RCA RT2870R receiver

[GuinnessSteve]

About ten months ago, I bought a new TV, Blu Ray and a Wal-Mart special receiver/speaker set. The speakers are adequate, but the receiver has always been a problem. While watching movies/television, the receiver seems to "time out" when the sound gets too quiet or when there's no sound at all. This results in a delay when the sound gets louder/comes back. It's the most irritating thing that could happen while watching a movie. I've been forced to keep the TV speakers on while using the stereo so that I can hear what happens when the sound cuts out.

I did some googling and found that this is a common problem with this stereo. Wal Mart won't take it back, and I can't really afford another stereo (hence why I haven't returned it yet). I figure there must be a way to fix this, but my knowledge of electronics is limited. As there's no settings that can be changed with any of the controls or remote control, I figure it must be a hardware defect of some sort.

Anyone know how to fix it?