Problems with Marantz SR7011 (1 Viewer)

[Jesse Skeen]

I just got this amazing receiver yesterday; I actually ordered the 7010 but the Amazon seller had ran out of that model so they sent me this one with no additional charge, it normally would have been WAY out of my price range!

However after spending all day yesterday setting it up, I can't sit back and enjoy a movie on it just yet. I've already got an exchange set up with the seller where they'll send me another one when they get this one back, but figured I'd explain what it's doing and see if anyone else has had similar problems. I'm wondering also if my TV, an LG 75UH8500 is also part of the problem.

Biggest problem is that both my Lenovo laptop computer and my Toshiba HD-DVD player are working ONLY on the exact HDMI inputs that I don't want to use them on! I want to use the computer on the receiver's front input so that I can easily unplug it when taking the computer elsewhere and also hook other stuff to that input temporarily, but the receiver isn't getting any sound or picture from the computer and the computer's display is not recognizing that it's connected to anything. It WILL work however on any of the 7 rear HDMI connectors. Where my TV comes in is that when trying to use the front input, it will not get any signal at all from the receiver and show its own "no signal" message and pictures. If the receiver itself isn't getting any signal but is still working with the TV, it will show a Marantz logo against a black background.

Conversely, the HD-DVD player (Toshiba HD-A35, actually modded to be a region-free E35) will ONLY work through the FRONT input! When plugged into any of the rear connectors, there is no sound or picture, and the TV displays a "Format Not Supported" screen which is odd considering it can normally display PAL video from other sources. If I turn the TV off or unplug its HDMI connection from the receiver, then I will at least get sound from the HD-DVD player but it goes away when the TV is re-introduced, making me wonder if there's something about the TV that it doesn't like.

I'm also using the analog video upscaling as I have a LOT of old material on every format imaginable. I realize support for analog video on modern equipment is dwindling by the minute, and I'm keeping my older Pioneer receiver as it's always done a good job of upscaling analog to HDMI and can hopefully use that for analog outputting to any future receiver that lacks that capability. In the meantime this new receiver upscales analog to 4K which is a bit overkill but very cool, but it's not very tolerant of glitches. When playing a VHS tape I normally tweak the tracking until it's at the best possible setting, but if the tracking goes so far off as to lose the sync then the receiver won't get it back again until I set it to another input and then to back to the VCR's input. Again, when this happens my TV's "No Signal" screen comes up versus the one from the receiver, so I'm wondering if there's a compatibility problem with my TV. I really don't have room right now to set up the Pioneer receiver just for analog upscaling and this is something the Marantz should already be able to do, but I honestly don't know how many people still even use analog sources anymore and they may just be giving it lip service here.

Interested to hear any thoughts about this.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Have you tried the main CPU reset? Sometimes it will clear up gremlins by doing 3 or 4 of these in a row and then rerunning the initial setup.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

I reset it once when talking to Marantz tech support and that didn't fix it, and I left it unplugged all night last night and just reset it again and still no change. Guess I'll have to wait for the replacement and hope it doesn't have the same problems.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Yeah, sounds like it.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Receiver is now on its way back, but I did get it to display the HD-DVD player by disabling Deep Color on my TV. However if I keep it set like that, I'll likely miss something on a UHD disc. I still could not get it to take any signal from the computer in the front input, not even audio with no display connected. Debating what to do if the replacement has the same problems, I love the sound and general operation of this receiver but one of the main points of having it is to use just one input on the TV for every source. Given that my Pioneer receiver (which I hooked back up) has had zero problems with that (other than 3D and 4K signals, which it can't pass), it seems ridiculous that this newer, more expensive receiver can't do this as well as it can.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

The replacement came today, I didn't do the full hook-up but just hooked it to the TV to test for problems and they are STILL there. Unbelievable that this expensive a receiver would have these problems, phone support was pretty bad also. It'll likely be going back for good, and I'll just wait a while longer before upgrading from my Pioneer. I can't properly set up Atmos in my current apartment anyways.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Video showing the analog problem:

 

[Scott Merryfield]

This sounds like a configuration problem, not a hardware failure. Denon and Marantz are now the same company and share many of the same components and sfotware. I recall during the setup of my new Denon X3300 that the front HDMI input is a little different than the ones on the back, but I do not recall what the difference was that required additional setup -- I am not using the front HDMI input, so did not touch its configuration. Have you gone through the input setup on the Marantz to make sure you have everything setup properly for that front input?

