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First time poster here.... Looking for any advice on my Sony stereo receiver please!

Y

Yung Don

New Member
Hey guys,

I'm not sure if this is the correct place for this post, but I figured this was the forum to join to ask my question. I have had a Sony stereo system with the stereo head and the two tower speakers for about 8 years now (as you can tell I am very un-knowledgeable about audio systems). Well, one day the display wouldn't turn on and no sound would come out of the speakers. I took it to the audio repair shop down the street, and today I just found out that to fix the stereo head it will cost $240. This stereo was a gift for my highschool graduation, so I'm not sure of the original price. I've posted a picture of the unit below.
Is this stereo head repair worth the $240? Keep in mind the speakers are totally fine. The repair man said the cost will cover the labor and parts to repair a "blown channel". I feel like for $240 I could just get a new receiver that could still make use of my tower speakers. Is this a normal price to pay to get my stereo back? Thank you very much for any advice!!!!!!!
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I can't tell for sure what model that is, but yeah, for $240 you can get a lot of receiver if you go used.... How old is it, and what is the model number?
 
Yeah you can buy so much more for $240, especially if you buy used. You could even buy a receiver and a new pair of speakers with that money if you shop wisely and have a completely upgraded system.
 
There are threads here you can read to figure out how to fix it yourself. I understand it's special to you being a gift but I don't think it's worth $240 in repair. You can get a nice vintage piece for that money which could blow that thing away in my humble opinion. Did you tell the repair guy it was a gift? If so big mistake it sounds to me like he wants to take advantage of you. If you do opt for a repair there are many here who would do that just put your feelers out, read some threads on the unit, put your location in your profile so that members close to you can get in touch or vica/versa. Just my 2¢ and welcome to AK :)
~Dave~
 
Wow, thanks for all the quick replies guys! What an awesome community. I did not tell the repairman it was a gift, but I would love to explore more options on how to get it repaired by someone who knows what they're doing. I'm a little hesitant to try to repair it myself since I am such a newbie....I almost feel inclined to spend a little money since I don't feel comfortable doing it myself. I did find more information about the unit too:
Brand: Sony
Model: STR-DE575
Serial: 8806151
Product: RCVR

Also if I was to purchase a new receiver, I don't know the first thing about which receiver would work with my speakers. The stereo system is about 8-10 years old. It was slightly used before I received it. Thank you!!
If it matters- it was $40 just to get the receiver looked at... and now an extra $200 flat for the full repair. When it first stopped working I unscrewed all screws and took a look, but didn't notice anything "blown" inside and didn't know what to look for. I am also living in the Baltimore, Maryland area.
 
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Welcome to AK.
I am afraid that I have to agree with those above me. It's really hard to see what's in the pic. so it's tough to make a real recommendation but for 240$ there are some great sounding vintage, or newer, gear available.
Not sure what speakers you have so if you will tell us we might be able to give you some suggestions.
btw, there is an introduction forum where you can introduce yourself and meet everyone.

Just saw your post with the model # and ebay is selling the same one for 55.00 used... just fyi
 
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That looks like a newer unit. Round here many prefer the older stuff.

If the guy is saying it has a blown channel and you had no display and a dead unit, it is not uncommon. It blew the fuse.

If it is the type of Sony I think it is, I do not like them. Not that that matters. But post the model number. In fact take the model number and look a eBay for another one and see what kind of prices they are fetching. When it comes up, on the left will be "Show only" and under it somewhere "Completed listings". If you don't get that on your browser there will be "Refine search".

People can put $1,000 "Buy it now" on anything, but when you look at completed listings, that is what someone was REALLY willing to pay for it. When you look at completed listings, nobody lies because eBay gets 18.2 % of the total, and that includes shipping. Yup, for a time people just charged a dollar and $100 shipping. That doesn't work anymore except if there is a refund involved.

If you would have posted the model number I could have done that in 30 seconds, plus have all the specs and see what kind of design it is. I had a Sony HT receiver at work in which they forgot one diode and because of that, one blown channel blew another somehow. They are not perfect, and they do not care. But that is just like almost everyone else in the business now.

Another thing is - how did it SOUND ? To you I mean.

