home stereo amp question

Hope this is an appropriate forum for this question: my home stereo amp (P= ioneer Elite brand, one of the better brands when I bought it about a decad= e ago), which is connected to my large screen TV and surround sound speaker= s for DVD watching, seems to have lost the sound through the DVD input. Wh= en I connect the DVD player to "VCR1" or "VCR2" or other input to the amp, = the sound is sometimes restored--if I wait several minutes, it spontaneousl= y returns, or possibly when fiddling with the amp volume knob.=20

Don't know if this has any relevance, but one of the grand kids had turned = the amp volume knob to maximum before we turn the amp on about a month ago.= Of course, we were blown away by the volume until we had a chance to turn = the amp down. The amp seemed OK immediately afterward--could some damage ha= ve been done at that time?

Any clues?=20 thanks

Kelly Hodkin wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@glegroupsg2000goo.googlegroups. com:

Does the radio play OK?

If yes, the amp is fine as are the speakers. If you blew anything at wide open volume it was speakers, not amp. If the radio does NOT play normally, hook the amp to other speakers and see if it plays fine. If it does...you blew the speakers...replace speakers. If it does not, the receiver (amp) is the problem. Sending it off for repair will only cost you 4 times what a new replacement will cost you....your call. If you hear a crunching noise while turning the volume control, it's dirty! Plain ol WD-40 squirted SPARINGLY inside the volume control of an old amp makes them run like new another 20 years. So won't expensive contact cleaner, but how silly. I've been using WD40 to clean controls for 35 years. It's fine. Just a tiny squirt into any open hole then run the control back and forth, stop to stop 20 times will fix most. Worn out controls, which most stereos are not, must be replaced..see below about replacement amp.

If the amp plays fine on the different speakers, replace the blown speakers. Use Eminence Speakers, actually made in USA in Eminence, KY and guaranteed 7 years, no questions asked. They are also amazingly inexpensive. Most commercial speakers use them, no matter what the label says. As you most likely blew the woofers, not the tweeters which are fine, choose your speaker size on this webpage:

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Eminence speakers are listed by greek letter. Alphas are the cheapest, and have the lowest power rating....BUT, ALAS, sound just as good as them all below their RMS power rating. Fancy aluminum frames with fancy graphics painted on them sound the same as stamped steel frames with forced-on magnets. The bigger magnets DO make them more sensitive, but having used Alphas for 25 years as replacement speakers, noone complained, "These sound horrible!" Choose the greek letter in your size speaker that's ONE MORE letter above the power output PER CHANNEL, NOT TOTAL, of your amp. The money difference is small. Beta speakers in a living room will CERTAINLY result in the neighbors alerting the cops and you'll be told to turn it down, anyways, so why get the 1400 watt, air- cooled, beasts. You're not lighting up a coliseum...(c;] If it's a really big amp, buy the Kappas. My DJ amp hasn't been able to wear them out with DEAFENING sound in 14 years. Great stuff....amazing bass.

Ok, let's suppose we're back to square one and the radio plays fine. Everything with the amp and those tired old speakers with the dried out cones is fine...except maybe the input preamps. Now, we have a problem with the INPUT of the amp. Plug a different source of KNOWN good health into the input jack

Do the other components plugged into the amp play fine in the "bad" jack? For this test, use a DIFFERENT audio cable from the "bad" DVD player cable. Your cable may have gone bad on the DVD player because it sucks on more than one jack....especially suspicious if the radio plays fine. If the other component plays fine into the DVD jack, try replacing the cable of the DVD player with a new or KNOWN good cable. If that fixes it, you owe me ale and I like Boddington's. Problem solved. If the other component plays fine, you swapped cables to the DVD player and that didn't make the DVD player fine, the DVD player is toast. No DVD player can be economically repaired when they sell for under $100 at any Best Buy. Go get you a new one. Remember...Boddington's, not Bud.

What we're doing with all this is called the half-split method of troubleshooting. We technicians spend most of our lives using it to figure out what's broke and what's not, no matter how complex the equipment. Hope it helped you with this problem.

To make your old stereo sound brand new again is usually a combination of those new Eminence speakers in the old cabinets and some WD40 squirted sparingly into the old analog controls. It's amazing what a fresh set of nice, but inexpensive, speakers can do to a home stereo over 10 years old. Sitting in my living room is the ultimate stereo speakers, JBL's DD-44000 Paragon I restored in the 1990s. Few wives would tolerate this ugly beast.

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I was asked to carry it away from an old house under renovation when the former owners abandoned it, probably to save their marriage...(c;] Its massive tweeters are original. It's horned woofers are 600 watt Eminence Kappas, which is overkill but I got 'em new for $81 wholesale... (c;] Later, I found out these fantastic speakers were unobtanium and worth a few thousand to the fans. JBL made them from 1957 to 1983. Mine are from 1960, I suppose after they got the bugs out. The new Kappas and my woodworker friend's amazing ability with polished wood make them the finest speakers I ever owned. A grand piano, by the way, weighs about as much...hee hee. No matter how loud you play them, they don't move around.

Well, hope you get your stereo fixed. Glad we could help.