Mac Mini Audio Intermittent over HDMI, Cuts out with Assertion in kernel.log

Hello. I've been having trouble with a mac mini (Mid 2011) that I bought on Thursday. It's running OSX 10.7. The Mac Mini is the $599 unit.
I've got it hooked up to my Sony BRAVIA HDTV (also this year's model) via HDMI, with audio configured to be delivered via HDMI to the TV alongside video. Initially the audio will play through my TV, but after an hour or two of watching something, it will cut out, and there will be no more sound coming out of the TV from the mac. Ultimately, the only way I can fix it is to reboot the Mac Mini. I've also observed that at about the same time sound cuts out, the following error message appears in kernel.log:
Aug 12 19:21:40 joshs-Mac-mini kernel[0]: Sound assertion "0 != result" failed in AppleHDAWidget at line 3957 goto handler
Aug 12 19:22:10 --- last message repeated 5 times
As far as I know, assertions failures usually mean software problems (bugs). I suspect I may be encountering a kernel-level bug in Lion, as this error message is showing in kernel.log.
The following is a list of diagnostic steps I've taken:
- I've double-checked the sound output device in preferences. It didn't spontaneously change from SONY TV (HDMI) after sound cut out.
- I've tried changing output to the internal speakers. It plays sound from the mac mini (as expected). When I change it back to HDMI, still no sound from the TV.
- I've tried turning off and back on the tv. No effect.
- I've tried unplugging and replugging the HDMI cable. No effect.
- I've tried replacing the HDMI cable with two other alternates. No effect.
- I've tried other HDMI inputs for my TV with HDMI attached. No effect.
- Note: I've got a ps3 and xbox360 on the TV that has successfully used the HDMI inputs and cables tested on. They've never had this type of problem, so I don't think there's a problem with the TV.
- I've tried rebooting the mac and resetting the "PRAM" (Command-Option-P-R before the grey screen on bootup). Sound still cuts out after a while.
- All updates are applied.
Does anybody else have any ideas about what I could try to fix this? This problem is pretty much a deal breaker, as rebooting the mac mini mid-movie kind of destroys the movie-watching experience.
Thanks

I'd just like to jump in on this thread to report exactly the same problem. 
2011 Mac Mini (the 2.5GHz i5 model) running Lion, Sony Bravia TV, HDMI sounds cuts out after a while with the console error "Aug 15 18:30:25 Mini kernel[0]: Sound assertion "0 != result" failed in AppleHDAWidget at line 3957 goto handler".
Interestingly, after the error occurs, I can still get 5.1 sound through Plex, but not through Quicktime. 2.0 sound and system sounds all fail until I reboot the system.
Any help would be appreciated. I would prefer not to have to return the Mini.
Thanks.

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