just ECA mode.

PS- Good thing you anticipate the issue might return so you don't lose much uptime with the 7706 right there, and I am posting this just to remind others of seriously considering costs if they are sitting on the fence of choosing an AVR or AVP, and that the perceived advantages of the so called "separates" really don't add up to much in the case of the highly complicated AV devices that have channel count >>7.1 or that are the norms less than about 10 years ago.

 

[mono-bloc]

These units need much better service access.

i do agree with what your saying, Unfortunately it will never happen on high demand and low price electronics' .I think you need to look at the bigger picture
with regard to price paid and what your getting for that price. AVR's and AVP's are cheap, that's why they attract your man in the street buyer. It's also why they introduce updates and new models every 8 to 12 months..

The problem like everything else is controlled by price, We would all like a Porsche, but we settle for a Camray, If I was to suggest a high quality Integrated amp, you would say It's audio foolary [or somesuch ] and not worth the cost. The thing is if you buy quality in anything chances are it will out live you. And end up on one of the Audio Mart sites. And there some wonderful bargains to be had, on Ozzie Audio Mart.at the moment. I no longer look at your american version, due to very low exchange rates, your prices just about double

If you want real Audio check out the upcoming Florida Audio show and wonder at the Clarisys Auditorium Speakers, which will be powered with Block Amplification. These have been flown in from Switzerland just for the show..

 

[PENG]

The Chinese factories churn these things out by the thousand every day.,

That might be true, but are those factories to blame, I doubt that. People should focus a little less on where the failed product is made, perhaps more on where it is designed. Marantz are not designed by those factories anyway. Most of the iphones are, like many other things still made in factories located in China, I have an iphone 5S, and a an ancient Google phone made by Huawei still working 100% though had to change the battery for the Google phone but that cost me less than $20 as I did it myself.

 

[TLS Guy]

You deserved better service support than this!! Anyway, that's why unless money is not remotely an issue or even a concern, I don't recommend anyone spending extra $ on such so called "separates" for HT multichannel applications. There are too many things to go wrong on be "buggy" (think those boutique brands Arcam, Anthem, even NADs, Emotiva when first launch, and some remain buggy for many months before a few FW updates).



And I have AVRs that are almost 20 years old, and working 100% fine just not on my racks anymore!

It is better to seriously consider AVR models that just got superseded by a new model, at deep discounts, and just use it with external amps. I know that makes even less sense and seems unthinkable for those who insist on not paying for features they don't use even if there are significant net savings if they go that route, but for many, why argue with money, if as example, an AVR-X3800H, even the X4800H would cost much less and have more useful features than an AV7706? Again, that doesn't apply to you, but to those on a tight budget and maybe money matters a lot more to them. It also doesn't apply to those who must have something that looks pleasing to them. My whole point, is an AVP or AVR that has 11 or more channel processing not counting multiple discrete subwoofer outputs have a lot more that can go wrong than those less than 10 years old models, and are often not practically repairable. I know you are one who would think AVRs are even worse, much worse because of the large numbers of power amps jammed into one box, but can't argue with the facts that they don't seem to be failing any more than AVPs, as power amps are usually trouble free if only used lightly, or on standby mode only all the time, like the preamp mode, or even just ECA mode.

PS- Good thing you anticipate the issue might return so you don't lose much uptime with the 7706 right there, and I am posting this just to remind others of seriously considering costs if they are sitting on the fence of choosing an AVR or AVP, and that the perceived advantages of the so called "separates" really don't add up to much in the case of the highly complicated AV devices that have channel count >>7.1 or that are the norms less than about 10 years ago.

The first issue is that I can not drive my system with an AVR. If I did I would have to construct a bunch of buffer amps. I am not sure the AVPs cost more than the top end receiver any more. The equivalent 11.2 channel receiver actually costs more than what I just paid for my 7706. I really have no interest in buying a unit with 11 power amps I would never use.

What is really required is much better design. These units are not designed intelligently. They absolutely should be designed to come apart easily and put back together easily. And as I stated diagnostic ports should absolutely be required. You can fix a board if you have to remove it before you have access.

I have a feeling Sound United are not going to survive. Masimo paid far too much for Sound United. As far as I know there are no buyers coming forward at the current asking price. So Masimo will end up selling it at a loss or shuttering it. The public are not stupid and they sense that these products are a financial risk. Until we get back to high levels of service and easy access the outlook in my view is bleak. At is foundation needs to be access to reliable service at reasonable cost.

We are frequently recommending the recycling option when peoples equipment develops problems. The ethics are wrong. At the front of Peter Walker's designs was the recognition how hard he worked to make reliable designs, some would fail, and that the customer would expect competent, prompt service at reasonable cost.

At the root of these problems is awful and lazy design and think that is true how ever much you pay for it. I bet if I bought the Marantz AV 10 I could just as easily be in the same position in five years and out 7K. That is what is wrong with the whole set up.

