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Uh oh, need help, no sound now from left channel of my Denon AVR-X5200

MarcT

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Well, yesterday I noticed there is no sound from the front left channel of my AVR-X5200. I don't recall hearing any kind of popping sound. I did a reset using the front panel and still no sound from front L channel. I also turned off the power to the 5200 for about an hour, to no avail. I then went into the speaker setup and ran manual test tones. Upon doing so, the front L channel has a very slight tone but barely audible, while the front R, center, L & R surround channels, and sub test tones are loud. I run a 5.1 system.

Now, I am using an Anthem STR preamp's home theater bypass feature for the front L/R channels. It is not very old, so I doubt that the STR is the problem. When using the STR for two-channel music, the front L speaker works just fine.

So, I just read some cases on the internet of other people with Denon AVRs in which the front L channel was not working. In some cases, it appears that the output stage for that channel was damaged.

Does it sound to you like that is probably what happened? Obviously, the 5200 is way out of warranty. Does anybody have a ball park figure on the cost of repairing the left channel, if that is the problem? Any other thoughts?
 
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MarcT

MarcT

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Just get the 8500 and be done.
You know you damaged it on purpose..

NSFW lol
Hmm, I might be in the dog house for years if I did that. Thanks a lot for putting it in my head.:cool: I do have a line on a 6700 for a good price. But I still need to nail down that my problem is with the 5200 and not in my preamp's home theater bypass function.
 

DVDdoug

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Swap the left & right speaker connections to determine if you've actually got no-output or a dead speaker or bad speaker connection.

Does anybody have a ball park figure on the cost of repairing the left channel, if that is the problem? Any other thoughts?
It's going to cost about the same as a plumber of auto mechanic. ;) There will be an initial minimum charge and might goes-up from there depending on the problem/solution...

...I work in electronics (not consumer or audio) and several years ago I realized why it's often cheaper to replace something than to repair it. We had this simple little circuit board that cost us about $30 to build (built in moderate quantities by "low skill" labor with a just a few minutes of skilled test-time). But when it failed a skilled technician had to diagnose it and the repair would be over $100. (In this case the "device" was worth repairing by replacing the board.) But I realized that it sometimes takes more labor to repair something than to build it in the 1st place (especially with mass-produced consumer electronics and highly automated assembly lines) and the repair labor is more-expensive skilled labor. Plus, there's the additional disassembly time! There's a similar issue with parts. The factory is buying and stocking parts in large quantities whereas the repair shop just orders one or two parts at a time.
 
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MarcT

MarcT

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Swap the left & right speaker connections to determine if you've actually got no-output or a dead speaker or bad speaker connection.


It's going to cost about the same as a plumber of auto mechanic. ;) There will be an initial minimum charge and might goes-up from there depending on the problem/solution...

...I work in electronics (not consumer or audio) and several years ago I realized why it's often cheaper to replace something than to repair it. We had this simple little circuit board that cost us about $30 to build (built in moderate quantities by "low skill" labor with a just a few minutes of skilled test-time). But when it failed a skilled technician had to diagnose it and the repair would be over $100. (In this case the "device" was worth repairing by replacing the board.) But I realized that it sometimes takes more labor to repair something than to build it in the 1st place (especially with mass-produced consumer electronics and highly automated assembly lines) and the repair labor is more-expensive skilled labor. Plus, there's the additional disassembly time! There's a similar issue with parts. The factory is buying and stocking parts in large quantities whereas the repair shop just orders one or two parts at a time.
Thanks, the thing is, I'm running the front L/R channels through the home theater bypass function of my preamp, and when I play stereo music through the preamp, the left speaker works fine. So, it's not a speaker or speaker wire issue. The problem is either in the left front channel of my AVR or in the home theater bypass function's left channel.

Yes, I spoke with an authorized service center for Denon and I think he said their labor rate is $125/hour. So, if you figure three hours labor plus parts and shipping both ways, the cost of repairing the 5200 could be upwards of $600.
 
