RCA 250-watt home theater system FAIL

[@josephjames259]

Throwaway electronics. It’s why I left the repair business 20 years ago. I have amplifiers 50+ years old that are still chugging along.

[@atakdragonfly1675]

I think the stuff that was repairable, was usually better.

[@cbehr91]

RCA = Really Cheap Appliance

[@ryanpascual9598]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHA

[@ryanpascual9598]

@Ken Choo RCA then, RCA now.

[@alpzerlaken]

RCA = Really Crap Audio

[@GrubbySalad]

royal crown authority

[@5roundsrapid263]

A woman I once worked with asked me to look at her home theater. Sure enough, I walked in and saw this thing. The word "cheap" can barely describe how bad it was. One channel was dead right out of the box. I got her to take it back and get another brand. I'm not an audio snob, but you're going to have to put down a little more than $99 for a whole system.

[@Ass_Burgers_Syndrome]

+5Rounds Rapid "Jenkins ... Chap with the wings there ... five rounds, rapid!"

[@rogeliolopez2190]

I would say 99 bucks for a pair of speakers but not the whole system(I just wonder how bad the RCA system would sound too)

[@5roundsrapid263]

The Official Nerds RCA used to make some good stuff. Now they’re a zombie brand, like so many others.

[@qwertykeyboard5901]

An old android or iphone would of probably made a better stereo system...

[@EzeeLinux]

What is really sad is the fact that RCA would put their name on something like this. I've come across some really, really crappy stuff with from RCA over about the last ten years or so. How the mighty have fallen. :)

[@Madness832]

Yeah, I bet David Sarnoff is rolling around in his grave!

[@dcp10200]

RCA is oddly enough owned by Sony Music Entertainment and licences it's name to audiovox and other brands. Apparently RCA went defunct in 1986 from what I could find. It's a shame such a great brand is now reduced to making crap like this...sigh

[@vwestlife]

TheDutchOwner's Tech Channel After the failure of CED, and right before they sold off their consumer electronics division, RCA made high-end home theater systems (the RCA "Dimensia" series), about a decade before they became popular. They were trying to stay one step ahead of the Japanese and unfortunately make some wrong predictions about which direction the home video market was going.

[@Watcher3223]

TheDutchOwner's Tech Channel RCA's failure had many factors, of which the failure of their CED VideoDisc system was a definite contributor. RCA's failure as a company basically all boiled down to the fact that it had no leadership nor any real direction and focus ever since David Sarnoff retired.

[@Watcher3223]

Doug Payne Actually, only RCA's music business is owned by Sony. The RCA trademark, itself, is owned by Technicolor (formerly Thomson). Thomson acquired the rights to the RCA trademarks as well as the RCA electronics business from General Electric. Thomson also acquired the right to manufacture and sell consumer electronics under the GE brand as well, which is why many GE and RCA products from the late 1980s onwards ended up being similar internally (if not being outright the same), particularly TV sets. Sony, for the RCA Records label, is licensed by Technicolor to use RCA trademarks (the RCA meatball, in particular) in connection with that division. RCA Records was separated from the RCA parent and sold off to Bertelsmann Music Group by General Electric after GE's acquisition of RCA Corporation. Eventually, Sony Music and BMG would form a joint venture where, later, Sony would acquire the outstanding shares of BMG and fold the BMG part of the company into Sony Music.

[@techbaffle]

7:41 *Oh, my PKCell*

[@CavemanPerson]

45w to drive five speakers, a subwoofer, and a DVD player! How can they even call that a home theater system? Looking at the back of a Marantz HT receiver, I'm seeing a 650w power draw, and that's just to drive the main speakers. The subwoofer outputs aren't powered, and there's no built in DVD player. I know the RCA was designed to be cheap/disposable, but I still would've guessed a power draw closer to 100W, especially since it has to power the subwoofer.

[@Klaevin]

oh no, my pukcells...

[@LeeNeighoff]

7:42 Oh, my PKCELL...

