Budget AVR advice needed

Haggisman

Haggisman

Haggisman

Soldato
Joined
6 Oct 2004
Posts
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Location
Birmingham
Looks like my receiver is on its way out, as it's started making random static hisses, crackles and pops. I've tried various things like unplugging all sources, individually disconnecting speakers, unplugging everything else from the socket, but doesn't seem to make any difference.

It's a cheap and cheerful Denon x540bt, and is pretty much exactly 5 years old, so I guess it's not too surprising that it's dying.

I don't need anything fancy to be honest.

* 4 inputs (Sky, Nvidia Shield, Switch, Media PC)
* 4k/HDR (60hz is fine as my TV doesn't support higher)
* We only use the front stereo & centre speakers - room layout doesn't really allow for rear surrounds, but it's handy having the centre speaker so we can turn it up for dialogue when we're watching stuff at night and don't want to wake the kids, so I guess a stereo receiver would be fine if it was able to decode 5.1 and boost the centre channel before sending to the L&R channels (if that's even a thing?)
* No sub needed
* Max 375mm deep, 550mm width, 200mm height.

Current speakers are Mordaunt Short Ms Avant 902 for the L&R, some little Onkyo thing which came with a kit for the centre (yes I know I should get a decent centre speaker to match the sides :p)

The Onkyo TXSR393 Richer Sounds have for £400 is looking like the most suitable new option so far (although quite a bit more than I was hoping to spend), but wondering if there is a more sensible suggestion, either new or used?

Tried the whole soundbar thing and was very disappointed - couldn't get sound and video to sync up at all, and the audio quality didn't really offer any improvement over the TV built in speakers (if anything it made it worse, dialogue was extremely difficult to hear at lower volumes!)
 
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The front of the cabinet is open and there is space round the sides & top.

In terms of bass, we've never had an issue, in fact we'd rather avoid too much due to aforementioned kids being asleep and neighbours. We did have a sub connected before but ended up never using it
 
Thanks, very interesting - before the current Denon I had an Onkyo bought in.... 2009 iirc (can't remember the exact model but came with a speaker package). That lasted me 8-9 years until I finally upgraded to 4k, and was still going strong when I sold it on, so I guess that was one of the "good" models :/

I was leaning towards another Onkyo because of this, but based on what you've posted they're likely to be of a muchness (and possibly the reason the Denon is dying?)

Is it worth taking the back off the cabinet as well to get some extra airflow through?
 
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Ormy1 said:
Ahem, 5 years is nothing, if it were 20 years old I might agree but I do find it quite surprising that an AVR would only last 5 years. I have a Denon AVR-1910 that I bought used nearly 10 years ago, spilled drinks on it during various parties and it still works just fine.

Is it no longer under warranty? Might be cheap to have it repaired anyway.

If not buy something similar on the used market, you'll save a ton of money vs buying new.
Click to expand...

Thanks, yeah I was a bit surprised considering it's not that old, but then it was pretty cheap, so probably not the best quality components. Sadly not under warranty. I did find a post on reddit with a video of another Denon receiver making a similar noise, and apparently was fixed by unplugging one of the internal connectors, so I might give that a go later - nothing to lose by it (as long as I don't manage to electrocute myself on a capacitor :p).

Anyone got experience buying from Hyperfi.co.uk? They seem to have a few more options than RS for lower budget. Edit: seems these are B-Stock, so only 12 month warranty.
 
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Thanks - I was looking at that Yamaha actually as another option, will give it some thought and likely pick up one of those options, and take the back off the cabinet as well
 
Well... I popped the case off, disconnected all of the ribbon cables on the main PCB, and left it for half an hour to allow everything to fully discharge, put it all back together, and *touch wood*, it seems to be fine - got a good few hours gaming in last night with no unwanted sound effects. Not going to celebrate quite yet, as the noise has been somewhat intermittent and might have just been coincidence, but I'll hold off on a replacement for now. Some good suggestions to consider if the noise comes back :)
 
kitfit1 said:
If that is the case, i'll make the following suggestion. Get some Isopropyl Alcohol spray, spray the male ends of the ribbons, connect and disconnect the male and female ends a few times. Let them dry/evaporate, then repeat.
I'm guessing oxidised connections here, that often happens with old gear.
Click to expand...

Can I just clean them with a cotton bud & isopropyl? Got half a litre of the stuff but no spray bottle :p
 
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