Problems with Marantz SR7011 (1 Viewer)

[CraigF]

Any more progress/change?

Wow, it seems like they ought to replace your AVR. The fact that they're even trying to fix it is an admission that it's not working correctly, from brand new. This would cost them virtually nothing, somebody's being stubborn I'd say. It's actually a pretty decent AVR, I mean I don't encounter a lot of AVR scenarios these days in my "travels", but it's a model I recommend for most people as a competent all-rounder without getting into the somewhat more extreme Denon 7200.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

I think this situation finally has a happy ending- the last problem I posted about was caused by the HDMI cable going from the receiver to the TV. I don't remember exactly what it was being used for before, but as I was going to unhook the receiver and send it back AGAIN I first connected its output cable to the Oppo player, which was then going directly to the TV (and I'd then hook the audio-only output back into my old Pioneer receiver) and the TV would not even take the signal either! Swapping out another long cable made it work through the TV again, and trying the receiver it worked as it should.

The only big issue now is that my computer still won't work through the front HDMI input, so I've got it hooked into the back instead for now. I bought an HDFury "Doctor HDMI" box which allows my HD-DVD player to work through the rear inputs, so I may buy another one of those to use my computer through the front (I tested it already.) A possible problem may also be that I've heard sound briefly cut out on the Oppo player for less than a second at times- I will have to watch some discs on the Toshiba player to make sure it isn't doing that as well, I'm suspecting this problem lies with the Oppo more than the receiver.

All in all a VERY glitchy receiver but the sound is great. We'll just have to see how it holds up.

 

[Phil A]

Sorry for the trouble. I had to send back my UDP-203 twice. Once a internal board went and I had no display and then about a month ago it bombed in the middle of an update. They turned it around fast - either went back out the same day or the next.

I briefly tried a (refurb - as that's all I'll buy) Marantz 6011. Sounded good but generated tons of hum, particularly in the side surrounds (was using it in the manner prescribed to do 11 channels using an outboard amp). I returned it the next day for a refund and got something else.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

The Oppo sound problem was fixed by using the HDMI cable that came with the player- in moving stuff around I had switched it with a cheaper one. It seems this player and receiver are both quite picky about what cables you use.

Only real problems with the receiver now are that my computer still won't work through the front input, but another Dr. HDMI box should fix that. A few times it's also lost the connection to internet music and has to be unplugged and plugged back in again for that to work, but that could also be an issue with my internet service as it's gone out periodically- I should probably call AT&T for a new router at least.

Long and painful process getting this thing together, but VERY pleased with it overall now! The sound is noticeably better even through the same speakers, and it's nice to finally not have to switch inputs on the TV when using the Oppo player (I'll hook my 93 back up also, as there's certain things that one can play that the new one can't.) I even watched a VHS tape last week that had some pretty bad damage in one part, the picture went black but it came back without me having to lift a finger.

 

[MovieFan60]

Anybody experienced issues when using the sr7011 with LG B6/c6/e6 oled and oppo 203 not getting 4k hdr using hdmi from player to amp then tv only 1080p hdr?

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Just noticed that last question, I have the HDR output on my Oppo 203 set to "Forced" as one 4K disc I played didn't activate HDR with it set to Auto.

BTW there should soon be a firmware update for this receiver to support Dolby Vision. I don't have any discs that use that, but will probably start looking for one to test it.

 

[Blink Too Fast]

I bought an SR7011, HEOS HS2 5 speaker, and HEOS Extend wifi extender this week. Trouble everywhere.

The SR7011 occasionally cuts out for a fraction of a second every few minutes, but only sometimes. Was rotten yesterday and this morning. Hasn't done it this evening.

The HEOS extend refuses to connect to my wifi router to act as an extender. It will happily connect wired to my wifi router as an access point, but having an extender connected to my wifi router with a cable isn't helpful. Doesn't work with the LAN wired setup. Doesn't work with the WPS setup. Spent a very tedious 1hr8min on the phone with tech support to confirm that this does not work. Will be escalated (though much easier for me to just return it).

So, when used pointlessly as an access point, I have a choice of four wifi networks to connect the SR7011 and HEOS 5 - My router's 2.4GHz, 5GHz, my existing 2.4GHz extender, and the HEOS access point. As far as the HEOS app, the HEOS 5, and the SR7011 are concerned, all behave equally, and I can switch devices between them pretty easily with the app. I have also wired the HEOS 5 with a LAN cable to the router.

