Minor Yamaha Receiver Issue

Hi,

When I turn on my 9 year old Yamaha receiver, the left channel does not work until I turn it up to some bass and mid-bass heavy music. I use it for everything basically so say a youtube video mostly only has speech, that wouldn't make it work. I usually play a song for 20 seconds at around -25 db and that makes it come to life all the while crackling a bit. It's kind of annoying and I wonder if it's a failing part or something that I can fix and if someone has experienced this before. Just to clarify it works perfectly apart from that. Music sounds just as good as when I first got it (at least I think).

Also, could someone let me know if the latest equivalent model would give me better audio. I mean they must've made minor improvements to the amp section over the years and I don't mean the newer features but strictly the audio quality. Looking at the Aventage 1000 series or similarly priced integrated. Just for 2 channel stereo (no sub). Mine's working just fine for me but I could relegate it to other duties if it's worth for me to upgrade.

I appreciate any help I can get. Thank you