Pioneer Elite Receiver won't output sound -- Options/Help?

Andy Young · 04-11-2002, 01:18 PM

First, please move this to another forum, if this is the wrong place.

Pioneer Elite VSX 26TX. It's 2 years old and was purchased new. It isn't driven very hard, though used daily.

Connected to the receiver are: 3 very poor speakers, 27" Sony TV, Pioneer DVD player (digital audio coax), Mitsubishi SVHS, and a DISH network receiver (optical digital audio). All speaker connections are with 12 gauge speaker wire. All video connections are with Liberty S-video. Other than the digital audio connections for the DVD & DISH, the audio connections are using Liberty connectors.

All components are working great and there are no problems with the speakers.

The symptoms began a few weeks ago. Periodically, the receiver would not output sound on power-up. I could switch it from TV to DVD to VCR to TUNER and not get any sound from anything.

I checked all of my connections and all of the internal settings: made sure that analog/digital audio was set correctly, made sure no tape monitors were on, made sure no cables/wires had fallen out or were otherwise compromised, made sure correct speakers were selected (A, B, A+B, etc), went through troubleshooting guide in manual, etc.

Sometimes toggling between settings would make the audio come back. For example, toggling between SPEAKERS -> A and SPEAKERS -> B and then back to SPEAKERS -> A would suddenly render the receiver functional. However, I was never able to find any pattern; there wasn't any one switch that would consistently work.

Now, nothing works. I can't get any audio output from the receiver. All functions work and the video switching performs as usual. Just no audio.

What are my option? What should I be doing? Does this sound symptomatic of a common problem?

Thank you for any help, guidance, or insight you have to offer.

Steven Simon · 04-11-2002, 01:27 PM

Stupid question. Did you assign the proper inputs with there audio.... EXP. if your Optical cable is in Optical one, did you set DVD to Optical 1?? Maybe these settings got erased or reset??

Andy Young · 04-11-2002, 04:06 PM

Steven,

Yes. I have checked the proper assignment. Even if I hadn't, this wouldn't affect how the VCR or Tuner, e.g., would have responded.

Through some research at AudioReview.com, this appears to be a common problem with this vintage of Pioneer Elite receiver.

Pretty annoying. When Ford, e.g., finds a systematic problem, they do a recall. When Pioneer finds a systematic problem, they apparently say T.S., unless you're under warranty. No, I haven't contacted them, yet.

Thanks for your reply.

Mike Franklin · 04-12-2002, 09:30 AM

Well Andy I'm sorry to tell you that you have become another victim of the Elite 21-29TX story. The model you have and along with my VSX-24TX are know for dying after on avg 2yrs of use. There was a design flaw in the dsp board with the IC chips getting bad solder joints causing the dsp board to fail and you have a classic symptom of your dsp board starting to fail. There have been other threads about the same problem as yours. Do a search and you be suprised how many people have had the same problem.

Andy Young · 04-19-2002, 02:50 PM

Update:

Discovered that my receiver wasn't as old as I had originally thought. Bought in Dec 1999. Still, it's 4 months outside of the warranty period.

Unit has a build date of July 1999.

Purchased from Uncle's Stereo via mail order. Serial number on unit matches serial number on box.

Contacted Pioneer customer service center via email. They asked for copy of receipt. Faxed that in. In a couple of days I received a fax from them granting me a free repair of the unit.

I shipped off my receiver today to the Redding, CA service center.

We'll see what happens. So far, I'm very pleased with Pioneer's customer service: very fast, friendly and willing to take some ownership of a quality problem, even though they could technically hide behind their warranty terms.

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Robert George · 04-19-2002, 03:05 PM

The bad solder joints on these models are a well known and documented problem that Pioneer has acknowledeged since it was first discovered. I'm not at all surprised that Pioneer would fix this problem on one of their Elite products, even outside of the warranty period.

Larry L · 04-19-2002, 07:16 PM

I too had the same problems with my VSX 24Tx. As pointed out, if you do a search for Pioneer Elite you'll find a few lengthy posts including one I started. Mine went to an authorized service center twice for repair and the unit failed again after both tries. As far as I can tell, its an irreperable (sp?) problem, at least over the long-term. I'm encouraged to hear that Pioneer at least offerred to pay for your repair. I may have to go back and ask for the same ($125). But, as of now, I've given up and bought an Outlaw 1050, primarily because of their outstanding customer service.

Good luck.

Larry

Andy Young · 07-01-2002, 06:46 PM

Update:

Sent the receiver down to CA for repair. UPS tracking number says that they received it on April 24.

Didn't start working on it until mid-May.

Spent a couple of weeks "diagnosing" the problem, even though I told them exactly what was wrong (based on info here and a few other places).

Ordered a kit to fix the DSP board. Apparently Pioneer has a part number assigned to the fix of this common problem.

Then, according to their tech, the kit actually had a problem, so they had to order another one.

Received the new fix kit, buy my receiver had conspicuously moved to the end of the line again -- take another week before they can start working on it again.

Then there was a week or so of unreturned phone calls and such.

Finally, on July 1 they shipped it back to me ... or at least they said they would.

A 10 week turnaround time is a bit much, I think. I'm glad that Pioneer stepped up and paid for the repair, but the annoyance factor is at such a high level, that I'll probably look for a different brand next time.

I will update when I get the unit back.

Andrew_Ballew · 07-01-2002, 07:37 PM

Quote:

A 10 week turnaround time is a bit much, I think. I'm glad that Pioneer stepped up and paid for the repair, but the annoyance factor is at such a high level, that I'll probably look for a different brand next time.

Sounds about right for Pioneer-

sent my VSX-33tx in for warranty repair in mid-Dec. 2001, got it back in late Feb. 2002. It broke again sent it in for repair in March 2002, got it back in late May 2002.

Chu Gai · 07-02-2002, 04:41 PM

well i'm glad its being taken care of, even if its been a long wait. myself, i'd consider selling it after it comes back. you probably won't be so lucky if it happens again.

Andy Young · 05-07-2003, 12:42 PM

OK, I eventually got my VSX-TX back on July 15, 2002. That's a 12 week turnaround time from when the service center had unit in hand to when I had the unit back in mine. Ouch!

I didn't set the receiver up until August 2002.

It's now mid-May (9 months later) and the problem is starting again. I called Pioneer this morning and had them re-open my case. The soap opera begins ... again.

BTW, I am updating this because I think it's important to chronicle how a major electronics manufacture stands behind one of its flagship brands/products. Pioneer Elite products are supposed to carry a promise of excellence and quality. Furthermore, my problems are not due to normal wear & tear ... this is a problem that occurred as a direct result of an engineering design flaw. I expect any company to stand behind that type of issue, regardless of warranty.

I'll let you know ...