Scientific progress doesn't go "plink"

Over the weekend our AV Receiver died.  We were watching a DVD and suddenly there was a loud static "plink" and then - silence.

In the last few months I noticed that the rather detailed configuration for the receiver was wiped out whenever the power failed, even briefly.  This meant that I'd have to reconfigure the benighted thing every time the power blipped.  It seems that the battery backup feature hasn't been working for a while either.

I seriously considered replacing it, but when I went to my local Geek High Temple (electronics store to you) they talked me out of buying anything new.  Apparently the sound quality on all but the super high-end gear is inferior to my hefty Marantz SR-14EX. 

In truth, it is a great receiver and it was pretty pricey back in the day. I'm happy to hear that people who have a vested interest in selling me something new think it stands up so well. 

Or would, if it was still working.

I just heard back from the repair place that the entire output section of the receiver is shot and has to be replaced. It nets out to $80 in parts and $350 in labor.

I also heard that a lot of Marantz SR-19, SR-18 and SR-14 units have been making their way to the repair shop with exactly the same problem recently.

I don't object to paying for a repair, but it sticks in my craw that a whole generation of Marantz products are having the same failures at exactly the same time.  It reeks of planned obsolescence or a gross carelessness in quality.  Either way it speaks poorly of Marantz.

To think that I bought the SR-14EX for it's build quality...

And to make matters worse, I also purchased an SR-19 which I gave away to some friends.  I'm sure it will be going "plink" at any moment and curses will arrow through the ether to me.

Ironically, the tag line for Marantz is "Life amplified".

Not so much at the moment, it seems.

Ultimately, I decided to fix beastie.  But now I don't know if I would ever buy a Marantz product again.  Or recommend them - which I've done many dozens of times.

I can't imagine doing either now that I've learned that it is actually Planned Obsolescence that goes Plink.