Help troubleshooting broken Denon AVR-8500

[Chrispy]

I know I came into this late in the overall 8500 thread and may not have seen all your posts. Just when did things go south particularly or was it always this way with your unit? Any reason not to initiate a return/warranty action?

 

[bo_knows]

I know I came into this late in the overall 8500 thread and may not have seen all your posts. Just when did things go south particularly or was it always this way with your unit? Any reason not to initiate a return/warranty action?

The unit worked fine until today. No, I will have to fix the unit with or without a warranty. I don't think I have a choice.

 

[Chrispy]

The unit worked fine until today. No, I will have to fix the unit with or without a warranty. I don't think I have a choice.

Yeah outside of running resets without proper equipment and documentation and skills....not a lot of choice. I didn't realize it all went down so quickly, tho. Sorry to hear....good luck with the Denon process.

 

[bo_knows]

For anyone interested, I shipped my AVR to AudioMart Service Center in KS. It was listed as the authorized dealer service center and had good Google reviews.
Today I spoke to Brian (tech and presumable the owner) and he told me that he has found issues with the power supply diodes. He apparently fixed those but now facing a very strange behavior where AVR doesn't want to come out of ECO mode!? He reinsured me that he will troubleshoot it further this week and hopefully find/fix the issue.
Brian sounded very knowledgeable over the phone and I have confidence that my AVR is in the right hands.
I will post more as things progress...

P.S. Center channel amp checked out ok.

 

[bo_knows]

This is the final update on my Denon AVR-X 8500H repair journey.

Bryan Balke from AudioMart Center ( (913) 648-4443) was able to successfully repair my AVR. It took a while but he did it.

In the end, he replaced 4 (1N4007) diodes, 1 (3.15a) Pico fuse, and an AudioVideo board (9U-210232).

He said that he never have seen this type of damage done to a receiver in the past and he thinks that some kind of power surge was the culprit.

Bryan was professional, knowledgeable, and very courteous. God forbid if you ever find yourself in the same or similar situation with your Marantz/Denon AVR, I strongly recommend him. If he can bring my 8500 from the dead, he can fix any other receiver. LOL

On I side note, I think he's the owner and I assume the only technician working there and he gets very busy. So keep that in mind when you are dealing with him. He will answer the shop's phone but the best results I had dealing with him was via text to his mobile number.

P.S. After discussing with him the RCA (root cause analysis), I've implemented a few changes to my setup.

1. In the past, AVR was plugged directly into my dedicated 20amp circuit (per Gene from Audioholic advice on one of his youtube videos where he was testing Marantz AVR). Now, AVR is connected to the High Current Audio Outled on my Monster HTPS 7000 MkII power conditioner.
2. In order to get rid of excessive heat that was trapped above the AVR, I drilled 4 three inch holes in the upper shelf.
This seems to help out with the heat build-up.

 

[LTig]

This is the final update on my Denon AVR-X 8500H repair journey.

Bryan Balke from AudioMart Center ( (913) 648-4443) was able to successfully repair my AVR. It took a while but he did it.

In the end, he replaced 4 (1N4007) diodes, 1 (3.15a) Pico fuse, and an AudioVideo board (9U-210232).

Good to hear. How much did it cost?

2. In order to get rid of excessive heat that was trapped above the AVR, I drilled 4 three inch holes in the upper shelf.
This seems to help out with the heat build-up.

This is always a good idea.

 

[AdamG]

This is the final update on my Denon AVR-X 8500H repair journey.

Bryan Balke from AudioMart Center ( (913) 648-4443) was able to successfully repair my AVR. It took a while but he did it.

In the end, he replaced 4 (1N4007) diodes, 1 (3.15a) Pico fuse, and an AudioVideo board (9U-210232).

He said that he never have seen this type of damage done to a receiver in the past and he thinks that some kind of power surge was the culprit.

Bryan was professional, knowledgeable, and very courteous. God forbid if you ever find yourself in the same or similar situation with your Marantz/Denon AVR, I strongly recommend him. If he can bring my 8500 from the dead, he can fix any other receiver. LOL

On I side note, I think he's the owner and I assume the only technician working there and he gets very busy. So keep that in mind when you are dealing with him. He will answer the shop's phone but the best results I had dealing with him was via text to his mobile number.

P.S. After discussing with him the RCA (root cause analysis), I've implemented a few changes to my setup.

