AVR life expectancy

jamezm

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Hi all. My Denon x3300w seems to have gone on the fritz. It’s only 5 years old so I was curious what people’s thoughts are on the expected life expectancy of a good quality AVR? They don’t come cheap!

What I’m experiencing with the Denon is that it freezes (stops responding to commands on the remote or on unit) about 30 seconds after switching on. Can then only turn it off at the wall. It still continues to deliver sound from TV via ARC but nothing else. I’ve tried disconnecting everything so it’s just the power cable, and I’ve also tried an Initialise reset, all to no avail. Anything else worth trying?

And any suggestions please for a simple upgrade if I give up on this unit? I did like the Denon. I mainly use it for movies (fed sound via ARC from my LG C9 OLED, as well as direct from a UHD blu-ray player and an Apple TV 4K). It drives a 5.1 set-up (KEF T105). I make use of Airplay and Arc so a step-up to Airplay 2 and eArc would be useful.
 
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Tried a factory reset?
 
Tried a factory reset?
Yep. Did the tuner+/- method when turning on to start the initialise process, which I think is a factory reset.
 
where is the unit situated in free air or tucked away in a cupboard?
 
where is the unit situated in free air or tucked away in a cupboard?
It was tucked away in a cupboard with an Aircam cooler on top and vent holes. It’s now in the open air as I try to resolve this. Overheating was my first thought.
 
Hmm, , still think its not getting enough air.

Great you have a Aircom unit but the 'vent' holes may, may be not enough. Hard to say with out pics
 
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In my case it is restricted but has access to plenty of air on the sides and the hot air is dumped at the back
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Mine was in a much more enclosed space. But I’ve pulled it out now and it’s not resolving.
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Think I would cut that whole space out!

IF, and I mean a big if heat is the issue you may have cooked your AVR and putting it in free air now won't resolve this.

Cheap option for now is try a few more resets, might be a shop repair
 
I have had a few avr's over the last 20 years a Denon 3802 that is still working daily that I handed down to my daughter about 6 years ago.

Also have an Onkyo SR805 that is over 10 years old bought used at about 1 yr old that was still under warranty which had a display go out but was fixed under warranty just a capacitor blown. I still have it but only use it occasionally but works fine.

The 805 was replaced by an Onkyo 818 which was run most days for 5 years before I sold it on here.

Also run a Marantz 7010 had that for about 5 years now with no issues that one is only used about 2-3 times a week.

I did buy a used Yamaha Aventage RXV 2700 probably circa 2008 which lasted me for about 3-4 years before developing a fault which rendered it unusable. I later found a fairly simple fix was available by replacing a couple of capacitors but had already given it away.

Finally I bought a Denon X4500 new 18 months ago that is used every day for 8-10 hrs without fault and kept cooled with a couple of usb silent fans.

So overall I would say it is fair to expect a decent quality quality avr to give at least 5-10 years of service although it may have an odd fault here or there.

I have generally replaced my avr's not for the fact that they have gone caput but down to advancing tech and wanting to keep up with the latest trends.

Is your avr still under warranty as I got a 5 yr warranty with mine when I bought it although 1-3 years seems to be the norm.
 
Thanks @kbfern. 5-10 years is what I thought should be the expected lifetime for something like this. I’ll speak to the retailer but I don’t think there was any extended warranty period beyond 2/3 years.
 
Not convinced about those Aircom units, you are effectively placing a lid on the top of the AVR which is where the heat build up is at it's strongest. I think they probably cause as many issues as they solve.
The Denons run so hot that any enclosed space is going to be bad news, they need clear access to air with a good few inches clearance on top.
 
The aircom unit should be fine as it is designed for placing on top of an avr, it sucks the hot air out of the avr.

I have 2 stand alone infinity fans placed on top my Denon x4500 as they work out much cheaper and keep the avr nice and cool and the avr is on 8-10 hrs a day.

Amazon product ASIN B00G05A2MU
 
Not convinced about those Aircom units, you are effectively placing a lid on the top of the AVR which is where the heat build up is at it's strongest. I think they probably cause as many issues as they solve.
The Denons run so hot that any enclosed space is going to be bad news, they need clear access to air with a good few inches clearance on top.

Nothing wrong with the Aircom unit. My AVR is cool to the touch after an evenings viewing

Agree with your second point. He needs to cut the whole of that back portion out to get rid of the hot air
 
My last AVR, a Yamaha rxv1700 lasted 12 years before it finally gave up, I did have the capacitor fault about 5 years ago which I fixed myself, cost me 99p, was chuffed about that.

Now have the rxv685, very pleased with it and it doesn't run very warm at all, I love the simpler layout and reduced inputs.
The rxv1700 had a ridiculously over the top complexity and inputs. Used to run very warm too.
 
Well that has come back to haunt me, my 17 month old Denon X4500 that is used daily blew something yesterday and I am getting a flashing red light and unit won't power on/stay on.

I have checked all leads and no go even disconnected everything and still no go just red flashing light.

I have been in touch with the retailer I purchased it from and they have arranged a pickup tomorrow for the avr to go back to them for repair under warranty (it has a 5yr warranty thank goodness). Only trouble is it could be 10-14 working days before I get it back.

In the meantime I have drafted in my very old but still working Onkyo 805 (10 years old at least) to cover for the broken X4500. Only trouble is its a 1080p avr only so no 4k/atmos etc till I get the x4500 back.
 

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