Audio Systems: Home theatre sound, word of advice, authorized service

Question
We have a surround sound system. For some time we have noticed that when we turned it on it would take a while for the sound to come on. It would begin with a clicking sound that increased in speed the closer it came to the sound actually coming in almost as if it were warming to the task at hand. We took to muting the sound rather than turning it all the way off in order to avoid this process as toward the end it would take up to 30 minutes! (If we only muted it the sound would come right on upon disengaging the mute.) Eventually someone would forget and turn off the power and now we can’t get anything. Any ideas?

Answer
Under no circumstances should that happen unless there is an internal problem with your receiver. I would rather not guess at the problem or cause. If your unit is under warranty you should immediately bring it in for service. If it is not then an authorized service station should be able to give you an estimate for the repair. A word of advice;  If the unit is older that 5 years and is not from a major manufacturer, the cost of repair might prove to be more that the receiver is worth. I can make a recommendation based on the age of the unit the make and model and the estimated cost of repair.