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Posted By: royce73 Fix it or buy a new one? - 08/11/06 02:10 PM
I have been a happy owner of a Harman Kardon AVR-525 for about three years now. Last night, I went to watch a movie and I noticed there was very little sound comingout of my left front speaker. I did a little troubleshooting (and swearing) and determined my speakers were alright, so it had to be a problem with the front left channel on the receiver itself.

Has anyone else experienced this with their receiver (HK or non-HK)? I am going to take it to a repair center, but I rather not wait 3 weeks for a solution. This is the worst time to buy a new receiver in my opinion because of the new HD sound formats that will be coming soon. I do not want to pay $800+ for something that will be outdated in 18 months. Also, I don't want to pay $300 to get my old stereo fixed either.

I was also thinking that buying a two-channel amp might solve the problem. That way, I am not wasting money on repairs and I am purchasing something that I could use for a long time. Any thoughts?

I would really appreciate anyone's thoughts. This is going to eat at me through the weekend and I don't want to be crank for my twins' first birthday tommorow
Posted By: n8wrl Re: Fix it or buy a new one? - 08/11/06 04:25 PM
Well, in my experience modern electronics are so complex and 'integrated' inside it is virtually impossible to make all but the simplest of repairs. Gone are the days where you could diagnose a circuit, replace a capacitor here, a resistor there, and get results. At best they'd charge you for replacing major boards or other units inside. We had to give up on an oven because the 'brains' were a $400 circuit board to replace.

But you might have hit on a good idea - is there anything coming out of the preamp outputs? That's what you'd connect an amp to, and if the amp was the part that went bad you might get your wish! Do you have another receiver or amp that you can test that out on?

-Brian n8wrl
Posted By: SirQuack Re: Fix it or buy a new one? - 08/11/06 04:30 PM
Most receivers have and A or B option for the left/right mains. Have you tried the B channel yet?
Posted By: royce73 Re: Fix it or buy a new one? - 08/11/06 04:41 PM
Quote:

Well, in my experience modern electronics are so complex and 'integrated' inside it is virtually impossible to make all but the simplest of repairs. Gone are the days where you could diagnose a circuit, replace a capacitor here, a resistor there, and get results. At best they'd charge you for replacing major boards or other units inside. -Brian n8wrl




You know, I just got into DIY projects (as the father of three girls under the age of 3, I am trying to ratchet up the testosterone as much as possible)and the first thing I picked up was soldering. I am going to try to look at the board myself to see if it is a simple cold solder or fuse.

Unfortunately, I don't have anything I can connect into my pre-outs - would buying one of those $30 T-Amps and hooking it into the pre-amps work as a good test?
Posted By: royce73 Re: Fix it or buy a new one? - 08/11/06 04:46 PM
Great suggestion - I never thought of that. I am going to try that when I get home.

Allow me a plug for a second - I use American Express exclusively for any purchases. They have a Buyer's Assurance program that is second to none. I called talked to them about this issue and I might still be entitled to compensation even though the HK is out of warranty. Any electronics purchased through their cards carries an automatic warranty match up to one year. I am just under the wire so they may cover my repairs. My Buyer's Assurance experience with Mastercard was a nightmare and pretty much fraudulant, but that is another story.
Posted By: JohnK Re: Fix it or buy a new one? - 08/12/06 04:55 AM
Royce, the A and B main choice(if available)is just a parallel connection to the same amp channel, so if the amp is bad, using B won't make any difference. It conceivably could if the A connection itself somehow went bad.

You actually do have something to check if the preout is working: connect it to your sub.
Posted By: royce73 Re: Fix it or buy a new one? - 08/18/06 07:22 PM
Okay, I brought the receiver in for service last week. They tested it out and found no problems with the receiver. I know it cannot be the speakers because they both sounded fine when I used them with a friend's receiver. I am going to get the receiver today and will test it again at home. Could anybody think of any other reasons for this problem?
Posted By: medic8r Re: Fix it or buy a new one? - 08/18/06 07:44 PM
Poltergeist!
Posted By: royce73 Re: Fix it or buy a new one? - 08/19/06 03:35 AM
Quote:

Poltergeist!




Actually, it is more like 2.5 year old girl!!! I got the receiver home and tested it out and everything did work fine. My wife then remarked she saw our oldest pushing some buttons on the receiver - she turned the Balance knob!!!! I can't believe it did not occur to me to check the Balance on the receiver. Well, at least the repairman did not charge me anything.
Posted By: Ken.C Re: Fix it or buy a new one? - 08/19/06 03:39 AM
Well, glad it's working...

I will refrain from laughing my butt off, since I'm sure the same thing will happen to me at some point.
Posted By: DrunkenWolf Re: Fix it or buy a new one? - 08/19/06 04:57 AM
Quote:

Well, glad it's working...

I will refrain from laughing my butt off, since I'm sure the same thing will happen to me at some point.




I'm doing it for the both of us.

And I'm sure I'll do something just as stupid and people will laugh at me :P
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