I cannot help with the analog issue, as I removed the last remaining analog device in my system when I replaced my Pioneer Elite with the Denon -- I hadn't used the Panasonic DVD recorder with analog-only video in a few years, so decided to take it out of the equipment rack to make space for a new UHD player.

 

[CraigF]

^ Agree with Scott. These AVRs have an incredible range of setup options. It's very easy to miss one tiny thing and have a given port not do what you want. First off, let's assume you're not dealing with a cable or "licensing" (HDCP, HDMI version) issue with that front port. And also that you enabled the front panel HDMI port in the input setup page. I vaguely recall it wasn't set up as *I* expected in my AVRs' input setup pages, I have fought with that front panel port a few times over the years... And to tell the truth, I don't like leaving that front panel open, and eventually just connected a very long cable to one of the back ports, rolled it up and keep the free end capped, pull it out when I need it = less potential compatibility probs.

The front HDMI port can have different features than the other HDMI ports, usually less capability if different, since it's meant for connecting "lesser"/temporary/portable devices. These may be fabulous portable devices, but the "convenience port" wasn't really intended for them. Yeah, it sucks, but that front port isn't on the same circuit board as the main HDMI ports (and all the video processing chips) and very often has some resulting resolution/bandwidth/feature downgrades due to a restricted data pathway. In your case, it sounds like you shouldn't need anything "fancy", so it should work. You may also need to go into the Video setup menu section and adjust the HDMI settings for that front port. Also when troubleshooting, make sure any CEC feature is disabled on all devices, CEC probably causes more things to not work than any other setting.

The analog capability/flexibility has drastically decreased in Denon/Marantz products over the years. Every time I upgrade one of their AVRs, I lose an analog-related feature *that I used*. Also the HDCP/licensing restrictions are the cause of some of that, there were "sunset clauses" that forced removing some capability. OT, but one I really miss is the continual removal of various types of non-HDMI digital outputs.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Regardless, my older Pioneer receiver's front port has never had any compatibility problems.

There aren't any other "settings" for the ports other than which input to assign them to. The front makes the most sense to plug a computer into, so it's ridiculous that it would be the only one that it DOESN'T work with. Why include a front port at all if it doesn't work with something as simple as a laptop computer? They even included a set of analog jacks on the front which is certainly nice, but the way the signal drops out they're simply unusable.

I gave Marantz a chance to fix this but they failed, they did acknowledge that the specs for the front HDMI jack were different than the ones on the back which makes it questionable to include at all. I was going to keep the front panel open anyways in order to see the display there. Bottom line is that a "flagship" receiver in this price range should NOT be having these problems. If the analog upscaling is going to work that poorly then they should just drop it completely and instead sell an external device that upscales analog video properly. While my Pioneer receiver is a bit obsolete, it's been a relief having that hooked up again after the nightmare this thing was.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Jesse,

Which Pioneer model do you have? My last one I just replaced was a Pioneer Elite 94TXH, and it served me well for 8+ years. The only reason I replaced it was (1) the unit did not support 4K devices due to its old HDMI version 1.3 ports, and (2) I experienced HDMI handshake issues when attempting to connect the HDMI audio-only output port from my new Sony 4K UHD player to the AVR.

Depending on your Pioneer model, you may experience similar issues when you add some 4K source components. Since Marantz and Denon are the same company now, you may run into similar problems like you are currently experiencing with either brand. Maybe you will have better luck with Yamaha or Onkyo (who now owns Pioneer)?

 

[CraigF]

IME Denon and Marantz have made, and continue to make, a lot of very frustrating decisions over how their features are implemented, which ones get dropped, and how they work etc. They have always had some "unique" interpretations of how some features should work, and as far as anything even remotely () network/web -based, the less said the better.