[@NickisSlightlyStoopid]

As a DankPods fan I lost my shit when I saw the PKCells

[@metromodernism]

Haha same

[@JohnAudioTech]

Would have made a nice - 20v power supply ;-)

[@stephendobson910]

JohnAudioTech

[@retrovac99]

You should send this to EEV Blog!

[@helloworldstein]

I know this video is old but really all you gotta look at is the Intertek certification instead of UL certification on the back. Not all Intertek tested home theater systems are bad, but 99% of bad home theater systems are Intertek Listed instead of UL listed.

[@misterhat5823]

250W, yet the back says it only draws 45W. Go figure...

[@JWP329]

THE PUKCELLS!!!!

[@SteelBlueVision]

The -20 volt measurement was not into a load. Without actually loading it with 3-4 ohms, it's hard to say what the output voltage "into load" would be.

[@julianharcvt]

7:42 Oh my Pkcell’s! ~ Dankpods

[@matthewjbauer1990]

I had one similar from RCA except that it didn't have the DVD drive and it was rated at 400W (I think) total output. I had the HDMI ports die in it after 2 years, and the audio started to skip in and out when live auto detecting/switching between Dolby and stereo. Also, you can "amp up or down" your audio channels in settings to increase or decrease output to each speaker independently through the on-screen menu. I think settings are stored in eeprom.

[@Ryoga2K]

Yep.. that's what happens with badly designed class D amps.. you end up passing a lot of unfiltered current to your speakers and blowing them.. still I have heard systems like that (albeit way more expensive) from Panasonic and the like which have really nice sound and which obviously work in the first place

[@srijitofficial]

I Heard Mohammad Rafi & Lata Mangeshkar in the background ❤❤️‍🔥🙌

[@howtobebasic2122]

7:17 do you cut the cords off any of your electronics that you throw away?

[@vwestlife]

Only in this case since it's broken and I didn't want anyone to blow out their speakers trying to use it.

[@elephystry]

Ahhh my pkcell

[@arfer]

Ugh....That's a really nasty example of home electronics. Those speaker clips!!

[@Matt_Electronics]

At least Best Buy always hooks up speakers to their home theater systems. I don't have one, but I do know people who have them. When they turn the volume up from 0 to about 5, it keeps shutting down on them, but hooking them up to a separate receiver fixes them to a degree.

[@MercedesCitarobusvideos]

I have the same multimeter :-D i just dont understand... Why dont they just test their products before they put them out for sale?

[@vwestlife]

Mercedes Citaro bus videos That takes too much time.

[@MercedesCitarobusvideos]

True that

[@briana7475]

i am on one of the sistums and i have it for a while

[@Evan420]

+Euro Buses NO I have the same multimeter as well

[@Evan420]

+Euro Buses NO I have the same multimeter as well

[@js0009]

This is why you should spend more then 200 on a home theater system, I have had my Yamaha for almost 6 years and not one problem.

[@kevin12567]

I've had my Kenwood for over 10 years and it's still running strong without a hiccup! I use it daily while on my computer (playing games, watching movies, videos and streaming music)!

[@Oldbmwr100rs]

I have an Akai receiver I bought new in 1981 and it still works great. My 1977 Marantz really needs a recap though.

[@JoshuasRecordings]

I spent $90 on the audio part of my home theater!! It includes a Sony STR-DE998 master amp (from the dump) a MTX thunder 6000 (from the dump) A Sound Ordinance (SO) sub box (I bought that for $80 from Crutchfield) A Paradigm subwoofer (forget the model) (from the dump) Two Yamaha ns-5290 for surround back (Bought at a flee market for $5) Two Yamaha Studio monitors [front/main] (forget model) (bought at same flee market for $5) Two modified Sony speakers for surround (from the dump) Sony subwoofer amp (forget model) from the dump all that for $90. Of course I need a projector and screen, which I am getting soon. Screen was $60 and the projector is $700. So I got a $5,000 dollar system (includes projector and screen) for $850! Good deal!!

