[Ted Cunterblast]

Had this unit for a couple of years now , as part of my home cinema surround system.

A few days ago the sound just cut out suddenly in the middle of a movie. It came back after a while (restarted the amp), but it happened again later.

Now today the unit is giving no sound at all. Have checked all cables, done a factory reset on the unit...nothing.

Two interesting things...the icon on the display that normally shows the 6 speakers as active no longer appears, all I see is 'All channel stereo'.

Also, the remote has become a little finicky...sometimes it does not respond at all. Changed the batteries, no effect. However, pressing buttons on the machine itself still has no effect anyway.

I did try connecting the blu ray player directly to the TV and that way I get sound through the TV...but just nothing through the speakers.

If anyone has any suggestions or ideas, would be extremely grateful.

[Ted Cunterblast]

Hmmm...a quick look around the web seems to indicate this is a very, very common fault with these units. Apparently it's a failure of the internal HDMI board...and it seems to happen after approx. 2 to 2.5 years, which would be consistent with how long I have had my unit.

I have mailed Onkyo support...apparently in some cases they have been repairing units out of warranty as a goodwill gesture, as this is a worldwide problem for them. Let's see what happens.

I am kind of surprised at this...Onkyo normally have a good reputation in the marketplace, and I have been otherwise very happy with this unit.

Oh well, seems like I have probably answered my own question on this one. That said, any similar experiences or helpful info would still be welcome.

[Deacon1972]

I had Onkyo on my shortlist a short while back, 5501/5509, cracking system, very punchy and dynamic, would have been perfect if it wasn't for the bad rep they have regarding their HDMI boards.

I can accept and understand a particular model/series having issues, but not an ongoing issue over several series. I thought they had got on top of the problem, I think heat was the main issue, earlier models did run hot, they got the cooling sorted but the problem still remains. A real shame.

Onkyo know it's an ongoing problem so I'm pretty sure you'll get a free fix.

[anddav]

I had the same problem with the previous model, TX-NR509. One day it was fine, the next, no sound. The video was OK. Another symptom in my case was no USB or Internet function, the options were greyed out. The amp was just over two and a half years old, so out of guarantee. I must say Onkyo were very good. I e-mailed them asking for a goodwill repair. They asked for proof of purchase and then replied the next working day authorising the repair. The service centre fixed it in less than a week. They put in a new HDMI board. (Apparently, the replacement boards are marked as being the new type so it should not break again.) No cost to me. They told me it is a very common problem. Anyway, although I wasn't impressed that it happened in the first place, I cannot fault Onkyo customer service who got it fixed without any argument. I hope you get a similar good result. By the way, I think it is a very good amp.