Distorted Sound + Pictures wanted

Hi,
    I have been using my VR5000 for a while now and am enjoying it greatly.
 

    One thing I have found is that after about an hour or so of listening, the sound becomes distorted.
 

    I plugged in an external speaker and the distortion goes away.    So I thought it might be the internal speaker.
 

    However, I took the internal speaker out and plugged it into the external socket.    No distortion after several hours of operation.     Strange.
 

    Having a look at the circuit diagram, there is a 4.7 ohm 1 watt resistor (R3005 on IF unit) in series with the loudspeaker.   The resistor is not connected when using the external speaker socket.
 

    I suspect that the resistor is increasing in resistance as it warms up.    
 

    Has anybody else had this problem ?
 

   Also, my VR5000 did not come with the original feet and front bail.    I would appreciate it very much if someone could take some pictures of the bottom of their unit and post it in the pictures section.
 

 Cheers,
 Mal
 (Enthusiastic owner of a VR5000)