[@twiztedxassassin2211]

Idk what to do with mine it has the red light on the power button but when i press the power button the light goes out and it wont turn on

[@TomashPL58]

There are industry standards for claiming output power, if there is no RMS or EMS power in specs - don't buy. Today radio tuners are complete digital electronic circuits and don't need large coils. Radio chip in mp3 player is using coil that looks like regular resistor or just twisted route on board. Lots of capacitors on output can have two meaning (single supply amp or power inverter for each channel) but i think that is single supply amplifier. Lack of output signal is IMO due to digital electronics failure. Probably inproper switchmode supply burning DAC converter. Loud popping sound is probably due to cheap capacitors working on their limit and drying very quickly ;) Nice video ;)

[@steelers6titles]

At one time, RCA was the world leader in electronics, and remained so for decades. It pioneered, for example, the 45-r.p.m. record, and color television (it owned NBC). The standard jacks and cables used to this day for analog audio connections are named for the company. Now, like many other legendary companies, it's a name only, with no connection to the past.

[@themaritimegirl]

Wow, what a piece of junk. In response to the comment regarding the power input being only 45 watts, that confuses me as well. Unless everything I've learned goes out the window with something like this, power input theoretically always equals power output, regardless of how that power is transformed along the way. As such, an amplifier with a 240 watt output should have a rated input power of at least that much. So I'm not sure what's going on there. My first guess would be they're lying about the power output.

[@vwestlife]

The 45-watt rating is at 120 volts AC, while the amplifier chip runs on +/-20 volts DC, so you can't compare the two. KZbin user "Afrotechmods" recently posted a video demonstrating how Class D amplifiers work.

[@themaritimegirl]

I guess I don't either because after 4 years of EE under my belt I still don't understand how it's possible lol. I'm two years late responding to this, but yes, wattage is comparable between the input and output of a device, regardless of if the voltage is converted. If I have a 120V inverter that runs on 12V DC, and I run a 100W load on it, and the inverter is 100% efficient, then it's going to be drawing 100W from the battery as well (120V at 0.83A at the output and 12V at 8.3A at the input). I've looked up the amplifier thing, and the best explanation I've been able to find is that they're using marketing tactics to bend the facts. The 45W input power rating is probably genuine, and the true output power rating of the amp would be close to that if it's really efficient. The 240W output rating is probably an instantaneous peak value, at which point the input power would be a bit more than that.

[@vwestlife]

+themaritimeman Different frequencies. AC power from the mains is 60 Hz while audio power is usually measured at 1 kHz. However it's also possible they're just going by the maximum rated output of the amplifier chips (combined across all channels), whereas the power supply in this unit doesn't provide enough current to actually get that much audio power out of it.

[@daveb5041]

So the output is always less then the input because nothing is 100% efficient and this is even lower. So that would be maximum 9 watts per channel assuming the electronics used no power and the amp was 100% efficient in reality its probably more like 4-5 watts per channel RMS. The chip is probably out of some car audio device running at 4 ohms. No house speaker is ever 4 ohms. They would be eight cutting thst 4-5 watts output power in half to 2-2.5 watts. Thats ALOT more rasonable then 250 watts out of a chip.

[@CraigTube]

How can a device that only draws 45 watts from mains output 240 watts? I have a home theatre system that draws about 250W and claims to output 1000W total. Does't add up.

[@vwestlife]

It's because the amplifier circuitry runs off of low-voltage DC power, not 120 volts AC. Thus the wattage ratings are not comparable between the two.

[@zaprodk]

vwestlife How does that give any meaning ?

[@vwestlife]

***** Look up Ohm's Law. :-)

[@zaprodk]

I DO know ohms law - i work with electronics every day. You can convert Volts to Amps and vice versa with a Power supply circuit/Transformer, but you cannot convert x amount of watts to y amounts - it's impossible. The rating must be for a single channel times the number of channels...

[@vwestlife]

***** The amount of power drawn from the 120-volt AC line is not directly comparable to the amount of power coming from the speaker outputs of the audio amplifier. That's a mistake many people make -- they look at the AC wattage rating on the back, and think that's the audio output power.

