[bmd]

I hate making my first post be something like this. I just joined the other day and haven't even got around to introducing myself.

Anyway... I have an HK AVR7200 running a B&W 600 series system. (604's, LCR600, DS6. There is a HSU VTF3 MKII rounding out the speakers and the sources are an Oppo and a Directv HR20.) I have it set up as 5.1 with the other two rear channels set up to run some patio speakers.

So I turned it on a few days ago and there was no sound from the left rear speaker. As we recently moved and I had to set everything back up, I went through and checked all the connections. (I doubted this was the problem as I have already used my Avia and RS meter to balance everything. But I do have a toddler.) I first disconnected the speaker wire at each end and reconnected it. This didn't help. I checked the interconnects between the components. Everything was fine. I pulled the speaker down and connected it to the wire to one of the front speakers and it worked fine. I connected one of the front speakers to the binding posts on the HK for that speaker and got sound too. I hooked everything back correctly and it worked fine.

But the next time I turned the system on, again no sound from that surround. This time, I just moved the wire to the binding posts for one of the patio speakers and got good sound. Moved the wire back to its binding post and no sound. I turned the receiver off and back on to no avail. I went around jiggling the speaker wire to see if maybe there was a short. This did not help and I can't find anywhere were the wire seems damaged. I also tried several different surround modes just to see. Nothing. This time when I moved the wire to one of the front speakers to the binding post for the speaker giving trouble, I got no sound.

Does this sound like the unit is going bad? It has given me nearly four years of good service, so I have gotten my money's worth out of it. Does anyone know if there is any kind of reset that might restore things. (I'd really hate to lose all my settings; this thing is a pain in the rear to setup. But it would be worth a shot.) Anybody heard of individual amplification channels going bad in these things?

While I am at it, to save me from starting another thread, anybody got any good ideas on what to replace it with if it comes to that? The room is about 21 X 13 X 8 with open doorways into a bedroom and a playroom. I don't listen at insane levels; my typical listening level is about 10 - 15 dB below the reference level established from the calibration. I also listen to a good bit of music on the system, sometimes at similar volumes to movies to sometimes a bit lower in volume.

Cost becomes an issue here with a baby due next month and the expenses of a new house. I might have a bit of a hard time convincing my wife to invest too much money right now. We simply will not be able to watch movies that often for the next year or so. I really like the HK; it sounds good and is very flexible in how it can be setup. Of course, the flexibility is what makes it such a pain as well. If I have to buy something new, I'd at least like to be able to drive the B&W's at my normal listening levels and sound good. I still need the extra zone to drive the outside speakers as well.

If I have to buy something, I'll end up being stuck with it for at least a few years. My old Sony RPT HDTV does not have an HDMI input and the Oppo is the DVI one so HDMI is not a necessity.

I really appreciate any help you can give.