21 year old AV receiver - waiting for the end?

Techs won’t touch them because of two main reasons:

(1) Replacement Parts are unavailable and the only possible source is Frankesteining from another old sold-for-parts unit , if even possible.. In your very old model case, it’s a Hail Mary case, at best. Techs intuitively won’t invest valuable time to source this.

(2) The costs to potentially fix it invokes a further not insignificant labour cost . In the end, their final parts and labour and taxes invoice to you will grossly exceed its FMV. Techs prior experience in resulting bad debts risk predicates a hard “pass” from the get-go.

TAKEAWAY

Your AVR has run its useful life and it’s an embryonic boat anchor in the making. Don’t throw more money at it. It’s going to die at some point, so it’s time to move on…full stop

@czarivey

no QUALITY pro techs anywhere near me in Toronto within a three hour driving time radius will  service AVRs that are not still under “useful” warranty, …for the two reasons I highlighted .

They are quite clear, and unambiguous…. “No Thanks” .and concise upfront.

SOURCE :

(1) CANUCKAUDIOMART posts coast to coast repeatedly highlight and emphasize this, and it’s also bolstered my personal direct experiences. It’s a frequent recurring CAM query popping up at least monthly, for someone desperately pleading for an AVR repair fix .

(2) That sentiment is also been personally confirmed with the major bricks and mortar dealers that I’ve personally contacted (the majority) .

Similarly, dealers won’t take in ANY AVR on a dealer trade-in that is out of warranty either . I had a discrete HT system $6000 7.1 AVR that was within 6 months of its warranty expiry date, that all dealers would not take in on a trade . Sobering experience…. Never to buy another AVR again … embryonic boat anchors and a poor investment LT. Fortunately I was able to sell it privately and move on to 7.1 system discrete quality 2-3-2 YBA power amps , and a quality 7.1 AV pre-amp /.processor ( the latter is a pre-planned and expiring usefulness = a disposable as the CODECS change);.

Maybe you have a different local tech service AVR experience …. great ….. carry on …. BUT it sure as sh*t is not universal unfortunately.

@czarivey

I always send all my stuff to independent professional techs for my service and repairs ,unless it’s under still under warranty that requires dealer documentation support to send it to a distributor designated repair shop,

I have my current trusted local independent pro tech Audiofave who is top shelf: European trained, prompt, experienced and fair price,

. Who can ask for more? Contemporaneously, he is the designated Canadian shop for seversl of the major Brit and Euro audio product Canadian distributors.

WRT dealers, there is a hierarchy of after-sale support : a paltry few of longstanding larger audio bricks and mortar ones with an in-house seasoned tech, and 99% have their own designated fave independent 3rd party. In the 45 years in this hobby, I know them all within a 150 mile radius. And the numbers keep dwindling over the years .

Of course we all intuitively trend to the independent shop for convenience and price and service …the challenge is finding a good and trusted one. I have a ranking list of quality types, and they all currently all decline AVR repairs out of warranty.
They all sing from the same songsheet …..dem’s da breaks …( 2-Channel audio  …all good … no problem ) 

As you point out, maybe you can go find SOMEBODY to fix the issue SOMEWHERE …. But At pro tech rates generally north of a $100 an hour and up …it’s all competitive and not insignificant.

. How much cash and personal time are most forum fans herein going to invest in a 20 year Uber-old AVR with an estimated best case minimal market FMV that will be dwarfed by the actual new costs to upgrade or repair it.?

carry on and choose wisely, sir.