[@SudosFTW]

Pretty sure that was at the one in Union unless I'm mistaken. i haven't been finding many good items there since the new management took over-- it seems older items are more prone to going to the trash before they ever see the light of the shop floor. last good find I found was a Compaq LTE 4/25C behind the counter up front for $10, but the floppy drive needs a new belt. oh the horror I'll have to endure. and then I found out the floppy drive in my T4800CT also needs a belt. and my Compaq Armada. it seems all my Citizen floppy-wielding laptops need new belts now. it's time.

[@WaybackTECH]

Another glorious example of a Really Crappy Appliance ! This is why I feel like if you are wanting a Theater receiver, anything you buy on the used market from the early 2000's to the late 80's is far superior than anything you can get for $99 new. Unless you REALLY have to have HDMI and USB, but still those can be found easily for less than $99 too. My only caveat for a Theater receiver is optical inputs.

[@DFX4509B]

Even nice ones from the mid-late '00s can be found for somewhat cheaply, even ES stuff made between '08 and maybe 2012, and are still viable as far as having HDMI audio decoding if you're cool with not having Atmos and you don't need 4K.

[@ViperJay5]

Wow, I'm disappointed in RCA, I used to like them. I'm glad you posted it so I know what to watch out for. I'm curious since I really don't know that much about electricity, but what made the voltage go into the negative range and how exactly is it bad (outside from you saying it would blow the speakers)?

[@1912RamblerFan01]

I'm going to take a stab at this but I'm by no means an electrician/electrical engineer/electronics "hobbyist" but a negative charge will push the meter into the negative range.

[@nilz23]

***** GE stands for "Good Enough".

[@Watcher3223]

***** Pretty much. Technicolor, formerly Thomson, doesn't even really make their own consumer electronics anymore. RCA TVs are made by On Corporation while many (but not all) other RCA products are from Voxx and whomever they use to make their items.

[@JoshuasRecordings]

***** Actually a crappy company "AudioVox" makes for RCA. Here is some info about RCA, I think of RCA as a "no-name" brand. RCA Telephones - Formerly manufactured by Thomson SA, sold in 2009 to Telefield North America RCA Audio/Video - Manufactured by Audiovox, produces RCA DVD players, video cassette recorders, direct broadcast satellite decoders, camcorders, and audio equipment. (link on Audiovox website) RCA Accessories - Manufactured by Audiovox, produces Audio and video connectors, remote controls and television antennas. RCA Televisions - Manufactured by ON Corporation RCA Car Stereo - Also known as RCA Mobile RCA Appliances - Produces RCA Microwaves marketed by Curtis International Ltd. (Canada) RCA Computers - Produces RCA Computers marketed by American Future Technology Corporation

[@artthefarter]

What’s a good brand these days for surround sound systems and good speakers too?

[@jacobmaga54]

Yea.. When i plug my rca receiver up. Red light turns on but when i push the "On/Standby" button.. It just flashes.. So I don't know if that can be fixed? Or should I just get a new one?

[@stevenanderson3205]

I bought this one at WallMart took it back bought a Sony 1100 watts of power can't go cheap on sound.

[@charlesfuentes3695]

Well...looks as if I'm making that trip to the recycling center. Speakers I'm keeping for my Sony system. Thanks for posting.

[@liteontv9726]

Hi hello? I have and rca home theater system model rt2380bk. I don't the speakers, or the remote control, but I have the subwoofer. How old is my system? It works fine it has a headphones Jack no dvd player built in.

[@missiondemolition]

7:46 AAAHHHHHH! MY PKCELL! Also, I found this unit at Goodwill and I bought it to see if it had this issue. The good thing is, no -20V! The bad thing is, It popped on the front speakers. I checked with a multimeter and It would show 19.65V at some moments. Luckily, I plugged speakers in that I didn’t care about.

[@TheXxRenzxX]

I have an RCA bookshelf stereo system and the speakers themselves are good and they are rich in sound, but the amplifier unit is terrible. The CD player does not work (the player mechanism locked up) and the volume knob malfunctions constantly. They need a step up in QC

[@davomcbones8138]

Oh my pkcells

[@magnetstoo]

If the rating is 250 watts "music power" then divide by 2 = "IHF" = 125 watts,divide by 2 again should get a rough rms = 60 watts.If they have not changed these ratings.Does not look like 60 rms to me,perhaps 30 rms. IMHO.

