Denon dead?

If you can’t fix Denon on hand, I would grab a Marantz. There is no one else that have been consistent in keeping their line up to date and best sounding HT receivers as Marantz.

I owned one of those beasts about 5 years ago before I woke up and Moved to class D for surround ht system and never looked back.

I remember I bought it fairly local , about 120 miles so collected it and paid $750.

I do have the say the SQ was far and away the best I ever had from a surround sound all in one.

However it was huge, heavy and hot.
Sold it few months later for $800 so no complaints.

The point is that it was good, indeed very good in its day but I think you can do much better today for less cash.

I moved to all Nuforce for 7.1 pre processor and 8 channel class D power amp. Sure a few more interconnect but it was a massive step up in flexibility and SQ and runs stone cold and never touched it bar dusting it in the 5 years of ownership.

Just one example, plenty of options to explore today.

I have looked at the D's but I'm afraid of getting away from what I might need for the B&W 800's. I've read that they've come a long way but you'll still be pressed to find many purists who use them. For all out surround sound yes but for my needs, I may have to go big A and wear shorts and flip flops when the amp is on.

Ha!

I would have agreed with you 100% and have tried class D in my main stereo rig and it left me a trifle cold so back to a/b amps there.

But in my ht rig the class d really hit the spot, much more power and depth for effects and dialogue is crystal clear although both of those aspects are probably helped by the excellent center channel and subs I have while the fronts and front/rear surrounds are a bit more run of the  mill.

But I understand your retinence to try, I was of the same mind myself.

Good luck with whichever direction you go!

I’d look locally for a Tech and pay the service charge of a look see. If its worth fixing after a look see then go for it, if not then you know, and have not spent any serious money. My tech charges one hour labour for diagnostics about $50 I think that would be warranted to see if its worth fixing.

I’m a firm believer in local techs over sending back to the manufacturer (unless there are parts only the manufacturer will supply). Audio electronics isn’t rocket science so any competent tech should be able to diagnose your amp.

it would be sad to spend huge money replacing when something simple was wrong.