No not dead completely. Sorry to be confusing, I made this thread a while back and just reused it as I think I now see why the 970 is a discontinued unit. Its doing this with all inputs digital and video too. I haven't bothered with the analog inputs this time, but I did the first 2 times which was consistent. And FTR I have tried different IC, sources, and even have substituted my friends old Sony which worked like a champ(but sounded like a chump). I am quite convinced its the 970. Jim said he did a bunch of re-soldering this time which I felt had an improved effect on the sound quality, but not the reliability unfortunately. It has been such a ridiculous yr with this unit that I really just don't want to deal with it again.(still havent called in this time)

I guess I need to soon.