[@Taylor88Productions]

Ya shouldn't bash that RCA home theater system. Look at all the screws you can get out of that. Probably more than 20!

[@pyroslavx7922]

Measure if there is DC voltage on outputs before connecting speakers might help...

[@breezie1337]

You should donate this to Garret Claridge so he can hook up some speakers on those rear/sub outputs :D

[@LakeNipissing]

The only thing honest about the 250 Watts output is the fact that it consumes only 45 Watts from the 120 VAC supply, according to the label on the rear... fraud... RCA, which was once a company with great products should be most ashamed, but they aren't.

[@vwestlife]

Audio power and electrical power are not directly comparable. Electrical power works at a fixed 60 Hz (or 50 Hz in other parts of the world) while audio power is measured at 1 kHz and works across the entire human range of hearing (20 Hz to 20 kHz).

[@mxslick50]

Plus you have to factor in the transformation of voltage..as a crude example, 100 watts consumed at 120 volts transformed down to 12 volts (factor of ten) would yield 1,000 watts (at the unobtainable 100% efficiency.) Since most standard, non-switching power supplies are around say 65-75% efficient, your output could be 650-750 watts. Modern switch mode power supplies are around 80-90% efficient, giving you 800-900 watts. In the case of this crap system in the video, where the Class D amp apparently operates on 20 volts (based on the DC bias on the speaker terminals) 120v in, divided by the 20 volts out, factor of 6, times the 45 watt ac input power is 270 watts (at the unobtanium 100% efficiency) so IF that power supply in that piece of junk is 92.5% efficient then the 250 watt claim is accurate.. FOR ONLY ONE CHANNEL. And this does not account for the power used by the rest of the electronics, so as far as the 250w claimed power...bull pucky.

[@DaniRadioCat]

(Goldstar and Daewoo were often bashed in the 80s/90s, but IME I've never had any of their products die on me :P I own a 1994 Goldstar VCR which works pretty well)

[@ryanpascual9598]

My Goldstar CINEMaster TV worked fine 'til it died years later at San Luis due to old age. At least we got lola a new LG TV

[@raymondleggs5508]

I once had an RCA Receiver called the RT2600, Worked and sounded pretty good until the DTS board went out, replaced it with a yamaha that sounded dull.

[@tomooo2637]

capacitors failing allowing DC bias to appear on the outputs....

[@BubbafromSapperton]

I pretty-much the exact same one, it lasted about 8 months and I just threw it out in disgust, didn't care if it still was on warranty 🤗

[@redneckbryon]

At my local Value Village there's that exact same receiver, I imagine it has the same problem they are trying to get $100.00 for it, the thing that sucks about Value Village is there's no return policy on electronics they only allow you to test them in store.

[@bluenazz]

Our Value Village allows you to return electronics if you can get home and back in under 10 minutes, but then it is exchange only, no refund (:->

[@douglashoff95]

This is a good example of why RCA has earned the moniker "Really Crappy Appliances" .

[@NJRoadfan]

Folks, this is why you do DC bias testing on any used amplifier that comes into the house. Its quick and easy and prevents expensive headaches. Class D amps are usually used for dedicated subwoofer amplification. Audio quality isn't as important there and you can squeeze in a fairly high power amp into the enclosure. VS = "Virtual Surround"

[@weasel2htm]

+NJRoadfan You beat me to it on the VS, I didn't catch that tidbit when I first watched this video, (I'm not sleeping well, so I am watching youtube) But I do agree on testing speaker outputs, I also use a pair of "sacrificial" durabrand speakers until a unit builds my trust.

[@rogeliolopez2190]

the reason RCA is so bad now is because they had bankrupts decades ago ( I think it was in the 90s) and after that they became one of those brands that no name Chinese manufactures use to make their products look good because it is from a company that used to be good. So now most any product from RCA is rubish.