Still, I find them less annoying than some other brands, overall. Yes, I have gotten used to their idiosyncracies, for the most part, my "anger" has dissipated. Pick a brand that annoys you less. I think my "best" AVR is ~9 years old, it does almost everything I need, but as you say, it doesn't do the "latest" HDMI stuff (Atmos, 4K, 3D), and a lot of its web-based stuff is practically obsolete (I don't need that anyway, have better devices). Nor does it sound as good as my newest AVR that does all that newer stuff. For analog video handling, you need to go back more like to the early 2000s to get really good, by the mid-late 2000s they started degrading that capability.

I get your pain. Whenever I get a new AVR, I'm really happy at first, and then I find the more "obscure" functions I'm used to using no longer work, so I have to buy something else to make up for it. Meanwhile, all sorts of other built-in features go unused. Way too many built-in features that are much better done by fairly cheap external devices (e.g. streaming), while features that are more properly built in to an AVR get short shrift.

As far as HDMI ports, looking at my display reminded me of something: you better get used to all HDMI ports not being equal, as this isn't just common, it is "normal" at this point. You may not be used to it if you haven't upgraded stuff for quite a while, since the days when HDMI ports were pretty basic and all "the same".

New display? It is extremely unlikely that all the HDMI ports are "full featured", often only one or two support all the latest HDMI/video features (or even just ARC). And usually those full-featured ports are not in the "convenience" locations. Anyway, that's one good reason for feeding everything through a full-featured AVR, so you only need one full-featured display HDMI port most of the time. Similarly HDMI output ports are usually different, with one typically being significantly limited (playback devices and AVRs). One of the output HDMI ports on the 7011 is limited too (but still pretty useful).

 

[Jesse Skeen]

I have the Pioneer VSX-23TXH, 7 years old now. It does everything that it's supposed to do, but of course lacks Atmos, 3D and 4K support as well as no ARC for the TV's audio. The Gateway laptop I had before sometimes had problems connecting its HDMI signal, but that problem was likely more with the computer than the receiver. I replaced that with a Lenovo last year and that's been 100% problem-free on that receiver- but the exact opposite with the Marantz.

When I got the Pioneer, I had first tried a Denon receiver instead mainly because it was a bit less expensive and I was on a limited budget- and it went back rather quickly because it had some similar problems with its HDMI output dropping out when upconverting analog video, most notably when playing laserdiscs it would drop out when side 2 was spinning up with the picture rolling for a split-second and the vertical interval showing briefly before stabilizing. My Pioneer handles that with no issues, but the Denon I tried out would briefly drop the signal then it would come back on and trigger my TV's onscreen display. When I wrote to Denon about this they actually suggested I use a time-base corrector! Not only is that completely ridiculous to have to use on a 1990s laserdisc player (it's not like I'm using an ancient reel-to-reel VTR!) but the receiver is already supposed to include everything needed to display that properly! As there were far more choices on the market at the time, it was easy to dump that and get the Pioneer instead. It cost a bit more but did everything I needed it to do until these other "advancements" came along. I STILL care more about analog support than 4K at this point; I have literally hundreds, possibly over 1000 laserdiscs and I'm not going to toss them just because they're old! Many of them are of material that aren't even available on DVD or any other current format!

My new LG TV has only 3 HDMI inputs, which is still enough provided I have an adequate receiver. The only limits I know of is that only one of them supports ARC, and that's clearly labeled (though I've found out it does NOT output Dolby Digital Plus from the internet apps, and so has no quality advantage over using the optical and I'll still need a 4K Roku and compatible receiver if I want to watch 4K streaming movies with the full audio quality). The Marantz receiver has 2 HDMI outputs and only one of them supports ARC, again clearly labeled. There is NOTHING saying that the front HDMI input is of any 'lesser' quality than the ones on the rear- I should be able to plug anything I want (at least with 2D and 1080 resolution) into any input and at least get a signal out of it. If my older and less expensive receiver can do that, why can't this one?

In further anticipation of analog support getting even worse on future receivers, I've been looking into external upconverters. I got a DVDO iScan from Ebay which could have been great, but it turned out to have some problems of its own (true malfunctions) and is going back. I've got a different one coming that will hopefully be better, though it's alarming that they've already stopped making these. If anything, someone should be concentrating MORE on them as specialty items. Something else I'd like to see is a box with analog inputs for up to 7.1 channels that can then output that through HDMI as a multi-channel PCM signal. That would make up for the lack of such inputs on new receivers, and while it would be useless to some others would pay a premium for it. I've already got a box that will output any multi-channel analog signal as DTS, which I ordered more than 10 years ago from a recommendation on this site. It probably isn't in production anymore either. It's a decent work-around for connecting my quadraphonic 8-track player and I could use that on a receiver lacking the proper inputs, but I also have a Pioneer DVD-Audio/SACD player and the sound would be degraded if I had to convert that to standard DTS. Even my new Oppo UDP-203 player has a set of 7.1 analog outputs, so shouldn't I at least have the option to use those?

