Yes, it is exactly what happened. The resistor burned, the big capacitor also destroyed and the BUZ355 cracked along with a few other components like the VR9. I did read about not having it in standby mode and some work around. But for now fixing it to see if it actually works is step 1. So your help is very much appreciated, and downloaded the PDF - looks like a good read.
Cheers.
Mr Lurpak's Electronics Rescue