Left-channel Speaker Static

[imported_Imp]

Just got home and fired up my receiver like I've done for the last 8 months with the exact same system. I always let the receiver 'warm' up for a minute or so before I turn on the computer, but for some reason, this time when windows XP started loading, I started getting loud static coming from the left speaker. What happened?

When I loaded into windows, I played something and sound came cleanly out of the right channel, but it was 'muted' behind the left channel by static. This led me to start troubleshooting by changing to the receiver's radio where sound came out clearly. Every other input (which I had nothing plugged into) did not produce any sound. I checked my inputs, and they were all snug like they've been for the past half year. Eventually, I turned off the receiver and disconnected/reconnected the RCA-input cables, which seems to have fixed the problem. Is something dying? My receivers got about 3/4 months left on warranty, bookshelves got years, but the sound card just went out.

Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks.


And one more thing. While disconnecting/reconnecting the RCAs, I accidentally plugged them into the Recorder OUT jacks, and proceeded to power on the receiver (computer was running whole time). Everything works now, but anyway something could have been messed up?

 

[Paperdoc]

The most likely cause is that a connection was a bit dirty for the left channel. Usual place for this to happen is in the input jacks, and simply unplugging and reconnecting the RCA connectors proably cleaned the surfaces and solved the problem. The other possible place is inside the connectors, sockets, or cables where wires can break off and sometimes re-touch. If it's in the cables or RCA plugs on the ends, switching the cable will solve that. If it is in the RCA female sockets on the receiver or computer, that's trickier to get at and repair.