1. In the past, AVR was plugged directly into my dedicated 20amp circuit (per Gene from Audioholic advice on one of his youtube videos where he was testing Marantz AVR). Now, AVR is connected to the High Current Audio Outled on my Monster HTPS 7000 MkII power conditioner.
2. In order to get rid of excessive heat that was trapped above the AVR, I drilled 4 three inch holes in the upper shelf.
This seems to help out with the heat build-up.

Finally back in business. Sounds like it’s Party Time!

 

[bo_knows]

Good to hear. How much did it cost?

This is always a good idea.

His total bill was $705.98 including the shipping back to me. So with shipping to him ($134), my total cost was $840. Looking at the price for a new version of my AVR (AVR-X8500HA = $4,599) and no AKM chip, I had no other choice but to get it fixed.
P.S. I forgot to mention, he also replaced the Headphone jack/board. I had an issue where AVR would suddenly cut off sound thinking that the headphone jack was inserted. Apparently, according to Bryan, the new HP jack/board was shipped together with the audio/video board and he just replaced it when AVR was on the bench.

 

[bo_knows]

Finally back in business. Sounds like it’s Party Time!

Hi Adam,
Man, what they say, you don't know what you got until it's gone. Boy, did I miss my AVR. It's nice to daydream about Purifi external amps but gained a new appreciation for what I got.

 

[bo_knows]

If anyone needs to adjust the idling current on their internal amps (biasing) of AVR-X 8500H, please let me know and I will share the documentation. It was in the service manual that I shared before. I could also take some pictures of what tools I used and how I did it.

 

[Chrispy]

This is the final update on my Denon AVR-X 8500H repair journey.

Bryan Balke from AudioMart Center ( (913) 648-4443) was able to successfully repair my AVR. It took a while but he did it.

In the end, he replaced 4 (1N4007) diodes, 1 (3.15a) Pico fuse, and an AudioVideo board (9U-210232).

He said that he never have seen this type of damage done to a receiver in the past and he thinks that some kind of power surge was the culprit.

Bryan was professional, knowledgeable, and very courteous. God forbid if you ever find yourself in the same or similar situation with your Marantz/Denon AVR, I strongly recommend him. If he can bring my 8500 from the dead, he can fix any other receiver. LOL

On I side note, I think he's the owner and I assume the only technician working there and he gets very busy. So keep that in mind when you are dealing with him. He will answer the shop's phone but the best results I had dealing with him was via text to his mobile number.

P.S. After discussing with him the RCA (root cause analysis), I've implemented a few changes to my setup.

1. In the past, AVR was plugged directly into my dedicated 20amp circuit (per Gene from Audioholic advice on one of his youtube videos where he was testing Marantz AVR). Now, AVR is connected to the High Current Audio Outled on my Monster HTPS 7000 MkII power conditioner.
2. In order to get rid of excessive heat that was trapped above the AVR, I drilled 4 three inch holes in the upper shelf.
This seems to help out with the heat build-up.

Nice work on the holes in the shelf but an AC Infinity Aircom or other cooling fans might have been another solution. Do you have whole house surge protection?

 

[bo_knows]

Nice work on the holes in the shelf but an AC Infinity Aircom or other cooling fans might have been another solution. Do you have whole house surge protection?

Hello Chrispy,

Other members have recommended the same and I'm all for it but that AC infinity fan better be DEAD QUIET!
I worked hard to get noise in my room as low as I can and don't want to "ruin" it with some fan noise.
I read more than a few reviews on those where customers are saying that they can hear fans even on the lowest setting.
AVR has 4 fans on the bottom, if it starts to cook, they better come on.
I don't have a whole house surge protected, only a few electronic components like TV, modem/router, and now AVR.

 

[Chrispy]

Hello Chrispy,

Other members have recommended the same and I'm all for it but that AC infinity fan better be DEAD QUIET!
I worked hard to get noise in my room as low as I can and don't want to "ruin" it with some fan noise.
I read more than a few reviews on those where customers are saying that they can hear fans even on the lowest setting.
AVR has 4 fans on the bottom, if it starts to cook, they better come on.
I don't have a whole house surge protected, only a few electronic components like TV, modem/router, and now AVR.

That would depend on how quiet your room actually is and whether it makes a difference to you whether you can hear them with your ears nearfield vs at your seat listening to content....I use fans from another vendor that at their lowest speed can only be heard very nearfield when the room is dead quiet in the middle of the night.....doesn't bother me. I've understood the AC Infinity units to be very quiet in any case. I've yet to hear the fans in my avrs at all....

Best surge protection would be a whole home setup....I wouldn't trust something from Monster particularly in any case let alone plugging an amp into a "power conditioner" at all....