I think $240 is high but this is 2016. Rent, taxes, all that, I don't do brick and mortar myself anymore. And if you like vintage, or would like vintage, $240 will buy you one hell of a good sounding piece of history. But if you are using HDMI or optical, a vintage unit, even though it will probably sound better, will not have that and you are then into maybe buying a DAC and who knows what else. If all you do is FM and ipad, you'll be fine with some old Pioneer or something. Just have to look around for something on the bay or whatever. Actually if you got Craigslist, the prices are usually lower and there is no shipping.

Where are you geographically ? If this is a good unit you might want to pick it up and pay the estimate charge and take it to one of the guys on here.
 
You got that in edgewise. Right now I am waiting for electrotanya to screw me around before giving me the print.

... ... ... ...

OK, that is the type of Sony I don't like, that might be why they are charging that much.

Aha, with the model number I find this :

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...lete=1&LH_Sold=1&rt=nc&_trksid=p2045573.m1684

Not encouraging to say the least. You might be really happy with an oldie receiver if you are only using the two front channels. It might sound better, just because that's the way they made things. The differences are hard to explain and get into the technical, but seriously, for $200 you can buy a decent oldie. Not completely restored of course, but working. Maybe ask the shop if they would refund the estimate charge if you let them keep the unit. they will probably say no but it doesn't hurt to ask, and if they do say no, pick it up anyway and figure out what to do with it later. Maybe donate it to a school or something.
 
Maybe ask the shop if you can apply the estimate price to buying a used piece they've repaired that they still have, one that wasn't picked up. It not, garage sale season is here and estate sales and always in season.
PS: You could subscribe and find deals on the Barter Town thread!
 
Pay the anual fee of 25 clams on this site to access barter town and you will find much better gear for the price they want to repair your stuff.
 
Yung Don said:
Also if I was to purchase a new receiver, I don't know the first thing about which receiver would work with my speakers. The stereo system is about 8-10 years old. It was slightly used before I received it. Thank you!!
If it matters- it was $40 just to get the receiver looked at... and now an extra $200 flat for the full repair. When it first stopped working I unscrewed all screws and took a look, but didn't notice anything "blown" inside and didn't know what to look for. I am also living in the Baltimore, Maryland area.
Click to expand...

Just about any receiver ever made will work fine with your current speakers. For $200 check out accessories4less for a Yamaha R-S300 2-Ch x 50 Watts Natural Sound Stereo Receiver.
http://www.accessories4less.com/mak...50-watts-natural-sound-stereo-receiver/1.html
 
I'm a big Sony fan but mainly I buy ES gear. My main unit is a STR-DA5ES and it's definitely a better receiver than your DE-575. I bought it off eBay a couple days years ago for $125. I agree with what's been said. You can easily find a good condition used receiver for less than the repair cost your present unit.
 
Actually, we cannot be sure they are gouging you. Two hundred bucks, well you have to order parts, store the thing and not scratch it or anything, and then you have to take out this to get to that to take out to get to the problem, the there is no way to run it without putting it all back together and even on a DBT it could blow fifty bucks worth of silicon in milliseconds. Then you have to guarantee it and you have no idea if people have their dogs pissing on the speaker wires or if they're just bare wires that spark all the time. You also don't know if they have 12 pairs of speakers in parallel on it and have it running in a totally closed cabinet.

That amp, the parts will be maybe ten percent of what they want. Two hundred. Well I could support $150. Actually I think $125 would be really reasonable. But don't dicker and jew with them because some places have a tendency to leave things out then.

Those amps get some weird problems in the bias regulator when they fry, the components there must conform to the original quite closely. There is no bias adjustment.

I would definitely charge more that $100 to fix that channel. Maybe $150. So, while I think they'e high, it is not total skulduggery. It also depends where you are. In some places their rent might be six grand a month, that money can only come from one source. The customer. I you live in such a place, like some places in California, expect to pay more for everything. But the bottom line is if it is worth it. Shoot it over here and I can fix that channel for a hundred bucks, but add shipping to that and you are about back where you started. And they have gone for less than a hundred bucks on the bay. (not including shipping though)
 
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