Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Onkyo Receiver making a click noise randomly

Good Morning,

Over the last two weeks while running the new M5HP speakers on the Onkyo TX-NR6050, the receiver will make a random click noise every now and again. The sound is like the click noise it makes when you turn it off and on, so it sound like a relay flipping. When I watch tv or movies, it rarely ever clicks, but when I am listening to louder music, it will click every few minutes especially if there is a higher amount of bass in the sound.

The click is low volume, but its enough to hear it and its coming directly from the receiver and not through the speakers. I checked the settings of the receiver for an eco mode, but the receiver doesnt have anything like that. It does have an impedance selector which is 6 or above or 4. I have it set to 6 and above.

Is this normal for a receiver to make this sound in the middle of playing sound with no changes to the sound type or anything?

Should I request a replacement receiver and test that one to see if it makes the sound as well? It looks like costco will send me a new one and I can just return the old to the warehouse within 30 days.

Thank you.

I'm aware that some receivers "click" during commercial breaks as the sound changes from 5.1 during the program to stereo during the commercial. A clicking during music playback as you describe is not right.

I am curious if the clicking will go away when the setting is 4 Ohms. Can you try that?

I'm also curious what source you are using for music.

Thank you.

I can try changing the ohm setting to 4 later tonight and see if that makes any difference. It doesn't really happen when watching tv, but I am streaming content anyway without commercials.


I am using HDMI EARC to run the audio from the TV to the receiver. Lately I have just been using Youtube to listen to music. Last night when I was testing it, I turned up the volume to a point where the music is loud, but not overpowering and it would start clicking every so often, sometimes every few minutes like when the music became more demanding. Listening to the same music, I turned down the volume to lower levels and the clicks stop.

I have stood by the receiver to see if the music was changing from like stereo to surround etc and I don't see any changes on the receiver status screen to indicate the type of sound is changing when it clicks.
Its been doing this since I got the receiver.

Also check to make sure you don't have loudness compensation turned on. That lowers the volume during loud passages which is handy for those not looking for a divorce.

Another thing to try is to force it into a 2-channel setting.

The final thing is setting the M5s to small from large if you can or the frequency cut-off to 80Hz.

My 2012 Onk doesn't click BTW.

My Onkyo TX-SR393 AVR also clicks randomly. It's a relay switch, and after perusing multiple forums, apparently they all do it. There's no rhyme or reason, it just does, and it's not a warranty issue nor necessarily a design defect.

Dolby Digital was the missing piece that brought audio nirvana to my home; the M5HP was barely an upgrade from my already very good Kanto Yumi. There just isn't any music where I prefer stereo over 5.1 channel audio.

I don't do DTS:X though, it adds unwanted equalization.

Yeah I saw this mentioned in some other Onkyo posts on the web as well that it seems they do this, but not specific to the model I have. Its something I wont notice after a while, but I am just concerned there might be a problem later down the line if its not normal.

The receiver is setup in a 2 channel setting right now. I literally only have the two speakers right now with a center coming eventually when axiom ships it.

I wonder what the loudness compensation setting is called on the receiver settings. I will play around with the settings later to see if anything I do will stop it.

Nice thing is that I got this form costco, so I can pretty much return it at any point if I wanted. I might get a second unit to see if the other unit does this as well.

Onkyo calls their loudness compensation/equal loudness contour/Fletcher-Munson curve the "Music Optimizer". It supposedly restores compressed music, but to my ears, it's just a loudness switch. I use it when I listen to music at level 45 or less. It doesn't appear to do anything to compressed music, unlike the magical Sony DSEE HX engine in some of their headphone products.

I just can not come up with a explanation of why a relay needs to be flipped when you’re not changing anything. If it were the source material switching from 2ch to 5.1 and back it would happen at low volume as well as high. The only other reason (for a relay) I came up with I eliminated the second I thought of it … as no sane designer would use a relay to control a fan. If it’s not a relay … perhaps it’s a heat issue or a electromagnetic issue … in any case IMO anything clicking when nothing is change is either a design flaw or a defect.

If Onkyo claims otherwise then I’d love to know what it’s doing … after which I’d recommend getting a different receiver

Yeah I didn't have time last night to test anything, but will be working with the setting this weekend. I was looking at other receivers though and its a bit crazy how much of a price difference it is to go from a budget receiver like I have to something mid tier. Almost double the price.

In recent years, mainstream manufacturers have taken the approach of packing as many features as possible into their budget receivers which of course, comes at the expense of other important items such as number of channels, number and type of inputs and outputs, power output, quality and size of power supplies and DACs, build quality and other items I cannot think of for the moment. Although, as you say, a big uptick in price, more often than not, the extra expense for the mid-upper tier receiver can allow for more future proofing for extra channels, adding outboard amplifiers and additions etc. that the budget unit usually does not.

Nowadays the problem is just trying to get one.