Truth about the Pioneer VSX-9300TX insides and how not to connect a surge protector

[Thunder18]

Alright guys, due to a freak electrical accident, I had the opportunity to open up my VSX-9300TX to take a peek inside.

Here are a couple links to the two 27,000 micro-farad capacitors:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/cchristi18/detail?.dir=32eb&.dnm=1641.jpg

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/cchristi18/detail?.dir=32eb&.dnm=39c8.jpg&.src=ph

Here is a top view of the unit without the cover:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/cchristi18/detail?.dir=32eb&.dnm=5288.jpg

Here are a couple picture of my new Tripp-lite UPS/surge protector. It's a beauty and the lighted LCD display is removeable for mounting the unit vertically or horizontally and includes 8 power outlets(4 with battery back-up and 4 without as well as coax and usb surge protection:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/cchristi18/detail?.dir=32eb&.dnm=c494.jpg
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/cchristi18/detail?.dir=32eb&.dnm=2aac.jpg&.src=ph

Anyway, here's the sob story. I'm sure most of you are familiar with a standard digital cable box, 2 coax cables going in and one coax going out to your tv. So I had the single coax output going into my surge protector and then out to my TV and I thought I was safe. Well, I guess the power surge went into the cable box from the wall, and left the cable box through the S-video and went right into my month old receiver. From there, the receiver distributed the surge to my powered subwoofer, my HDTV and my PS2!
I'm assuming the same surge also took out the cable modem in my bedrrom and my VCR which were both connected to the same coax cable.
The two s-video cables(cable box to receiver, receiver to TV) were charred at both ends as were the s-video connectors on all components involved. The cat5 cable was only charred at the cable modem as was the cable modems network cable socket.

Strangely enough my go-video dvd/vcr in the living room and the circa '92 Toshiba tv in the bedroom survived as did my computer. I have extended warranties on the receiver, the ps2 and the TV, however the subwoofer will be an out of pocket expense. The TV's warranty is an in-home warranty so I had to make an appointment to have it seen and I have to miss work while they work on the TV at my house, of course it won't even turn on so I know they are going to say they have to take it, but the hurtful part is that the appointment isn't until the 17th and my stuff has been damaged since monday.

The receiver I dropped off at Best Buy yesterday and they said it should be back by the 27th

The PS2 i'm not too worried about, but I can pretty much take in at any time.

Anyway...I guess my next step is to buy one more coax surge protector so that I can have both the a and b coax cables going into the cable box protected.

 

[Votrax]

Thanks for the pics. I was curious about the guts of the VSX-9300TX. Those 27,000uF caps don't look any larger than my ES 15,000uF caps. I also thought they would have used extruded aluminum heat sinks as well, but I guess not. I wonder how close in construction the VSX-56TXi is to the VSX-9300TX? Good luck on the repair. Hopefully she comes back like new.

My beast

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

Unreal

Thunder. That absolutely stinks. But what a great post. Who would have thought something like that could have happened. Too bad about the wait and subwoofer. Will homeowners insurance help you out after your deductible? Was it a lightening strike? Make sure your house/roof it intact. I was on a roof a few weeks ago, and lightening blew a hole the size of a baseball through a metal valley. It took out absolutely every piece of electronics in the house. Appliances, alarm clocks, computers, A/V, you name it.

Since we're comparing internals, here's the Denon 3805.

Here's some internals of some dedicated amps, and of course, that old Pioneer SX monster receiver. Check out their caps!

 

[Thunder18]

Thanks for the sympathy guys.
As for the heat syncs...you can't really see it, but to the right of the cross-member running vertically in relation to the heat sinks, there is a large fan! It looks to be like a large computer case fan, but I've never heard it turn on so it's plenty quiet...even it's plug is like the plug from a computer case fan. I don't really know about the physical size of the capacitors. I suppose it should make a difference seeing as how car audio capacitors vary greatly in size depending on their capacity, but I don't know how pertinent it is. I mean if you're talking car alternators you can greatly increase their output without out increasing their physical dimensions, but again, I don't know if that's even a similiar comparison.

One last thing about the receiver...after all that, it still turns on and appears to be functional. Just no audible output. My poor girlfriend got home first that day and when she told me nothing was working, I told her to get an extension cord and try a couple of the HT components with other sockets and she tried the receiver and I guess because it turned on she thought it was working...

 

[Thunder18]

9300TX has been replaced

I got a call today saying my receiver would cost more to fix than it would to replace, so they called me up to the store to pick out another one. Well, it just so happens that my local Best Buy's Magnolia section fully opened today! It was very nice! $10k Pioneer Elite 61" plasma tv's. They even had the new Pioneer VSX-74TXVi...the one with HDMI switching. I didn't even ask the price though. Anyway...Best Buy is no longer carrying the 9300TX so they couldn't replace it with one of those There was nothing comparable to it anywhere the amount I paid for it. They tried to foist the Elite 52TXi on me, but I told them it's not comparable. I explained that my receiver has usb input and RS-232C output and the advanced MCACC. The 52TXi has none of those features. After almost 2 hours of deliberation they came to 3 conclusions.
1. Take a store credit for the amount I paid for the 9300TX
2. Swap for free with any receiver at the same price point as the 9300TX
3. They would give me MSRP value for the 9300TX which is $1299 and let me buy the Elite 56TXi for an extra $200 out of pocket. The 56TXi was selling for $1499.99

I felt that option 3 was extremely fair so I went that route. $200 extra got me I-link, Pioneer Elite's 2 year manufacturers warranty(don't worry, I still bought the 4 yr. extended warranty) and I guess I get bragging rights for having a Pioneer Elite

I have to give big props to the manager of the Magnolia section there for his understanding. I showed him the fact sheet I got from Pioneer stating the features of the 9300TX and the MSRP as well as showing him that the manual is even the same as the 56TXi's manual save for the i-link chapter. I'm sure he could have just forced me to take one of the cheaper receivers, but he actually saw eye to eye with me and made a good customer service decision.
Best Buy and Magnolia have definately earned a very loyal customer today!

If you are looking for a good high-end home theater purchasing experience in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. I Highly recommend the Plano Best Buy locations Magnolia Home Theater.

How was the Magnolia section you ask? Very well represented.
Pioneer Elite
Definitive Technology
Denon
Panmax(sp?)
Boston Acoustics
and lots more...I didn't pay too much attention because I was too worried about what receiver they were going to give me.

Overall, a very enjoyable experience. Oh, don't give them a hard time if it take them a while to ring you up. Apparently, the whole time they were training...their computer system wasn't up so they couldn't go through a lot of the cash register procedures. A buddy of mine was working there and has been a Best Buy employee for about 5 years and he says the Magnolia way is completely different from the way Best Buy operates(in regards to register system, logistics and customer service).