My receiver display seemed to really glow suddenly when I turned it on one morning and would not work afterwards.
A shop said they fixed it for $120. Said they replaced 6 conductors (I think) in the amp. They showed me that the radio worked before I took it home.
When I got it home the radio worked but nothing else. I took it back and they plugged their own radio to a couple inputs and did likewise with a DVD player. These worked.
But when I brought it home, I could still only get the radio to work. I am a bit suspicious that I am being duped somehow since I am not savvy with electronics.
I bought the receiver at a discount - it is an old Harman Kardon AVR 55. Does anyone think they might know what has happened? Does getting a cheap new machine as a replacement make sense? Any suggestions?
Did you have some kind of power surge that took everything out? Now that the receiver is fixed, the tuner works but everything else might be fried. Take your DVD player or other source....to the service guy and see if it works.
Check your power and outlets by your system. A cheapo outlet tester might be in order....<8$ at any hardware store.
Try a quick and simple test. Using the interconncet cables you would normally have between your DVD player and your receiver, unplug the end running to the DVD (pull only on the shank of the connector, not on the cable itself). This leaves the cable plugged into the HK and the HK into your speakers. Set the volume to about 9 O'Clock and touch the center post of the RCA connector at the open end of the interconnects with your finger, one channel and then the other. You should hear a slight buzzing sound through the speakers when you contact the hot pin of the RCA. Try other inputs with the same test. If you hear the buzz, then the receiver is operating as it should. If you do not hear the buzz on any inputs and the tuner function of your receiver still works, contact the repair shop.
As Leo suggests it is not unusual for several components to be damaged by a power surge. If you hear the buzz with the open interconnect then everything downstream of that point is working and your sources are suspect.
Checking the sources again, my mp3 player and computer work, which are my main sources, but only through the headphones. But the radio works through the speakers.
By the way Jan, I also live in Dallas (near downtown). Do you know a good repair shop?
I would call the repair shop that did the work for $120 and tell them what you just posted last. Seems to be a problem with the input on the preamp side of your HK AVR 55. Ask them why they did not test or demonstrate any external sources for you.
Did you do the test that Jan suggested above with your RCAs?
Never heard of them. Take the receiver back to them, they should be responsible for either fixing the receiver or showing you why you can't make the receiver work and they can. If you take the receiver to another shop right now, you've just thrown away your initial repair bill. The next shop will have to start from scratch and they'll charge you for that labor. Unless they can show you the receiver does actually operate properly they should finish their repair at little to no cost to you. I would expect to pay for additional parts should there be other problems with the unit but I would be hestitant to give them money for labor. Work with them for now unless they prove incapable of doing a proper repair. You have a receiver that could have unknown and unrelated problems. A good tech should have caught the problem before it went out the door but that's not always possible. Be curteous but firm.