[@bigdealwhoopie7300]

And that's exactly what my earlier statement is about, thank you.

[@DaniRadioCat]

How much do you wanna bet it's Funai crap ;) (never trust anything made by Funai)

[@shreyaskul]

5:22 That's how class D amps work. Thew generate Square pulse wave which needs to be converted into sine wave which is done by LC tank (Inductor+Capacitor). Ask any audiophile/EE, Class D amps are cheap and load of bullcrap.

[@LuisFlores-lg9fc]

I need the remote control if available

[@whateveriam12]

Need it for the PKCELLS.

[@ilikemacsalot]

The DVD tray opens faster than my Denon DVD-910 from May 2003 which barely works.

[@chromewater1879]

I bought the previous generation of this model. RCA DVD 250 watt surround for $60. Beat the living hell out of it for about a full year until it gave out. I figured it was my constant max volume, had it one day and night wear and tare. Only had this happen to me once before to a $700 panasonic surround sound. Beat the living crap out of it for over 10 years till the fan gave out and overheated the entire thing. Stopped turning on eventually.

[@tmcclelland47]

I'll stick with my Technics SA-AX530. Which I got for less than $30.

[@nilz23]

Other than my Onkyo system that I have now, I haven't seen an AM tuner that really worked since my first car.

[@mr.smash698]

VS= Virtual Surround?

[@peterdevreter]

Same sad story with lenco. The L-75 was build like a tank and they made a lot of good stuff in the 70's. Today its a plastic fantasic brand...

[@erichorton3632]

My RCA home theater doesn't work new out of the Box have a indicator light but does not power all the way up I can turn it off with remote can't turn it on with remote have to unplug it to Republic just to get in located light Is disappointed

[@thatpoeticthug]

Damn that sucks i just brought one of these. And it only plays out of 3 speakers

[@OlafurArons]

This shit amplifier doesn't draw more than 45w from your wall, since it's most likely a cheap as fuck a class, it's giving about half of that, at best, to the speakers. A decent set of 2.1 computer speakers (on close inspection) will draw upwards of 150w.

[@MarkShannonroad_videos]

I avoid anything that carries the RCA name made past 1989. Had a few RCA products and they did one thing quite well. They disappointed me in performance. But this takes the cake! -20 Volts on the outputs? Holy S__t! That's a new low!

[@lacrossewieas2411]

output transistor or channel resistor failure

[@trutherone1725]

How do u fix a front right speaker input channel somebody please help??

[@bigdealwhoopie7300]

You take the thing to an experienced service technician. That's the way it's always been.

[@teacfan1080]

Wow, RCA used to be the name that meant quality and innovation. Anything RCA meant you were getting something that would last a long time. Now I look at RCA anything and avoid. Sad, taking a name like that and putting it on other crap in an attempt to fool consumers into thinking that since "RCA" is on that product, it must be quality.

[@joechlystun7979]

the Brand RCA was once synonymous with quality. sadly, this hasn't been any where near the case for decades. i've got an old RCA component stereo from the early eighties that is quite nice but thats toward the end of their reign of quality. sad ending to a once proud american company

[@XMguy]

I've got a RCA STAV-3970 av receiver with Dolby Surround. However its back when Pioneer made products for RCA. So it still works even though its over 12 years old.

[@Coilaman]

Nathaniel, it's time to replace capacitors in that receiver.

[@Watcher3223]

Those Pioneer-made RCA receivers were pretty much Radio Shack exclusive, marketed under their "Professional Series" line.

[@marcelolamoglia]

hi do you still have this device?

[@vwestlife]

Didn't you actually watch the video?

[@marcelolamoglia]

@@vwestlife Yes, I have one but its power supply board is defective, I need to know the number of the IC present in its power board, could you please take a high resolution picture in order to help to find similiar IC here in Brazil

[@vwestlife]

@@marcelolamoglia Like I said in the video, I discarded it.

[@anirbannaskar7665]

Md. Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar is being played in the background!!

[@ChoboUnjeon]

You could've just taken out the power cord connector inside the power supply board.