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MarcT

MarcT

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Bypass the bypass… a little work but worth $600 to try
Yes, I did that -- connected the speakers directly to the Denon, and still no left channel. But then I realized that my interconnect cables from the Denon pre-outs to the preamp were still connected. I don't know if a malfunctioning home theater bypass feature in the preamp could somehow still affect the AVR through the interconnect cables.

Apparently, in the Anthem STR preamp, the home theater bypass feature is activated by relays that switch in when the preamp is set to Standby. I don't know if there are two relays there, one for left and one for right. I suppose that if there are two relays and the left relay is not working then I would not get left channel sound on Standby. But, again, I don't know if that would also apply just by virtue of the interconnect cables being connected.
 
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MarcT

MarcT

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It does appear that the left channel of my 5200 has crapped out. The cost to send it in for repair is probably too high(perhaps $600 or more) to justify for a six year old AVR. So, I need to decide on a new AVR. Do I stick with Denon or maybe try Yamaha or Onkyo this time?
 

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I recently had a stereo balance problem with my (Not Denon) AVR recently, and drove myself crazy trying to figure it out. On a whim I cleared out all the room correction settings and that solved the problem. Maybe try that?
 

escksu

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It does appear that the left channel of my 5200 has crapped out. The cost to send it in for repair is probably too high(perhaps $600 or more) to justify for a six year old AVR. So, I need to decide on a new AVR. Do I stick with Denon or maybe try Yamaha or Onkyo this time?

Maybe can get 5700h? Its highly recommended by amirm.


Btw there is a "hack" if you are keen enough to try. Yours is 9.2 channel amp. Since you are using just 5 channel, you have some channels unused.

I did it for my old marantz amp a long time ago. The right channel died.

Most of these amps have identical output for all channels (same layout, same components). So, i trace the wiring and change the R channel to use rear surround instead.
 
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MarcT

MarcT

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Maybe can get 5700h? Its highly recommended by amirm.


Btw there is a "hack" if you are keen enough to try. Yours is 9.2 channel amp. Since you are using just 5 channel, you have some channels unused.

I did it for my old marantz amp a long time ago. The right channel died.

Most of these amps have identical output for all channels (same layout, same components). So, i trace the wiring and change the R channel to use rear surround instead.
Thanks, I'm not aware of a 5700h. Is that a Denon model? As to doing a "hack", no, I'm not keen enough to try that.

Now I wish I hadn't sold off my trusty Yamaha RX-V1800 a couple years ago. It was working perfectly and I now wouldn't be in this position of needing to spend thousands of dollars for a working AVR. I didn't anticipate a problem with the 5200.
 

Weeb Labs

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This sounds like an output transistor failure, which should be quite a straightforward repair. If you poke each of them with a multimeter in diode mode, you will quickly identify the culprit.
 

JayGilb

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This sounds like an output transistor failure, which should be quite a straightforward repair. If you poke each of them with a multimeter in diode mode, you will quickly identify the culprit.
I agree, but these AVRs are beasts and without the proper knowledge it can be a daunting task just to tear down.
image_preview2.jpg
 
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MarcT

MarcT

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bothu

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On my old Denon I had the same problem.
After days of investigation I found that the mute circuit for that amplifier channel was constantly activated.
The mute "driver" was working properly.
Still another day .... and I wiggled the standing circuit cards connected to the motherboard and ...suddenly
it all worked again !

With some antioxidant spray applied to the card connector the problem was solved.

Cost nearly nothing, except for the service manual, but ... many hours of "work".
 

AlexS

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Hi Marc, I’m exactly in the situation as you with my x5200w. There was an extended 5-year warranty and the repair shop has never been able to find the problem. Works well after a long period of time with no power. It happened at least 8 times since the last 3 years. Only front right or front left channels, never both at the same time. One time, I had an issue with front right, after unplugging speakers, power, replug many times, the issue has changed to the right channel with no sound, left channel was excellent. When you unplug the power for one hour, it doesn’t fix the problem, needs to be unplug for at least 12 hours and it comes back to normal. Sometimes, you have to unplug all surround speakers to reset the amplifier. And then, the speaker works fine for a certain period of time.. a couple of months. It looks like a reset switch that needs to be changed. I also found that the problem occurs when the speakers play louder.. And if I do a 5.1 configuration, never had an issue for a period of 9 months using audio return channel.. and then, problem comes bath after putting it in 7.1.. Maybe, I should try to put the amplifier into another electric circuit to see if it makes a difference (separated from tv and other components). Let me know if you found a solution. Thanks!
 
