How do I fix a home stereo receiver that intermittently stops playing through the left speakers?

Question

I have a 10-15 year old LXI series home stereo receiver that has 4 speaker outputs (2 right, 2 left) and it works well, except sometimes when the volume is low, the left channel speakers go in and out, or simply won't output any sound at all. When I jack the volume up and keep it there, it "clears out" the connection and both sides work, but I can't always do that late at night when I want my music on soft. Is there something wrong with the connections or is it just dirty? I couldn't tell the inside of a receiver from a car engine, so if someone has an answer, I would appreciate a brief explanation on how to access where it is you are talking about.

Answer 1

tInstead of replacing the control I would try cleaning it firs. Finding the replacement may take some effort for an exact match. Get some electronics cleaner pull the knob off spray and turn the shaft. Do this three or for times and see if that does it.

Answer 2

Replace the Volume control/balance control. Positively the vol. control is the reason. This so because, the wiper of the control won't have contact inside the control at low level setting. Just replace it with the same value.

Happy listening,

S. Sankar.