[@JoshuasRecordings]

I always knew that RCA was junk!!! Also cutting off cords does no good for me, I just rewire them! I bet my BSR MCD-8050 is much heaver than that!

[@oldgamecafe]

You usually forget digital out and in Toslink

[@travisgulley2652]

Cutting off the cord isn't gonna prevent people from using it because people can solder a new cord onto it if you really want to prevent people from using it you could have at least smashed it into a million pieces with a sledge hammer

[@vwestlife]

But that would've prevented the electronics inside it from being properly recycled.

[@mr.smash698]

It's sad that Audio Vox is the company who uses the RCA name, and it's sad that their stuff is made very cheaply!

[@THEtechknight]

I got an RCA plasma (rebranded LG). that shit itself, buffer IC went bad, blew out the Y-Sustain, and the Z-Sustain all at once. Have to replace ALL 3 boards to get it running again. Yea, JUNK

[@dogcowrph]

You would be better off simply buying a decent stereo receiver and speakers. Look at eBay or garage sales, church White Elephant sales, flea markets... That's a much better investment than a piece of crap like this.

[@MakarovFox]

5:32 a very best song (Samuel Barber - Requiem)

[@shreyaskul]

6:54 DOLBY VS = DOLBY VIRTUAL SURROUND

[@seanryanmetalhead]

You shouldn't have any DC voltage coming out of your speaker outputs. Seeing 20 Volts DC is absolutely bad. You will burn up a speakers coil really fast with that. If you want to measure the output of an amplifier, you need to have your meter set to AC volts by the way. Speakers use AC not DC. But you're unit is not working correctly, you were absolutely right on that. I wouldn't by anything with RCA on the box that is new. RCA is no longer a company and the name was sold off years ago. It's just a generic product.

[@mxslick50]

Sean, you are both correct and wrong with your comment about meter settings..Yes, you are correct that to measure the output (across the proper dummy load) you must use the AC range. However, a meter on the AC range will not properly show the DC bias voltage present on an amplifier's output. So if you have a suspect amplifier, the FIRST thing to check is for DC on the speaker terminals using your meter on the DC setting. IF there is no (or very little, say under .5 volts) of DC present, it would generally be safe to connect a speaker to it. In my years in the cinema business, one of the nastiest amplifiers for sending DC to the speakers was the Crown DC300 (and it's mates). Originally designed to power "shaking tables" they had a full power output range from DC to 50khz. (Later models cut off at 10hz.) The problem was, when the bias circuit decided to fail, it would short out the driver transistor and force the output to the full power supply rail voltage (75 volts!) and would literally set the bass drivers on fire! Worst part was there was no warning it was about to fail...no pops, degraded audio or low output..just a sudden fireworks show from the amp and smoke.

[@seanryanmetalhead]

Thank you for the clarification and friendly comment! :) So often people are so rude on here. I did forget, DC is a great way to find clipping on an amps output. And wow, that sound scary!

[@mxslick50]

You're welcome Sean. Yeah I can relate, I see no reason to ever be rude when correcting someone's comment. Much better to be polite .. check out my channel if you are interested in AN Radio Dx , and feel free to comment on my videos as well. :) Yeah those Crowns were scary, had one do that on my bench, made my 500watt dummy loads glow red hot.

[@EastAngliaUK]

Looks a bit crap for this sort of stuff get a Denon hopefully you should be able to take this back?

[@garychapman3530]

but still does not answer my question is my is the line in not working

[@Jallge]

I'm surprised that it uses the Belling Lee connector for the FM antenna. But yeah, what a piece o' crap!

[@HalonPoisoning]

I guess the only thing this would be good for would be an overly fancy looking dvd player. :P

[@shreyaskul]

5:43 Spot the budged ferrite bead (Looks like a diode but it's not) and a ceramic cap. Heap O shit. That's a bit how ya doin.

[@Appleboy78165]

7:20 "There. You can't hurt anybody anymore."

