# Toshiba Regza 40XV648 TV Sound Garbled After a While



## Cookiegal (Aug 27, 2003)

I bought this Toshiba Regza 40XV648 - 40" flat screen TV ten years ago.

Lately, after it's been on for several hours the sound starts getting garbled. To described it I'd say it sounds like when voices are disguised on the news so you can't identify the people only it's so much that I can't make out what they are saying.

I looked in the manual and all they say for general sound issues is check the connections and I've done that and everything seems tight and secure.

I receive my signal through Bell's Satellite service.

When it occurs it's the same whether I'm watching something prerecorded on my PVR or whether I'm watching a channel. If I change to different channels the problem remains constant. Even if I'm watching something prerecorded and switch to a different prerecorded show the garbling also remains constant.

There is a quick fix for now which is simply to turn the TV off (not the PVR). When I turn the TV back on it's fine again. I don't know how long it would be fine because this is generally late in the evening when it occurs. So far, I haven't had it happen twice in the same day.

So is this indicative of it being on its last legs or could it be a specific component that can be replaced or something else altogether? I suspect the TV myself but was hoping there could be some other cause that would be easier as I don't want to run out and buy a TV right now and I need to be able to hear the news with everything that's going on these days.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Just remove the few tubes in the Sound section, test them at Radio Shack, and replace the one (maybe two) that tests bad. Oh, wait. I'm showing my age. That goes back considerably more than ten years. More like 40+ years!

In my (lack-of-knowledge) opinion there is only a small chance that a component can be replaced for a reasonable cost and even less chance that you or I can do it. You might call a TV repair place (do those still exist? shut down for now?) to see what they say.


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## valis (Sep 24, 2004)

I agree with Terry. The cost of tv's nowadays sorta precludes repairing them. IMO, another example of our 'disposable society'....


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## Gr3iz (Mar 9, 2009)

Does it do the same with an external sound system? You should be able to connect to either the TV or the satellite box. Otherwise, I'm inclined to agree with everyone else on the cost effectiveness of repair vs. replace.


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## Cookiegal (Aug 27, 2003)

TerryNet said:


> Just remove the few tubes in the Sound section, test them at Radio Shack, and replace the one (maybe two) that tests bad. Oh, wait. I'm showing my age. That goes back considerably more than ten years. More like 40+ years!


Hey wise guy!  Actually when I bought this one I was probably the last person on earth that still had a old Zenith console TV...yes, a console! It was huge but it was an attractive piece of furniture.


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## Cookiegal (Aug 27, 2003)

valis said:


> I agree with Terry. The cost of tv's nowadays sorta precludes repairing them. IMO, another example of our 'disposable society'....


It's not that I don't want to buy a new one it's just given the current crisis I don't want to go out to shop for one.


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## Cookiegal (Aug 27, 2003)

Gr3iz said:


> Does it do the same with an external sound system?


Good point. I'll see if I can figure out how to hook it up to my sound system speakers but I'm not sure I will be able to. I'll have a look in the manual to see if it shows a diagram on how to do that.


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## Cookiegal (Aug 27, 2003)

I just thought of something I should mention. Not long after I got the TV I had a guy in to paint my living room. I had the TV covered and moved away from the way and he said that would be fine but then he fell off the ladder and took the TV with him. He wasn't hurt and the TV only got a small scratch on the frame but nothing on the screen and everything worked fine for years after that.


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## Gr3iz (Mar 9, 2009)

Probably no connection ... You would likely have noticed symptoms immediately.


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## Cookiegal (Aug 27, 2003)

I figured as much. Thanks Mark. 

And Thanks Terry and Tim as well for your comments.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

You're welcome. And I agree with Mark's comment plus his advice to connect an external speaker if possible.


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## managed (May 24, 2003)

This sounds like (I know, sorry) a problem in the audio amplifier circuit inside the TV, or it's power supply. Probably not practical to get that repaired due to lack of repair shops these days and the expense if you do find one.

As mentioned a possible workaround is to take a low-level audio signal from the TV and connect it to a sound system's amplifier and speakers. This should be possible but you will have to check at the TV and Sound System for suitable output and input sockets and then get a compatible cable.

If you post the Sound System make and model, or a picture of it's input/output connectors, and a picture of the TV's or a pic of the relevant manual page(s) or a link to the manual(s) I can try to help more.


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## Cookiegal (Aug 27, 2003)

Thanks Allan. All it says in the manual about connecting to an audio system to use external speakers is "you will need standard audio cables" and they have two diagrams, one of the back of an amplifier where you put one in each of the left and right "line in" connections, then they show the back of the TV where you plug them into "Fixed Video Out". They don't say anything about the colour of these wires.

I have many cables so I'm sure I have the right ones, it's just a matter of identifying them. I can tell you that it was once set up to view DVDs with audio through the speakers at the beginning but I had a different amplifier and speakers at the time and I never watched DVDs so I took it all apart. Now I just have the HDMI cable from the TV to the PVR.

I can work on this tomorrow and take pictures of everything for you. It involves pulling the stand away from the wall but gives me a good excuse to clean behind and under there  so it's a good project to work on while sequestered. 

