Speaker noise

Hi,

I was hoping that someone out there might be able to help me out... I have a Sony 5.1 home theater system. The receiver has a built in 5-DVD changer. Not too long ago, I started getting a loud noise in all of the speakers. It's kind of crackly, and sometimes sounds almost like a geiger counter. I tried disconnecting the receiver from all other components (except for the DVD player, which is built in), but the noise is still there.

I get the noise if I am watching a DVD or if I am watching TV. However, if I go to the menu and run the the test tone, the noise goes away. Also, if I use the FM tuner, the noise goes away. I tried moving the unit to a different room away from other components, but it doesn't help.

Does anyone have any suggestions? This unit is only a year and a half old.

Hard to say but I'm betting that a repair or replacement is in order. My first thoughts were power cords crossing your audio or speaker wires but your test tone and FM test ruled that out. I also thought about poor speaker wire but again, test tone and FM test rules that out too. Sounds like your testing the right things though.

Unlikely but try purchasing one quality set of audio/video cables and speaker wire and swap each existing wire out one by one to see if there is a change. I'm not confident that you'll see a fix but always try the cheapest fixes first. Also, try different sound modes--although I'm sure you have. If you're using optical, swap to analog or visa-versa. Although it's only a year + old doesn't mean it can't be about to go belly up. I've had one go to crap in as little as a month. Little Johnny put your machine together and is getting paid $8 an hour with no benefits because he's a temp. While he's putting your machine together, he's got his mind on where he's going to come up with the $90 it will take him to fill up his Escalade that he can't afford because he won't be caught dead in an Escort.