I have got equipment here that has been in service over sixty years and quite a lot reaching the half century mark. That is what true value looks like.

 

[Trell]

And I have AVRs that are almost 20 years old, and working 100% fine just not on my racks anymore!

It is better to seriously consider AVR models that just got superseded by a new model, at deep discounts, and just use it with external amps. I know that makes even less sense and seems unthinkable for those who insist on not paying for features they don't use even if there are significant net savings if they go that route, but for many, why argue with money, if as example, an AVR-X3800H, even the X4800H would cost much less and have more useful features than an AV7706? Again, that doesn't apply to you, but to those on a tight budget and maybe money matters a lot more to them. It also doesn't apply to those who must have something that looks pleasing to them. My whole point, is an AVP or AVR that has 11 or more channel processing not counting multiple discrete subwoofer outputs have a lot more that can go wrong than those less than 10 years old models, and are often not practically repairable. I know you are one who would think AVRs are even worse, much worse because of the large numbers of power amps jammed into one box, but can't argue with the facts that they don't seem to be failing any more than AVPs, as power amps are usually trouble free if only used lightly, or on standby mode only all the time, like the preamp mode, or even just ECA mode.

It doesn’t even have to be on a tight budget as very few will use 11 channels or more (how about 5?), and for those that needs/wants that many channels will have a dedicated proper room for that sole purpose. That room and house ain't cheap, and requires deep knowledge to properly design and build. @TLS Guy have done so, but very few have the resources or knowledge to do so.

For the rest of us an AVR, with perhaps some external amplification, will have to do. Anecdotally my 2015 model Denon AVR powering 4 Ohm speakers (5.2 setup) still works and is in daily usage by the members of my household. The room is for sure not perfect, far from it, but that's what I've to work with living in an apartment.

So for @TLS Guy an AVR is not a good match, and I get that, but that does not mean it's a bad match for everybody else.

 

[highfigh]

As many of you know, my five year old Marantz 7705 has developed a serious problem. It developed intermittent hum on all channels even when muted. For some odd reason it was cured by plugging headphones in and out. Anyhow a few days later it made an enormous bang, and I mean enormous, and the hum came back. This time a soft reset stopped the hum but the left rear surround output is silent and stayed that way. Anyhow, I had had enough and took it out of service. I regarded this unit as suspect when the strange hum first appeared and ordered a Marantz AVP 7706. This had arrived by then and so I changed the units over nine days ago.

So I was pondering what to do with the 7705 which is packed away in original packing. I phoned a service center in Indiana and they were exceptionally unhelpful. So I then phoned one in Kansas City. The guy there was exceptionally helpful. I explained the problem and he suspected the power supply board is bad, and so do I. He also thinks it has taken out the digital board as the cause of the left back surround being silent.

He told me that the parts for the 7705 were very hard to come by. Now this is a unit that was only produced from 2018 to 2020. This unit was put into service November 2019. So before failing had only been in service for five years and one month. The guy said there were no power supply boards available and only one rebuilt digital board, which would likely be gone before my unit got there.

There is not a mark on this unit, it looks as if it is brand new, and is now packed up in all its original packing. However it is now going on a one way trip to the recycling center. The unit has never been abused. The house has whole house surge protection and the unit has always been powered from an APC UPS.

Now a unit like that with well over a thousand components will have a chance of failure. That is not the issue. The issue is lamentable after sales service. I would bet Denon Marantz is no worse than anyone else in this regard. However it is still an absolute disgrace and completely unacceptable. When people pay large amounts of cash for these types of units, they have a right to expect better, and a lot better. This will discourage consumers at large from investing in higher end AV, a go for throwaway sound bars.

My point is that for a five year old $2000.00 dollar unit, the only option should not be a one way trip to the recycling center. That is totally unacceptable. Denon Marantz is up for sale, but I fear it may be the end of the road or a further descent into Mediocrity or worse.

Made a loud bang, from the unit? That sounds like a power supply cap- did it smell bad, too?

I just sent an e-mail to the owner of an AV rep firm that carries Denon, Marantz and others- I copied & pasted the text showing what you did, who you contacted. If possible and if needed, can you send some info about the extent of your electronic training in a PM? Also, IIRC, you were involved with the AES in the MPLS area, am I correct? That might help. I can PM the name of the servicer I used in the past- they wereauthorized by most brands and located in Chicago until the owner decided that it was no longer safe for his company, himself and the employees.

I'll let you know what I find out from the rep.

 

[Verdinut]

An AVP costing several Grand is not a guarantee that the product will be repaired or replaced if not of a specified quality and durability. Nowadays, a more affordable AVR, which has pre-outs enabling a preamplifier mode for external amplification is IMO a wiser choice.