Troubleshooting: Optical1 not 100% anymore

I have my 950's CD input to use OPTICAL1. I have had it set this way for well over two years. Today, I hear an electronic click (like a short in the speaker wires) and the sound goes off. I can flip it to ANALOG and things are fine (I have both hook ups set up). So, I know the signal hasn't gone away. If I unplug the optical connection and connect it again, no change.

I haven't figured out what I do to get it working again, but the audio on the OPTICAL1 comes back either when I futz with A/V settings or when a new song starts up or when I flip between different sources.

So, I ask you all...

Any ideas what is wrong?

No changes have been made to any configuration in months.

Thanks for any ideas.

have you tried a new optical cable?

I talked to Outlaw's support desk today. He had an interesting idea that hadn't come to mind.

First, I plan to test the cable by switching cables around and watching a movie on my DVD player.

Then, when nothing goes wrong (because I only watch movies at night when it is cool outside), I will find that the problem has more to do with the fact that my whole A/V system is using one wall outlet. RPTV, 5-chnl, 2-mono's, subwoofer and all the other components on one wall.

The theory is that when I have a lot of things on in the house (like air conditioners, clothes washer/dryer, etc) and want to listen to music loudly the draw is too much and causes a power blip just big enough to disrupt the digital signal.

This will be difficult to test, but if it holds true, it won't happen except when it is really warm. Eventually, if this is the case, I will find a way to spread the load out a bit. I'll probably move some things to another circuit somehow.

Well, I cleaned up my wiring yesterday. Aside from the dust I moved around, I threw some unused cables away (junk really). So, things at least look more organized.

I didn't really separate all the power cables so that some utilize a different area of the house wiring unfortunately (I don't think that will be very feasible in my set up).

What did I learn? I learned that the UPS I had hooked up to my Audiotron was making a hummmmmm. Reluctantly, I removed that unit from the mix. Since the Audiotron was the unit that was experiencing the potential power fluctuations, I figure the UPS might be the cause. We'll see! Too bad I'll probably have to wait until next summer when it is 100+ degrees again. At least things are cleaner. I ran the power cables as far away from the speaker wire as possible, so if there was any interference there, that should be reduced. I still have all 8 channels of amplification on one circuit though.