My amplifier (Yamaha) and speakers (Paradigm) are recent and high quality/performance.


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## managed (May 24, 2003)

Ok, as long as you don't mind doing all that I'll do my best to help.
You have to match the output level from the TV to the Sound System input level, it should be possible.

There is a chance the garbling occurs before the output sockets from the TV which means it will still be there but we won't know until you try it.


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## Cookiegal (Aug 27, 2003)

It's worth a shot. Thank you for being willing to give it a try.


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## Gr3iz (Mar 9, 2009)

Alternatively, as I suggested earlier, the source (satellite box?) may have audio output connections on it as well. Mine used to, when I used one ...


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## managed (May 24, 2003)

Gr3iz said:


> Alternatively, as I suggested earlier, the source (satellite box?) may have audio output connections on it as well. Mine used to, when I used one ...


Good point Mark, there should not be any garbling on those outputs, hopefully Karen can give us info about the 'box'.


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## Cookiegal (Aug 27, 2003)

Yes, I'll include that as well.


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## Cookiegal (Aug 27, 2003)

Wow! It was time that was all cleaned. 

So here we go. I took a series of photos.

First, this is the panel on the back of the TV. Note that I unplugged the HDMI cable so it didn't block anything below it and I know where that goes so there's no problem there.










Next is the left side of the PVR showing where the satellite cable connects:










Now the right side of the PVR:










Next is the left side of the amplifier:










Now the full view of the back of the amplifier. I had to disconnect the red and white wires that go to the CD player to be able to pull it out far enough. Note that wire also has a yellow plug which I just didn't connect since it was only for playing CDs:










Here are the cables I have. The first one I had labelled VHS to TV because it was connected at the time using Component cables (Not HDMI) and went through the VHS player so I could wach VHS tapes (which I never did).










This photo is the last one of two other cables I have. The first one was just labelled PVR and the other on the right had no label but looks like it could be a simple audio cable.










That's it.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Wait for advice from the others, but FWIW I agree that the unlabeled cable is audio; plugs into the TV FIXED AUDIO OUT and apparently into the amplifier's PHONO or PB 1 (never had something like this and don't know which is input).


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## Cookiegal (Aug 27, 2003)

Thanks Terry. I thought the same thing about that wire and where it goes on the TV but have no idea where to plug it after that. It wouldn't hurt to try it and see if it works but I'm sure Allan will know where I should stick it.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Cookiegal said:


> I'm sure Allan will know where I should stick it.


But he's far too nice (and wise) to say it!


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## Cookiegal (Aug 27, 2003)




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## managed (May 24, 2003)

I was tempted though. 

Ok, I think you should use the *3 REC L*eft & *R*ight *LINE* inputs to the amplifier, the lowest pair of red and white connectors on the left side. I assume you have to select this with a setting on the front panel.
Connected to the *L & R Audio *outputs on the Echostar box, OR to the *Fixed Audio* *L & R * outputs on the TV.
Try both if possible to see which gives the best quality sound and/or the most suitable Volume range.

You can use either cable, I would use the *R*ed connector for *R*ight as they both begin with the letter R which makes it easy to remember, and the White connector for *L*eft.
You don't need to connect the Yellow connector on the PVR cable.

Also I would turn the Amplifier off before making any connections and then on but with the Volume control turned down to zero first and then slowly turn it up when testing.

Sound good ?


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## Cookiegal (Aug 27, 2003)

Thanks Allan. I understand your instructions except for the part where I'd have to select a setting on the front panel of the amplifier. Do you mean I'd have to change the source from the current CD to something else?

Also, from what it says in the manual, if I go through the amplifier I won't be able to control the volume with my Bell remote and will have to use the amplifier's remote for that which is something I'm not too keen on unless it becomes necessary.


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## Cookiegal (Aug 27, 2003)

I tried changing the input on the amplifier to line3 but so far it's not working. I can't find the manual for it so I downloaded one and will see if they talk about that there.


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## Cookiegal (Aug 27, 2003)

This is the amplifier I have only mine is black. I don't see anything in there about listening to the TV through the amplifier. 

https://ca.yamaha.com/en/products/audio_visual/hifi_components/r-n500/index.html

I see this on the Internet:

"The R-N500 is equipped for digital audio input-with both optical and coaxial terminals. The *optical is for receiving audio from a TV*, and the coaxial for receiving audio from a Blu-ray player. The audio stays in the digital domain, giving you pure, pristine dynamic sound for all your entertainment sources, from sports and other programmes to movies and concerts."

I see optical on the back of the amplifier but it's a different kind of connection. There are little squares with doors that you can push in that seem to require another type of wire (perhaps similar to a phone wire).


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## managed (May 24, 2003)

Cookiegal said:


> Thanks Allan. I understand your instructions except for the part where I'd have to select a setting on the front panel of the amplifier. Do you mean I'd have to change the source from the current CD to something else?
> 
> Also, from what it says in the manual, if I go through the amplifier I won't be able to control the volume with my Bell remote and will have to use the amplifier's remote for that which is something I'm not too keen on unless it becomes necessary.