 

[bo_knows]

That would depend on how quiet your room actually is and whether it makes a difference to you whether you can hear them with your ears nearfield vs at your seat listening to content....I use fans from another vendor that at their lowest speed can only be heard very nearfield when the room is dead quiet in the middle of the night.....doesn't bother me. I've understood the AC Infinity units to be very quiet in any case. I've yet to hear the fans in my avrs at all....

Best surge protection would be a whole home setup....I wouldn't trust something from Monster particularly in any case let alone plugging an amp into a "power conditioner" at all....

I guess technically it's not a power conditioner but a Home Theater Reference Power source. I bet that got you laughing.

I really don't know for sure what caused my AVR to malfunction but it happened. As far as the AC Infinity fan unit, I could purchase one and hear it for myself. Amazon has a good return policy.

 

[Chrispy]

I guess technically it's not a power conditioner but a Home Theater Reference Power source. I bet that got you laughing.

I really don't know for sure what caused my AVR to malfunction but it happened. As far as the AC Infinity fan unit, I could purchase one and hear it for myself. Amazon has a good return policy.

Most things connected to Noel Lee get me laughing . The tech's opinion is definite as to cause or just a guess? If you own your own home, and if power surges are a particular problem in your area, I'd look into a whole home surge protector if worried. If really worried maybe a high quality UPS based system. Personally never had a surge problem, no electronic device issues of any kind resulting from such in my lifetime. Noctua also has some very good reports as to low noise fans....

 

[bo_knows]

Most things connected to Noel Lee get me laughing . The tech's opinion is definite as to cause or just a guess? If you own your own home, and if power surges are a particular problem in your area, I'd look into a whole home surge protector if worried. If really worried maybe a high quality UPS based system. Personally never had a surge problem, no electronic device issues of any kind resulting from such in my lifetime. Noctua also has some very good reports as to low noise fans....

Tech's opinion was just his best guess.

 

[GXAlan]

There was a window of time where Monster had very high quality stuff. The M Design speakers are a good example. Another are their moving coil cartridges that were made by ZYX.

The Monster Power line conditioners were Marsh Designs and they are reliable. Whether they make a difference in sound is a different story from their reliable surge protection and nice 12V triggers. They later were early adopters of “fireproof” series mode protection.

Monster could have been big had they hired real lawyers for their Beats collaboration.

 

[Chrispy]

There was a window of time where Monster had very high quality stuff. The M Design speakers are a good example. Another are their moving coil cartridges that were made by ZYX.

The Monster Power line conditioners were Marsh Designs and they are reliable. Whether they make a difference in sound is a different story from their reliable surge protection and nice 12V triggers. They later were early adopters of “fireproof” series mode protection.

Monster could have been big had they hired real lawyers for their Beats collaboration.

Meh, Noel was mostly a shyster. Even his family isn't impressed (am friends with a cousin and a friend of mine worked there once). Accumulating money or business success may enable him to buy others' expertise perhaps. The worst audio cable I ever experienced was from Monster. What type of surge protection did his "conditioners" provide particularly?

 

[bo_knows]

Meh, Noel was mostly a shyster. Even his family isn't impressed (am friends with a cousin and a friend of mine worked there once). Accumulating money or business success may enable him to buy others' expertise perhaps. The worst audio cable I ever experienced was from Monster. What type of surge protection did his "conditioners" provide particularly?

There was a window of time where Monster had very high quality stuff. The M Design speakers are a good example. Another are their moving coil cartridges that were made by ZYX.

The Monster Power line conditioners were Marsh Designs and they are reliable. Whether they make a difference in sound is a different story from their reliable surge protection and nice 12V triggers. They later were early adopters of “fireproof” series mode protection.

Monster could have been big had they hired real lawyers for their Beats collaboration.

I bought Monster HTPS 7000 MkII piece 17 years ago and have never ever experienced any issues.
Build like a tank and it has a microprocessor that sits in front of the surge protection circuitry and can automatically disconnect the unit before any damage occurs. They called it T2 technology. The only part that I found not to be bulletproof was the top cover. It was singing its own tune when excited with a lower frequency signal.

 

[delta76]

Meh, Noel was mostly a shyster. Even his family isn't impressed (am friends with a cousin and a friend of mine worked there once). Accumulating money or business success may enable him to buy others' expertise perhaps. The worst audio cable I ever experienced was from Monster. What type of surge protection did his "conditioners" provide particularly?

Out of curiosity, how was it the worst?