Center Channel is failing itermittently

Check for a bad fuse inside the receiver.

• Complete home theater system with top-loading DVD/CD player, surround sound processor with AM/FM tuner, and center channel amplifier
• Includes 5 satellite speakers (2-way, 3-drivers each) and dual active subwoofers with 6.3-inch woofers in bandpass enclosures
• Supports DVD, CD, CD-R/RW, and MP3-CD formats; processor integrates DTS, Dolby Digital, Pro Logic II, and synthetic surround effects
• Built-in sub woofer amplifiers separately power left- and right-channel satellites to minimize interference and crosstalk
• Satellites measure 3.1 x 7.2 x 3.9 inches (W x H x D) each; subs measure 8.9 x 20 x 9.6 inches; 2-year warranty

Hi,
here it is some tech info ..it is a fair price for 2.hand unit...
as ebay has the similar prices..it seems to be a good deal...

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Hope this helps!
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Product Features and Technical Details

• Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II, and DTS-decoding home theater receiver with 5 speakers and a powered subwoofer
• 35 watts per channel x 4 "tallboy" speakers, 140 watts for the center channel, and 150 watts for the subwoofer
• High-resolution DVD-Audio playback; JPEG, MP3, and WMA CD playback
• Magnetic shielding for distortion-free placement near a TV or computer monitor
• Includes digital FM/AM tuner and a universal remote control

Technical Details

• Brand Name: Panasonic
• Model: SC-HT900
• Output Wattage: 390
• Component Type: Home theater system
• Audio Output Mode: Surround Sound
• Surround Sound Effects: Super Surround Sound
• DVD Type: DVD changer
• Built In Decoder: Dolby Pro Logic II, Dolby Digital, DTS decoder
• Remote Control Description: Universal remote control
• Optical Digital Input: Yes
• Audio Input: None
• Tuner Technology: Digital
• Radio Bands Supported: AM/FM

Hello
If subwoofer is inactive now, the sound preference settings you set now is wrong.

Before using the remote control for the following
operation
* Set the remote control mode selector to AUDIO

** There are exceptions in the operation mentioned
above. In such a case, follow each instruction

Dolby Pro Logic II*1

# Dolby Pro Logic II has a newly developed multichannel playback

format to decode all 2 channel sources - stereo source and Dolby

Surround encoded source - into a 5.1 channel.

Dolby Pro Logic II has two modes - Movie mode and Music
mode

# Pro Logic II Movie (MOVIE)
Suitable for reproduction of Dolby Surround encoded sources

# Pro Logic II Music (MUSIC)
Suitable for reproduction of any 2 channel stereo music sources

# Dolby Digital*1

Used to reproduce multichannel soundtracks of the software
encoded with Dolby Digital

# DTS Digital Surround*2

Used to reproduce multichannel soundtracks of the software

encoded with DTS Digital Surround. DTS Digital Surround (DTS) is another discrete multichannel
digital audio format available on CD and DVD software

Assuming that you mean Dolby digital 5.1, confirm that you have a center channel properly connected and perform the following;

Using the remote, enter the menu on the receiver and navigate to the selection labeled "LEVEL." Toggle through the selections until you reach the "CENTER CHANNEL". You will be able to use the remote to increase the volume of that channel in .5dB increments.

You may have had the receiver set to "Stereo" mode, or Analog instead of "Digital" or "Auto" (automatically switches to digital when it detects a signal) modes. Also, setting it to "Direct" (2-channel from an analog source) could result in loss of center channel. Or your Surround Parameter dial (on the higher-end Denons, at least) could be set to a 2-channel mode.
Finally, if your digital inputs are incorrectly assigned (e.g., COAX1 instead of OPT1, or OPT2 instead of OPT1) for that source, the receiver will use the Analog signal which is stereo-only. You could get a center channel via Dolby Pro Logic II but it would be a "matrixed" signal, not the "real" center channel you could get via digital input using Dolby Digital or DTS.
(If all else fails, re-check your center channel speaker wire connections. It's very unlikely, but also possible, that either the receiver center channel amp or the speaker has failed.)

sounds like you need to surround modes. There is usually a Stereo, Dolby, DTS, "virtual surround", 4-speaker mode etc..
When you play a CD or connect to TV it likely defaults to playing stereo or virtual surround.