When connected, I can group the HEOS 5 to the SR7011 using the app. It's a bit agricultural, but doesn't need to be done often. When I select a source on the SR7011, it does NOT come out of the HEOS 5. For sound to come out of the group, I must use the app to select an input on the amp. This is still rather agricultural and quickly became tedious. I do NOT want to find and use my phone every time I want to use my amp.

If I use the app to select the input "Media Player", the SR7011 freezes. I can fix it by power cycling either the SR7011 or the HEOS 5. I do not have this problem with other inputs. Power cycling takes a couple of minutes. It quickly gets tedious. Hifi equipment is supposed to bring pleasure, not frustration.

Assuming I have everything connected, grouped, and use the app to select an input other than "Media Player", sound comes from the amp and the HEOS 5, but the HEOS 5 will stutter. Same on all my networks, including the HEOS extend network. Can't listen to it like that.

CEC off. Standby network control off. ARC off. Standby HDMI pass-through off. Still stutters.

I am the only person in a 2 bedroom ranch. The only devices connected to my wifi are the SR7011, HEOS 5, and my phone for the HEOS app. Plus the HEOS Extend on LAN. I even opened the router control panel to check for other connections. Nope. None.

For what it's worth, I am (though might not anymore) replacing a 7 year old Onkyo TX-NR3008 AVR which has never had so much as a hiccup. Difficult to say if either sound different. The Onkyo _might_ sound a bit better - it's slightly more powerful and has both bi-amp and bridging modes (I use the bridged mode). The SR7011 is a little less powerful and only has bi-amp and no bridging. Difficult to say if it sounds worse or if I'm just frustrated with it. I wanted it for the HEOS feature and the ability to buy a matched power amp. 4K & HDR will be useful in the future, but not for my current TV.

Marantz/Denon should call me back within 48 business hours. I have another 27 days on my Amazon return window. Right now it seems more than likely that everything will go back and be replaced with something else.

 

[Blink Too Fast]

Marantz/Denon should call me back within 48 business hours. I have another 27 days on my Amazon return window. Right now it seems more than likely that everything will go back and be replaced with something else.

Yeah, no, haven't heard back in 72 business hours.

 

[Tillerman6]

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.

 

[Dave Moritz]

I would go over your video settings with a fine tooth comb and see if there is something that could be contributing to your issues. I have my Toshiba HD-DVD player hooked up via component video and optical digital. And have not had any issues of the video dropping using analog inputs and it to upconverts to 4K. Granted I have a SR-8012 but that should not matter much and the menus should like identical to a 7011. If you decide to not give another Marantz a try or try a Denon then I would suggest getting a Yamaha! But before you send your Marantz back I would go through your settings carefully and see if that will fix the problem before boxing it up. This is why I prefer to buy locally so if there is a problem I can put the item in the car and take it to where I purchased it from and have it checked instead of boxing it and going through the entire shipping then have them look at it then go back and forth.

 

[Tillerman6]

I would go over your video settings with a fine tooth comb and see if there is something that could be contributing to your issues. I have my Toshiba HD-DVD player hooked up via component video and optical digital. And have not had any issues of the video dropping using analog inputs and it to upconverts to 4K. Granted I have a SR-8012 but that should not matter much and the menus should like identical to a 7011. If you decide to not give another Marantz a try or try a Denon then I would suggest getting a Yamaha! But before you send your Marantz back I would go through your settings carefully and see if that will fix the problem before boxing it up. This is why I prefer to buy locally so if there is a problem I can put the item in the car and take it to where I purchased it from and have it checked instead of boxing it and going through the entire shipping then have them look at it then go back and forth.

Dear Dave,
Thanks very much for the good ideas.

This is a special situation for me. I got this unit for FREE at a place called the "Dufort Mall which is part of the city dump. People bring all kinds of good stuff here that they don't want to just throw in the dumpster. So when i saw this unit sitting on the shelf at the Dufort Mall I just could not resist.! As I find out now, this little toy is at least $800.00 used and even if it is blown up, it should be worth something on Ebay for parts.

So I took the lid off for a look around and it's nearly pristine inside. I can't find anything wrong visually, but I did not remove any boards or parts to inspect everything 100% as it would probably do more harm than good.

And to your point, I did find one "sound" setting on the TV that had to be changed to get my old Yamaha to work again after I had been trying to get the Marantz set up. - So even though it is technically a sound setting, it has to do with the optic cable being used by the TV or not.