[@neilforbes416]

A similar fate awaited AWA(Amalgamated Wireless Australasia) during the late 1970s and the 1980s. AWA was manufacturing and marketing excellent quality gear for both the consumer and the broadcast industry but by the 1980s was only making gear for the radio and TV stations, and leasing its trademark to Mitsubishi in Japan to make TVs VCRs and other consumer gear. Thankfully, Mitsubishi was turning out good quality gear, worthy of the AWA brand, but in the 1990s, sometime through that decade, Mitsubishi pulled out and some Chinese company started making rubbish gear under the AWA brand and in the process, dragging the once-great AWA name down into the gutter.

[@andromedastrain77]

I still have an AWA 26" "Deep Image Colour" TV in my possession. It's been in my family since 1975. Still works a treat, and is proudly labelled "Made in Australia". My parents bought an AWA VCR in 1991 and it was a piece of junk. Audio quality similar to AM radio. The brand certainly declined in the 90's. I have a DVD player made by AWA dated probably around the late 2000's. It has a Sony mechanism in it. Go figure.

[@yanikkunitsin1466]

Those pF caps on chip legs.... something died inside of me

[@tonydecker4156]

Mine won't even power up. I sent it to the RCA people, and they repaired and returned it. After about 2 or 3 weeks, It happens again. I can not turn it on at all, it's like it's not even plugged in to the wall. Do you have any insight at all for me that I may fix this myself, because they had my machine for about 6 months, and charged me $40.00. I would rather throw the thing in the garbage and never deal with RCA ever again. Thank ya much. Please contact me at my channel in case I can't find this page again.

[@LowBudgetProductions]

I know how you can fix it...throw it out!

[@Eliotime3000]

I recomend highly a Panasonic DVD-S1. I's a better starter DVD player for a full Home Theater starter pack.

[@yorkemar]

I burned a woofer out with a cheap hifi video player..it put spurious subsonic fequencies into its audio output when recording music and reproducint it.. which at moderate volume did some damage. I hate cheap equipment..altho strangely it was an LG...i also bought a second hand technics cd player that popped alot..but it was a 10 buck special..which was not so special. Now have a Nad which I bought new..which is great and NO popping.

[@johnbrown92]

Yea most people probably don't have a clue on impedance. Probably used 8 Ohm speakers.

[@johnbrown92]

+John Brown Many people I mean not you.

[@ChaosHusky]

+John Brown Uhm.. That wouldn't actually hurt the amp, less current draw with 8Ohm speakers mate. Its Ohms law. True you may get a "smart" chip based amp that can detect/sense the impedance of the load or that its drawing too much power.. However, be it pairs of transistors or a chip thats your output, if they say 4Ohm you can usually get away with 8Ohm, just less perceived volume.. Unless your speakers are good with higher sensitivity.. A car head unit connected to my 4-8Ohm floor standing speakers (Eltax! meh they were cheap and actually sound nice) and a pair of little 8Ohm missions tends to power them fine at full volume without distortion (assuming the head unit is good and i use a good power supply) and considering they are only being fed with "22 Watts RMS into 4Ohms" (but the tweeters and mids in the floor standers are 8Ohm) "88 Watts" (which is likely halved by mainly being 8Ohm loaded, or at least halved on the mission speakers) or a bit more from car head units is more than loud enough to fill a room well and you have to shout over it... You just won't shake the walls. Lol.

[@BlakeTechnology99]

One of those home theater in a box units...

[@raymondleggs5508]

Really Crappy Audio

[@Rangerman9404]

What a POS! I'll stick with my 25 year old JVC model RX-503 receiver, it may not have built in blue tooth, USB or the latest "surround" outputs, but they make blue tooth receivers that can hook up to the unit's tape player input jacks, (and of course you can hook up the audio out from ANY TV, high def or not) to those jacks, and with a good set of speakers connected, I'll put it head to head with any modern system

[@graboid116]

mine works good so far i have the 1000 watt RCA the only gripe i have is with the sub. the speaker is fine but the case in a flimsy piece of crap lol n as soon as its paid off its going in a better case. but ty for uploading this vid so i know what to expect when or if i have to take it apart