With real surround, almost all of the voices are coming from the center-channel speaker (normally placed closest to the TV).

Also, check to make sure the center channel is connected properly.

Dolby Digital includes several similar technologies, which include Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital EX, Dolby Digital Live, Dolby Digital Surround EX, Dolby Digital Plus, and Dolby TrueHD.

Dolby Digital, or AC-3, is the common version containing up to six discrete channels of sound. The most elaborate mode in common usage involves five channels for normal-range speakers (20 Hz – 20,000 Hz) (right front, center, left front, right rear and left rear) and one channel (20 Hz – 120 Hz allotted audio) for the subwoofer driven low-frequency effects. Mono and stereo modes are also supported. AC-3 supports audio sample-rates up to 48 kHz. Batman Returns was the first film to use Dolby Digital technology when it premiered in theaters in Summer 1992. The Laserdisc version of Clear and Present Danger featured the first Home theater Dolby Digital mix in 1995.

This codec has several aliases, which are different names for the same codec:

* Dolby Digital (promotional name, not accepted by the ATSC)
* DD (an abbreviation of above, often combined with channel count: DD 5.1)
* Dolby Surround AC-3 Digital (second promotional name, as seen on early film releases and on home audio equipment until about 1995/1996)
* Dolby Stereo Digital (first promotional name, as seen on early releases, also seen on True Lies LaserDisc)
* Dolby SR-Digital (when the recording incorporates a Dolby SR-format recording for compatibility)
* SR-D (an abbreviation of above)
* Audio Coding 3 (relates to the bitstream format of Dolby Digital)
* AC-3 (an abbreviation of above)
* Audio Codec 3, Advanced Codec 3, Acoustic Coder 3 (These are backronyms. However, Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding 3, or ATRAC3, is a separate format developed by Sony)
* ATSC A/52 (name of the standard, current version is A/52 Rev. B)

I believe he avr-5 has 6 channel inputs, what you will need is a dolby digital 5.1 and DTS outboard surround sound processor, say an item as the Technics SH-AC500 decoder, a Harman Kardon Signature 2.1 DTS version outboard processor/preamp, and many others on the market by different manufactors, Run the discrete audio outputs from the Processor into the AVR 5`s 6 channel inputs, select 6 channel input or DVD inputs on the receivers selector and your good to go. Be sure you are playing Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS encoded material.

For dolby digital to work you have to have the optical or coax cable hooked up to the reciever ,The HDMI cable is for digital video and audio output but does not support dolby digital out the cable into your reciever , so just turn off the dolby digital on your reciever and you should hear the sound.
here is more info

Dolby TrueHD is an advanced lossless multi-channel audio codec developed by Dolby Laboratories which is intended primarily for high-definition home-entertainment equipment such as Blu-ray Disc. It is the successor to the AC-3 Dolby Digital surround sound codec which was used as the audio standard for DVD discs. In this application, Dolby TrueHD competes with DTS-HD Master Audio, another lossless codec from Digital Theater System.
Dolby TrueHD uses Meridian Lossless Packing (MLP) as its mathematical basis for compressing audio samples. MLP was used on the earlier DVD-Audio format, but details of TrueHD and DVD-Audio differ substantially. A Dolby TrueHD bitstream can carry up to 14 discrete sound channels. Sample depths up to 24 bits/sample and audio sample rates up to 192 kHz are supported. Like the more common legacy codec Dolby Digital, TrueHD bitstreams carry program metadata. Metadata is separate from the coding format and compressed audio samples, but stores relevant information about the audio waveform. For example, dialog normalization and Dynamic range compression are controlled by metadata embedded in the TrueHD bitstream.