There are 3 possibilities for that "sound" parameter. One is internal speaker (TV only)
One is ARC + optical, and another third option. I am not sure exactly which of the last two choices I have active right now, but it is working with the old receiver outputing surround sounds thru the optical link.
It may not allow the TV speakers to work when the Marrantz is shut down, however, and that could be a problem for the wife. She is not technical minded at all. I used to be an Avionics technician at Honeywell for 15 years and a military field service rep for Texas Instruments for 15 years before that, so i have seen the industry go from discreet parts to surface mount ambiguity while I was still working.

So tomorrow when I get access to the TV again and we are not using it for anything else, I will make another attempt to get the Marrantz to show up on the TV . This time I will not change any parameters on the TV, since i know the TV is outputting optical data to whatever AV unit it is hooked to.

I think the problem will be one step easier that way, even though I am expecting trouble with the video not showing up again. Right now I am using the HDMI#2 "Home Theater" port with CEC shut off.

I also shut off most of the optional items that might have any influence on the ability of the TV to support the video stream coming from the Marrantz unit.

That ARC function seems to be a problem for the communications up the HDMI cable.
What is your understanding of what the ARC feature is supposed to accomplish?

The CEC function is another gray area for me and I believe that it is also disabled on the TV right now just to simplify things a bit.

And the last question - I am still confused about the signal path(s) on that HDMI cable between the Monitor1 port on the back of the SR7011 and the TV's HDMI #2 input.

Is that ARC signal just there to shut off the TV when the SR is shut off, or is there more going on in that cable and they are passing audio down it for the SR to put out on the speakers in lieu of an optical cable?

Steep learning curve for me at 69 years old.

 

[Tillerman6]

Dear Dave,
Thanks very much for the good ideas.

This is a special situation for me. I got this unit for FREE at a place called the "Dufort Mall which is part of the city dump. People bring all kinds of good stuff here that they don't want to just throw in the dumpster. So when i saw this unit sitting on the shelf at the Dufort Mall I just could not resist.! As I find out now, this little toy is at least $800.00 used and even if it is blown up, it should be worth something on Ebay for parts.

So I took the lid off for a look around and it's nearly pristine inside. I can't find anything wrong visually, but I did not remove any boards or parts to inspect everything 100% as it would probably do more harm than good.

And to your point, I did find one "sound" setting on the TV that had to be changed to get my old Yamaha to work again after I had been trying to get the Marantz set up. - So even though it is technically a sound setting, it has to do with the optic cable being used by the TV or not.

There are 3 possibilities for that "sound" parameter. One is internal speaker (TV only)
One is ARC + optical, and another third option. I am not sure exactly which of the last two choices I have active right now, but it is working with the old receiver outputing surround sounds thru the optical link.
It may not allow the TV speakers to work when the Marrantz is shut down, however, and that could be a problem for the wife. She is not technical minded at all. I used to be an Avionics technician at Honeywell for 15 years and a military field service rep for Texas Instruments for 15 years before that, so i have seen the industry go from discreet parts to surface mount ambiguity while I was still working.

So tomorrow when I get access to the TV again and we are not using it for anything else, I will make another attempt to get the Marrantz to show up on the TV . This time I will not change any parameters on the TV, since i know the TV is outputting optical data to whatever AV unit it is hooked to.

I think the problem will be one step easier that way, even though I am expecting trouble with the video not showing up again. Right now I am using the HDMI#2 "Home Theater" port with CEC shut off.

I also shut off most of the optional items that might have any influence on the ability of the TV to support the video stream coming from the Marrantz unit.

That ARC function seems to be a problem for the communications up the HDMI cable.
What is your understanding of what the ARC feature is supposed to accomplish?

The CEC function is another gray area for me and I believe that it is also disabled on the TV right now just to simplify things a bit.

And the last question - I am still confused about the signal path(s) on that HDMI cable between the Monitor1 port on the back of the SR7011 and the TV's HDMI #2 input.

Is that ARC signal just there to shut off the TV when the SR is shut off, or is there more going on in that cable and they are passing audio down it for the SR to put out on the speakers in lieu of an optical cable?

Steep learning curve for me at 69 years old.

 

[Tillerman6]

It might help me a lot and simplify things a lot if I knew what sort of data is being passed by that optical cable between the TV and the SR7011??

I know there is probably digital audio coming down, but is there also Video going back UP? or is it bi-directional for both?

