Hello, I have had a Sony STR-DN1000 for about a year and a half now (before you rag on Sony or the devices, I got it for free when I purchased my TV, my old receiver didn't have HDMI so I have been using this one, and it has worked great until recently).
Just recently however, it decided to start doing this muting problem. For no apparent reason (at least not one that I can figure out), it will suddenly mute itself. Shortly thereafter it will begin muting and unmuting in rapid succession (6-7 times or more per a second).
Despite my best efforts and hours of searching on the internet, I have not been able to find a resolution to this problem. I have read this post -> https://www.ecoustics.com/electronics/forum/home-theater/610818.html
Here is what I have tried so far… 1. Put new ends on all of my speaker wire into the system. I cut off the old ends (which have been in place for years), stripped the casing off and reattached my banana clips. 2. Turned of any form of HDMI control on both my TV and the receiver 3. Changed the batteries in all remotes I own
None of the above have solved the issue. I have now exhausted all options I found to resolve this problem. If anyone has any other suggestions please let me know!
Disconnect all cables other than your speaker cables. Switch to an FM source and see if the receiver shuts down with nothing other than its internal systems operating at a normal volume level. Report back with your findings.
I'm guessing the factory warranty was only one year? Did you buy a service agreement? If so, bring it in. If not, you will probably want to have it looked at and get an estimate. A Sony receiver was never my idea of great sound, no bashing intended, but among their competition, I like them best. Their competion being Panasonic, JVC, and RCA. I Haven't bought a Sony amp in yrs, but the last one I had lasted a long time. I still have some ancient Sony source players that have held up to years of heavy use. Could it be that Sony products are no longer built to last?
Does the receiver have to be on for a while before it starts its muting behavior? OR does it do it from 'stone cold'? If at least 10 or 15 minutes than how warm is it? If it still mutes using Jan's suggestion, see if cooling it helps...that is, if it feels warm. The receiver may be trying to 'protect' itself from overheating....
@Jan - I will give this a try tonight and see what happens
@Superjazzy - I had a sony ES receiever prior to this one that I bought in 1996. It still works perfectly. The only reason for the change was that it didn't have HDMI (don't think that existed in 1996 haha). I really don't think their products are high quality any more... to bad...
@Leo - It does it after a while. I hadn't thought about an overheating issue, but I have it in my entertainment center which has an open back end, and there are no other devices in the cabinet with it. I haven't changed the cabinet at all, but it is worth a shot. I will see if it is that by chance though and report back.
You're right Ashaman, HDMI didn't exist back then, but you could run your video signals directly to your TV, then get a universal remote with macros. Then, when you switch video sources, your receiver and TV will switch together. Your picture would probably be a little sharper that way too.
Sorry for the late posting, got super busy and didn't have time to get back here.
So.... oddly enough I believe it was over heating! I started up the receiver and about 10 minutes into using it the muting problem occured. I pulled out the cables and it stopped doing it... so I then assumed it must be one of the cables causing the issue. Little by Little I tried the cables one by one and the issue would not repeat itself...
Finally I had everything plugged in, and it worked fine... the only difference was that I left my front panel on my entertainment center open. The only conclusion I can come up with is like you said, it was overheating. The weird part is that the receiver itself doesn't feel to hot, nor does the area it is in feel to hot...
So far though... as long as I leave the front panel open while I am using it, there are no issues.
I will continue to test this out, and see if the muting problem resurfaces, but fingers crossed that it doesn't! Can't believe it was something so simple!!
Thanks everyone for your help, I truly appreciate it (and you saved me $600 because I was just about to throw this one out and get a new one!!)