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MarcT

MarcT

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Hi Marc, I’m exactly in the situation as you with my x5200w. There was an extended 5-year warranty and the repair shop has never been able to find the problem. Works well after a long period of time with no power. It happened at least 8 times since the last 3 years. Only front right or front left channels, never both at the same time. One time, I had an issue with front right, after unplugging speakers, power, replug many times, the issue has changed to the right channel with no sound, left channel was excellent. When you unplug the power for one hour, it doesn’t fix the problem, needs to be unplug for at least 12 hours and it comes back to normal. Sometimes, you have to unplug all surround speakers to reset the amplifier. And then, the speaker works fine for a certain period of time.. a couple of months. It looks like a reset switch that needs to be changed. I also found that the problem occurs when the speakers play louder.. And if I do a 5.1 configuration, never had an issue for a period of 9 months using audio return channel.. and then, problem comes bath after putting it in 7.1.. Maybe, I should try to put the amplifier into another electric circuit to see if it makes a difference (separated from tv and other components). Let me know if you found a solution. Thanks!
Wow, that is really strange behavior. I didn't know anything about an extended 5 year warranty.

The only channel that has been out on mine is the front L channel. I did unplug the 5200 one time, but only for maybe 30 minutes. I will unplug it tonight and leave it unplugged for more than 12 hours.

As to surround speakers, I only have the main L/R surround speakers. When you say, "unplug the surround speakers" are you talking about disconnecting the speaker wires from the AVR, or do you use an external amp and mean disconnect the interconnects?
 
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MarcT

MarcT

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Hi Marc, I’m exactly in the situation as you with my x5200w. There was an extended 5-year warranty and the repair shop has never been able to find the problem. Works well after a long period of time with no power. It happened at least 8 times since the last 3 years. Only front right or front left channels, never both at the same time. One time, I had an issue with front right, after unplugging speakers, power, replug many times, the issue has changed to the right channel with no sound, left channel was excellent. When you unplug the power for one hour, it doesn’t fix the problem, needs to be unplug for at least 12 hours and it comes back to normal. Sometimes, you have to unplug all surround speakers to reset the amplifier. And then, the speaker works fine for a certain period of time.. a couple of months. It looks like a reset switch that needs to be changed. I also found that the problem occurs when the speakers play louder.. And if I do a 5.1 configuration, never had an issue for a period of 9 months using audio return channel.. and then, problem comes bath after putting it in 7.1.. Maybe, I should try to put the amplifier into another electric circuit to see if it makes a difference (separated from tv and other components). Let me know if you found a solution. Thanks!
Okay, so I unplugged the 5200 and left it unplugged for more than 48 hours. Still no front left channel. All the other speakers have sound.
 
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MarcT

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When adjusting the speaker levels in the setup menu, it appears that the front L channel of the 5200 is down at least 10 dB from the other channels. I'm not too interested in sending this thing off for repairs that might take a few weeks.

So, should I go with a good condition AVR-X6500 that is available for $1,400 or with a new X3700 or X4700? I run a 5.1 system. Or, the "perfect condition" X6700 that I now see for $2,250?
 
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MarcT

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Well, I guess I'm getting too old and messed up. Being pretty sure that that front left channel was out on my 5200, I picked up a 4700 and sold my 5200 on Ebay for "repair or parts". Afterwords, I received feedback from the buyer that it "works great". So, I contacted the buyer to confirm that the front left channel was working and he said he's using the pre-out and, yes, it works. So, I guess I failed to detect some problem with the interconnect cable connection to that pre-out on the 5200. Oh, well, at least my 4700 passes the 4k signal from my Oppo UHD Blu-ray player!
 
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