Also, what is the capability of the HDMI cable? Is it also being used in a bi-directional fashion?

One thing I did Not get was a printed owner's manual that might exist outside of the online 300 + page digital nightmare that I am still trying to figure out.

What the 300 pager version lacks is just the basic ideas of signal flows. It's the "why" that is missing in the manual.

 

[Dave Moritz]

My understanding is that ARC does things like turn other components on. My Marantz does a great job at relaying the signal when I turn on my 4k blu-ray or the Dish Network receiver the tv comes on automatically. Plus I believe that if you have something hooked up via HDMI to the tv you should get audio returned to the receiver that way but I may be wrong. This is the first time I have had that feature and I have not much time to check into it.

 

[Tillerman6]

My understanding is that ARC does things like turn other components on. My Marantz does a great job at relaying the signal when I turn on my 4k blu-ray or the Dish Network receiver the tv comes on automatically. Plus I believe that if you have something hooked up via HDMI to the tv you should get audio returned to the receiver that way but I may be wrong. This is the first time I have had that feature and I have not much time to check into it.

Dear Dave, The Service manual for the SR7011 explains that ARC stands for Audio return channel

My understanding is that ARC does things like turn other components on. My Marantz does a great job at relaying the signal when I turn on my 4k blu-ray or the Dish Network receiver the tv comes on automatically. Plus I believe that if you have something hooked up via HDMI to the tv you should get audio returned to the receiver that way but I may be wrong. This is the first time I have had that feature and I have not much time to check into it.

Dave, the owner's manual says that ARC stands for Audio Return Channel. That is if you are using a TV that is ARC compliant with the HDMI cable setup. I think there are other parameters such as CEC that turn on and off the other components, but it's pretty confusing to me as well.

 

[JohnRice]

My understanding is that ARC does things like turn other components on. My Marantz does a great job at relaying the signal when I turn on my 4k blu-ray or the Dish Network receiver the tv comes on automatically. Plus I believe that if you have something hooked up via HDMI to the tv you should get audio returned to the receiver that way but I may be wrong. This is the first time I have had that feature and I have not much time to check into it.

Dave, what you’re describing is CEC, not ARC, except the audio part later. ARC is strictly audio.

 

[Doug Pyle]

Reviving thread as I have 2 new problems with 5-year old SR7011 (just out of extended warranty, of course!). Intermittently, the audio will switch to headphone out (no headphone plugged in), or - and only when input is from PC connected by HDMI - it will switch to Audyssey Setup.

Problem 1: workaround has been to plug in a headphone and unplug it. Then it switches back to audio to my speakers. Seems unrelated to specific inputs (all of them HDMI sources though). Sometimes this happens a few more times, but if I power off and on, it will often go away for days or weeks. BUT maybe connected to next problem, it seems to happen more if I've used audio from the PC recently (via HDMI)

Problem 2: Just in the past few days, it started switching from audio input from PC via HDMI, to Audyssey setup. Weird. I can hit the "Back" Button on the remote and it returns to playing audio. Or sometimes it just switches back to the correct audio output to speakers on its own after a few seconds.

FWIW the PC HDMI input is #7 - labelled as "CD" input since I don't have a CD player I remapped this for audio from my PC.

I'm worried something is dying or there's a short triggering these phantom switches (to headphone or to Audyssey). Anyone else experience something like this, or have solutions to suggest?

Thanks!

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Haven’t had anything like that happen on mine, though I very rarely use headphones on it. Just amused to see this thread I started a few years ago still active. Still happy with mine for the most part, though it does have its quirks. Found the front input will not let my Roku output HDR at 60fps, though it will for other sources. Had to move the Roku to a back input. Been mostly happy with analog video support, recently got a 1977 Quasar Great Time Machine VCR and the receiver up scaled its video signal with no issues! Since it’s a natively mono format I used the center channel input on the 7.1 jacks, rather than a mono-to-stereo adaptor. Really frustrating that 7.1 analog inputs are hard to find now, and support for analog video is dwindling.

 

[Doug Pyle]

Thanks for responding! So far I’ve just lived with the headphone input issue, hasn’t gotten worse or better but everything else about the receiver I agree is quite good, and you made a good point about the analog inputs. I have taken them for granted with some (very) old game systems put to use on rare occasions.

Fortunately the mysterious launching of audyssey setup hasn’t recurred.

The Atmos and other sound options sound great, happy with it and hoping it hangs in there.