I think that all that might have been required was to unplug and reseat the power supply cable. I've heard of this before but I still don't see how that has any affect unless it resets some circuit that's gotten out of whack.

I have gotten to the source of this problem and can tell you that it is NOT a loose or bad cable. It is a board level repair. I just spent 2-1/2 days scoping out one of these without the assistance of a schematic. The solution to the problem is component replacement.
If you notice any noise in the video on all outputs and perhaps a ticking from the audio, you are about to have a dead Escient. The good news it it's repairable.

So, do you care to share the solution? Send in the unit to Escient?

I have not decided if I will offer my hard work for free or or turn it into a service through ebay. You no longer send these to Escient. Escient no longer has "in-house" repair. When you call for repair you are directed to Denon. I have not thought about how much I would charge but the repair takes about 1-1/2 hours plus materials. I can tell you that after the repair, the boot cycle completes in 30 seconds or less and it cleans up both the audio and video.

Well, would you be willing to disclose whether the parts are readily available from a supplier such as digi-key?