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I think your VSX-23TXH is only slightly newer than my old VSX-94TXH (maybe a model year newer). The 94-TXH was great for analog -> digital conversion. My cable TV box for many years was connected via analog component cables (1080i) + digital coax to the AVR, yet I only had a single HDMI cable running from the AVR to the display. I also had a Sony ES SACD player connected via 5.1 analog, and a Panasonic DVD recorder w/ hard drive connected via component video (480p) + digital optical. The Pioneer AVR did a great job converting analog video to 1080p via the HDMI connection to the display.

That great analog support appears to be going away with newer AVR's, though, as analog devices disappear from the landscape. In my case, the cable TV box was replaced about a year ago with an 1080p HDMI model when we upgraded our service as part of a new contract / cost reduction, and my Sony ES SACD player died (the 5-disc carousel mechanism failed). I wasn't using the Panny DVD recorder anymore, as I had finished using it to convert my VHS and home camcorder videos to DVD-R and its analog TV tuner no longer was compatible with our cable TV system.

Fortunately, I have other digital options for SACD and DVD-Audio playback, as both my old Oppo DVD player and new Sony UHD player support both formats via their HDMI connections. And while HDMI connections can be frustrating at times due to version compatibility and handshake issues, it does make for a lot fewer cables -- the back of my AVR never looked so clean! The only non-HDMI cable for any of my components now is the digital optical cable from my display to the AVR, which is there only because I had issues getting ARC to work properly over the HDMI connection between the display and AVR.

 

[CraigF]

Fortunately, I have other digital options for SACD and DVD-Audio playback, as both my old Oppo DVD player and new Sony UHD player support both formats via their HDMI connections.

OT alert: So you're saying your *Sony* UHD player also supports DVD-A? I thought I had read something like that somewhere, but didn't really believe it. I also read, before I bought it, that my current-model Sony BDP (converted to all-region BD) supposedly did that too, but I never even remembered to test it in the >6 months I've had it, but I will now that your post reminded me (I use Oppos to play those formats now). It is still hard to believe though, after all, DVD-A is the "anti-Sony".

Jesse: I too have a load of external boxes, both to convert analog video and to strip HDMI. They're a relatively niche market, and these converters seem to come and go from our market very quickly (many are easier to find in the Asian markets). Most offer features that AFAIK no "modern" AVRs have, regardless of price. A lot of the things we want are missing because of licensing and the fear of copying.

As an example, there are plenty of people who want component video inputs/outputs, maybe for the simple reason they're good enough for the purpose and they have the cabling installed for years, maybe when the house/room was built, and re-doing it for HDMI would be a burden/pain (besides that you can run simple coax a lot farther than "simple" HDMI cables). Out of luck now. I for one miss simple composite I/O, because for lots of things (setting up the playing of an audio disc [SACD/DVD-A/BD], or general device settings on a small display at a "remote" location) it is good enough, PQ isn't a factor.

As for the PC via front panel HDMI port, I agree the 7011 should have done that. I use a rear port for my laptop, since I often have it connected up for quite a while. My AVR (used as a pre-pro) is a Denon so I don't need to otherwise leave the door open to view the front panel display. I may have had issues with my front port too, I forget now, since I required 7.1x192/24 audio plus the video and it may have choked on that.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

OT alert: So you're saying your *Sony* UHD player also supports DVD-A? I thought I had read something like that somewhere, but didn't really believe it. I also read, before I bought it, that my current-model Sony BDP (converted to all-region BD) supposedly did that too, but I never even remembered to test it in the >6 months I've had it, but I will now that your post reminded me (I use Oppos to play those formats now). It is still hard to believe though, after all, DVD-A is the "anti-Sony".

