Amplifier section of RSX-972 distorting badly

[csorin]

Pertaining to the following fairly old thread, I am now posting my response in this Rotel Forum:

weird piano sound

I am experiencing this same problem with my (new to me) RSX-972. I believe this is pretty much the same receiver as the 1055. High, constant tone frequencies become distorted. Piano is pretty unbearable.

I tried plugging in the Rotel to a seperate wall outlet to no avail.

As a test, I hooked up my old NAD integrated via the pre-outs on the Rotel to my main L and R speakers. The Rotel was acting as the pre-amp, and the NAD as the main's amplifier. The distortion was not present.

This test shows that the amplifier of the Rotel is distorting like crazy. It's pre-amp section (DATS included) is just fine. What could cause an amplifier section to go bad? I've pretty much accepted that I need to buy an external amp, but if there is something I can check internally, then I'll go that route.

Has anyone experienced this with either a 972, a 1055, or any other receiver for that matter? Thanks.

[Kevin D]

Well you've pretty much verified it's the amplifiers. Might be a bias adjustment out of whack, but I'm not technical enough to begin to tell you where to look.

Kevin D.

[csorin]

Has anyone gotten their receivers worked on out of warranty? Wondering how much it might cost. Anyone else with an idea of what's going on?

[Kevin D]

Rotel is usually actual parts cost plus labor & shipping. They do board level repair rather then diagnose and replace boards. Might be a $5 capacitor and a few adjustments. I'm pretty sure they have a reasonable bench fee to see what it would cost.

Kevin D.

[kb10000]

Csorin, how did you go with this? I'd bought my 972 second hand a few months back and now experiencing the same issue.