Front Speakers Switching on/off

budman72 · 03-07-2007, 06:09 PM

Hey guys. I'm having trouble w/ my home theater system. It started about a year or so ago. I always run my Sony STR-DE945 in surround mode, and the front speakers started switching off with an audible click (like when you hit a button on the receiver). It was briefly at first, but now the front speakers will only play for a few minutes, even w/ my ancient 5.1 dolby during movie play, and then they will turn off completely. My center speaker always puts out sound, so no problem there, but damn! it sounds so much better w/ those fronts playing! Oh, incidentally my Cerwin-Vega LW-12 Sub is buzzing very loudly when it's just plugged up, not even turned on.

My setup includes, as mentioned above, a Sony STR-DE945 receiver that I've had for a while (probably at least 5 years), JBL D315 front channel speakers (I've had them for around 8 years), and a JBL HLS Center speaker for the center channel.

I did a tiny bit of research on what could be causing this, and came up w/ the possibility of mismatched resistances between receiver and speakers. However, my receiver's resistance is 8 ohms, and my front and center speakers' resistances are all 8 ohms.

So I don't know what the hell to do. I wanted to run this by some folks who knew what they were talking about before I went out and bought an entire new system just because it's a little outdated. I'm just assuming my sub is busted and I need a new one, but I'm completely in the dark with most of this stuff. If you can spare the time to type in your opinion or personal experiences, I'd appreciate it. Help needed please!

budman72 · 03-07-2007, 06:11 PM

Sorry, I wasn't sure where to post this, so mods feel free to place it wherever.

John Garcia · 03-07-2007, 06:46 PM

Impedance mismatch won't cause this. Something is failing inside the receiver, you have a short somewhere (first thing I'd check for, disconnect all and reconnect), or one of the speakers is potentially damaged.

Your Cerwin Vega is dying also, most likely a failing capacitor in the amp.

In terms of the receiver, I'd replace it like you already mentioned, and I'd recommend looking somewhere else besides Sony as well. Hang onto the speakers and see what a new receiver can do for you first.

budman72 · 03-07-2007, 07:44 PM

A pertinent question: Is any of this stuff reparable or do I just need to buy all new home theater components?

John Garcia · 03-08-2007, 07:27 PM

I would probably just replace the sub. The receiver, I think you need to do a little more checking on it before we can definitely say something is wrong with it or something else. If you are looking for a reason to upgrade, I would say this is as good as any

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budman72 · 03-12-2007, 06:44 AM

Just a couple of other questions. My speaker wiring is pretty old. Could that be the problem? It's monster cable, but it's probably getting close to being 10 years old or so.

Also, I've been looking at some mid-priced HDMI A/V receivers, and the Onkyo TX-SR674 looks pretty appealing. It got pretty decent reviews on CNET. Any thoughts on this?

John Garcia · 03-12-2007, 11:31 AM

I think that would be an excellent choice to replace the old Sony. Wiring could be an issue as well if there is corrosion, and wire is cheap.

budman72 · 03-12-2007, 08:51 PM

A couple of other questions. Will HDMI support Blu-Ray or HD DVD video formats when you video-convert from the A/V receiver to an HDTV? I guess this isn't that big of a deal since I'll just be able to hook the HD player directly up to the HDTV, but I'm curious.

And I've been trying to figure out if the Onkyo TX-SR674 is HDMI 1.3 without success. Anyone know or know where to find out? And is it even that important to have the newest version of HDMI?

John Garcia · 03-13-2007, 05:24 PM

HDMI is really the best way to get BD and HD-DVD, however to pass it through the receiver also, for audio, you need to make sure the receiver has a compatible HDMI version. According to the Onkyo site the 674 is HDMI 1.1. There are very few at the moment that have 1.3.