Yes, the Sony X-800 UHD player supports both SACD and DVD-Audio. I actually like it for SACD playback better than my Oppo 980H DVD player, as the Sony displays the album and audio track names. My old Sony ES dedicated SACD/CD player did the same, but just on its LCD panel readout (it had no monitor output). The Oppo just displays something generic, such as track001, track002, etc. (can't remember the exact generic label).

Both the Sony X-800 and Oppo fully display all the video information for DVD-Audio discs. Of course, that format was designed to have basic video information (album art, song names, lyrics, liner notes, etc.), so it's not surprising. I have only played a couple of DVD-Audio discs since buying the Sony X-800, but it works quite well. I only have about a dozen albums in that format (I own more SACDs), but it's nice having another option for playback in case something happens to my old Oppo.

 

[CraigF]

^ I have a 980 too, which I just use for audio discs in the bedroom. I think it's the "prettiest" Oppo ever made (once the blinding power LED is tamed), and that is of course very important...

My Sony BDP will only play the non-hi-rez tracks of a DVD-A after all. Actually, up until just this week, I have only used this BDP to play region B BDs, so I haven't even been into the device setup menu since I first got it. When I did go in tonight, I remembered it and that I had previously tried to play a DVD-A's higher-rez tracks and it gave some message. I seem to recall at one time a Sony DVDP would "spit" out a DVD-A, period. Or maybe it was just certain DVD-As, their formatting is so varying. I think when some people say a device will "play DVD-As" (like in my case), they are not familiar with what should be coming out of a player that actually plays DVD-As (i.e. low-rez doesn't count). I didn't really think my S6700 would play them, but it would be a nice bonus if it did (a backup, as you say, though I have 3 aging Oppos that play them). Much more music of the types I like came out on DVD-A than SACD.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I was using my Oppo 980H for all SD-DVD playback until I recently purchased the Sony UHD player, as it did a much better job than my Panasonic BD player (which could not even seamlessly handle DVD layer changes). The Sony appears to do a good job of SD-DVD playback, so I have been using it and letting it upconvert directly to 4K -- with the Oppo the best it could upconvert was to 1080p, which meant I had two upconversions happening with my new 4K display (the Vizio 4K display doesn't do a great job of upconverting 480i or 480p material). I am now using the Oppo just for TV on DVD series my wife and I are watching -- I can keep the disc loaded until we finish all episodes now, since I'm not swapping out the TV series disc for other SD-DVDs. Sort of like having a dual-disc player again -- one of my early DVD players was a dual tray Toshiba 480p model that also played DVD-Audio.

The Sony X800 definitely plays the hi-res DVD-Audio tracks -- there is even a section for configuring how you want to handle playback of the format in the setup menus.

 

[CraigF]

^ That is good to know. I was kind of thinking of getting a Sony UHDP instead of Oppo this time. Waffling, no hurry, I have very few UHDs. Am not re-buying any but the most select titles that I already have on BD. Hell, I don't even mind watching DVDs, but VHS is tough...

My best DVD player is an Oppo BDP, and I'm trying to "preserve" it by only using it for DVDs, which it excels at. I have to say that Sony S6700 BDP is pretty good at them too, I was surprised, they are much harder to do decently than other video disc types. It also does 4K upscaling and 3D, and handles the few BDs that the Oppo chokes on for whatever reason. The only reason I got that S6700 was when my all-region BD player died, it's cheaply made but has so far worked decently and speedily too.

So: Sony disc players that do all regions of BD and play DVD-As...what next?

Edit: sorry for the wild OT, but it's in the spirit of being able to play the old stuff with the new stuff, for people who don't totally discard old for new...

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Bumping this as I'm STILL trying to get this thing to work- Marantz had me send it to one service place which resulted in the analog video problem being fixed at least for a while, but hooking it back up has the analog video COMPLETELY dead now! Additionally my Oppo UDP-203 player now will not work through any of the rear inputs, only the front, and NO inputs will take a signal from my computer. They're now having me send it someplace else.

Does anyone else have this receiver and has it been working for you? I'm thinking the LG 75UH8500 TV makes a deadly combination with this, but as it's worked fine with my older receiver it should work with this one too. I'm going to keep pushing Marantz as hard as I can on this, one of their reps said "we don't leave customers hanging" so we'll see how true that is!