Yes the Source needs to correspond to the input connectors you use.
If you want to control the volume with the TV remote (is the 'Bell' remote for the TV ?) I think you can use the outputs to the left of the Fixed Audio out sockets on the TV.


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## managed (May 24, 2003)

The Digital connections are irrelevant for this.

Give me a while to check in that manual you linked to to see what the other amplifier inputs do.


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## managed (May 24, 2003)

Ok, move the amplifier connectors up one place so they are in Line 3 *PB *sockets, then check you have selected Line 3 (or whatever it's called) on the input selector knob on the front.


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## Gr3iz (Mar 9, 2009)

You may also have to go into the TV setup and disable the onboard speakers. The TV will likely not know that you've connected external speakers. If you use the Fixed Audio out, you will have to use the amplifier's remote. In that case, you can just turn the TV volume down to kill the local speakers. It won't affect the output. If you use the other audio output, as Allan suggested, next to the Fixed output jacks, the volume of the speakers will increase/decrease as well as the output to the amp. Hence the need to disable the speakers in TV setup.


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## Cookiegal (Aug 27, 2003)

Yes, right now I only use the Bell remote and it controls everything I need on the TV so I never use the TV remote.

I put everything back in place for now and neatly tied up the wires so if nothing else a good cleaning and tidying up was done.

I appreciate the help but I'm going to put it aside for now and tackle it some more if the need arises. I'd still appreciate you looking into it further Allan if you don't mind because if the problem gets worse I will have to switch it over right away. Thanks again for your help with this.

Thanks to you as well Mark for your comments. I'll certainly look into that if I have to hook it up that way.


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## managed (May 24, 2003)

Ok Karen, if you decide to pursue it in future you can always send me a Conversation request to let me know.


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## Gr3iz (Mar 9, 2009)

This "Bell" remote is for the PVR? If so, then connect the audio cables (red and white) from the audio out








to the PB 1, 2 or 3 on the amp and select 1,2 or 3







as the input.


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## Gr3iz (Mar 9, 2009)

Mute the TV speakers, or turn the volume down, and the Bell remote should adjust your volume ...


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## Cookiegal (Aug 27, 2003)

Great! Thanks!


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Wow, that "amplifier" will do almost everything but shop for groceries and walk the dog! Kinda a dumb question, but didn't find an answer scanning the first part of the manual: does it have internal speakers or do you have to use earphones or external speakers?


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## Gr3iz (Mar 9, 2009)

You need external speakers, Terry. The white wires connected to the 5-way binding posts in the center of her amp are going to the speakers.


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## Cookiegal (Aug 27, 2003)

It doesn't have internal speakers. It's a nice unit but has too many functions for my needs. When I bought it I wanted something of superior quality.

The old system I had was entirely Panasonic and when purchased back in 1979 was a good quality system. It lasted for a long time but eventually the amplifier/receiver's tuner started acting up and causing a lot of static and one of the speakers also died. But, I still have the turntable which should work but I'm sure I'd have to change the strap as it would be dried out by now.


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## Drabdr (Nov 26, 2007)

Hey! Sorry I just saw this.

what is the status on this endeavor?


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## Cookiegal (Aug 27, 2003)

managed said:


> *3 REC L*eft & *R*ight *LINE* inputs to the amplifier, the lowest pair of red and white connectors on the left side. I assume you have to select this with a setting on the front panel.
> Connected to the *L & R Audio *outputs on the Echostar box, OR to the *Fixed Audio* *L & R * outputs on the TV.


So far I tried what Allan Suggest in post no. 24, the quote above (only to the TV not to the Echostar box) and it didn't work, there was no sound from the speakers. So I put it aside for now and will pursue it further if it gets worse. So far it hasn't done it again since then. Thanks Brad.


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## Gr3iz (Mar 9, 2009)

The REC jacks on the rear of the amp are actually outputs. That's to record, they'd go to the tape recorder inputs, to record (hence REC). The inputs to the amp are the PB jacks, for PlayBack.


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## Cookiegal (Aug 27, 2003)

Thanks Mark. I took note of your instructions in post no. 34 and will try that next time.


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## Gr3iz (Mar 9, 2009)

Not trying to beat the dead horse, Karen, I just think it is quite possible to make it work.


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## Cookiegal (Aug 27, 2003)




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## managed (May 24, 2003)

managed said:


> Ok, move the amplifier connectors up one place so they are in Line 3 *PB *sockets, then check you have selected Line 3 (or whatever it's called) on the input selector knob on the front.


I corrected myself in post #30 quoted above. The REC and PB socket's functions confused me until I read the manual.


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## Cookiegal (Aug 27, 2003)

Right I forgot but I did see your correction Allan. I may give this another try soon but I can't pull things out as far right now since I tied the wires up.


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## Gr3iz (Mar 9, 2009)

A victim of your own efficiency! ;-) That's why I like Velcro! The guy that invented that stuff deserves much more credit than I'm sure he's gotten!


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## Cookiegal (Aug 27, 2003)

I used plastic zip ties.


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