Marantz AV-9000 processor loses its mind ...

I had an AV-9000 for a short period of time but didn't become intimate with the internals. Having said that, this is strictly a guess.

Many devices that use digital processing make use of a "memory battery". These are used so as to store specific user adjusted settings should power become interrupted. Without this battery, the unit reverts back to factory default when power is removed, which is what you describe. As such, you might want to look through the manual, contact Marantz or talk to a Marantz dealer about this. If they sell the product, they should be familiar with the needs of it over a period of time.

With the above in mind, some cheap units use a capacitor to act as a storage cell for temporary outages. It is possible that the capacitor is too small or your unit is being left in the "on" position for longer than it can supply reserve power for once power does go down. It's also possible that the cap itself has gone bad.

Several variables here that you might find answered in your manual or by Marantz. If they are of no help, you could modify the unit to include a memory back-up battery. One would need a full schematic of this unit to do that though. Sean
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Thanks, guys. Yeah, I know it is defective; the dealer I bought it from is gone, and I was hoping someone would know how I might fix it myself rather than send it away. Maybe some day when I get ambitious I'll open it up and see if I can find a battery that I could replace. I did hear from others with similar problems with the unit, but no easy fix. So it goes ...

I have the same problem with my unit and simply keep it in standby mode by turning it off with the remote only. If it is shut off with the power button it tends to lose its radio presets and all the rest. Perhaps it is a battery somewhere but I suspect it is a design shortcoming.\

ANyway I dont think it is a defect if thats any comfort to you.

regards

Olivier

I also have an AV-9000 with intermittant amnesia.

According to the User's Manual, the unit has memory that should retain settings if the power is lost for up to a week. See the "Memory Backup" note on page 34 of the manual. It states that the unit needs to be On or on Standby for 8 hours for the backup to work, which implies that it operates off a charged capacitor, NOT a battery. Assuming that you've had it powered on long enough for the backup to work, the problem might be a faulty capacitor. However, it seems unlikely that all of us would have the same bad cap. I think it's more likely that some design flaw allows an internal spike when the power is restored to zap the memory contents.

Here's the strange part that I notice with my unit. I can shut it off and disconnect the power cord for hours at a time, but it properly retains the settings when I turn it back on. However, if I leave it in Standby and the power blinks off, the memory is history. This suggests that I'm better off turning off the unit with the power button than leaving it in Standby.

Other people with this problem, was your unit Off or in Standby when it lost its memory?

Mine has been either On or in Standby when it loses memory. I suspect you're right about the design flaw; I've talked to others with the same problem.
Rich