HDMI (1 Viewer)

[doctnj21]

So after no movies for the past year I finally decided just to pull my latest Onkyo off the rack and replace it with yamaha. I built my movie room 16 years ago in a large room in the basement that has no direct sunlight. I had gone to some theater stores and got some education. So I put in riser and prewired the whole 9. I got very good pieces of equipment. I had about 10k in audio video when I was done.

Now for the HDMI issues. Out of the blue my first Onkyo quit working and gave me "no signal". The first call was to onkyo and it was over a year so no help there. I sent it to certified repair center and was told I had a power surge that fried the hdmi ports so they had to be replaced. Ok what ever... cost was about 35% of a new one. Maybe a year later it was doing same thing, only this time the Epson projector stopped also. Sent both in and was told power surge. And it traveled up the hdmi and got the projector. But the projector couldnt be fixed because it was part of mother board. So I got everything back and gave receiver to a friend and got a new onkyo. I found a place in California that claimed they did board level repairs. 4 months later they sent me a duplicate projector because they finally admitted they couldnt do it and that they had an identical one on the shelf.

So Im going along until the new Onkyo did the exact same dang thing. Sent it for repair. Got it back and was going along until the projector went down. I was done with epson home cinema and picked up a less expensive projector that had good reviews. Very impressed with it period. Then we are up to a year ago when the current onkyo gave the "no signal" resolution error once again. So I quit watching movies. So a couple weeks ago I was tired of walking through the movie room to get to the game room so I started researching receivers.

Now thats when I ran across the HDMI 2.0 2.1 story. As I understand there is a defective HDMI chip / board at least with onkyo and maybe others. That made me quite angry but nothing I can do except never buy from them again at least. But then saw they filed bankruptcy

I bought a refurbished Yamaha 700. Do I need to be worried about this one also? I have the latest firmware update downloaded and when I hook it up that is one of the first things Im doing. I really liked the way the onkyo's sounded when they worked although the menus were ridiculous.

rant is over. hope to have some movies to watch soon.

 

[Todd Erwin]

I hate to ask, but are you using any kind of surge protection?

 

[Lord Dalek]

Well I'll tell you one thing... that Aventage 700 does NOT support HDCP 2.2 or 4k passthrough for that matter. Its a 12 year old receiver.

 

[doctnj21]

Oh yes. After the very first time I picked up a high rated surge protector and conditioner. I am a ham radio operator and understand grounding, bonding, and lightning protection. The odd thing about that explanation is nothing else in the house was affected by this so called ground strike. Also all of our utilities are underground. I also know that there is no protection from a direct hit. We use devices called lightning arrestor but still most hams simply disconnect and some put the coax in a large glass jar. On the same note anytime I was home and a storm was coming I would also unplug everything. The final time it went out I was in the middle of a movie. Stopped it for a period to do something and when I came back it was gone.

so I am waiting on my ceiling speakers to do the actual set up, last night I just had to know if everything worked. I turned it all on and got the "no signal". I was beside myself. But then I realised the projector was plugged into HDMI 2 on the back lol. After I get the last speakers in I will do firmware update and it may not need it, and the set up. I played a little bit of a movie last night and even in what ever setting it was on, it sounded really good to have it back on. My screen is a 4x8' thin sheet of plywood with screen glued on with felt border. The receiver has the ability to run two subs and I have two just never ran more than one. I really dont know why in that size room I would ever need to. Im going out of town after work for the weekend so I will have a fun project waiting for me this time. Im going to look into the onkyo also after Im up and running. I will be pretty torqued if I get it on. Although with my experience I should have backups.

 

[doctnj21]

I will say this. My old projector cost around 3k. If you find one even today this many years later they still cost around that if they are new. I couldnt do it considering so I grabbed one for a few hundred, refurbed an it is fantastic. The pic is as sharp as the old one ever was and it handles dark better especially if you over drive white.

 

[doctnj21]

well so is the onkyo. or its close to it. I was pretty sure the yamaha was released more recent. It was in top lists for 2021 but either way I was not paying a G and not figure out what the heck is happening.

 

[JohnRice]

Wait. You’re saying a 12 year old receiver was on a 2021 list of top receivers?

 

[doctnj21]

here is one example.
.

The Best AV Receivers for Most People

Sound quality is important when you’re picking an AV receiver, but it’s critical to find one with the features you need, so we have multiple recommendations.

www.nytimes.com

 

[doctnj21]

and another one. here its at the top

Best AV Receiver for 2022

CNET compares the best AV receivers from Onkyo, Denon, Marantz and Yamaha. Which one should you buy?

www.cnet.com

 

[JohnRice]

I don’t see your Yamaha 700 on either list. Just because new Yamahas are on a current list doesn’t mean a 12 year old one is.

Anyway, "700" is the only model number that's been mentioned, so that's the only info I had to draw from. If it's actually the RX-V6A, that's different.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Just for clarification, by "Yamaha 700" you did mean the Aventage RX-A700 right?

EDIT -- Nevermind could actually be a TSR-700 (but is that even available as a refurb)?

 

[xx Brian xx]

Getting back to the original question, get a fiber HDMI cable for an added level of protection otherwise you could have the same issue down the road with the Yamaha.

 

[doctnj21]

Yeah thanks. I thought about an extra ground rod. Right outside the house on movie room side is spot where all utilities come in and there is a rod but it's a foot or better sticking out of the ground so if it is even an 8' rod there is only 7' in the ground. They do sell shorter rods so who knows. I may be putting in another one on my ham radio side as well.

 

[doctnj21]

Just for clarification, by "Yamaha 700" you did mean the Aventage RX-A700 right?

EDIT -- Nevermind could actually be a TSR-700 (but is that even available as a refurb)?

Rx-v6a/tsr700 7.2.
Im working on replacing all speaker cables right now but I did do a quick check and everything works so it's off and I'm pulling cable and putting in outlet boxes for more of a finished look . The in ceiling speakers are mounted and aimed and repositioning all the klipsch speakers to follow dolby guide to speaker placement. Had to order another spool of cable. Also have gold plated banana plugs

 

[doctnj21]

So I would like to hear more about the fiber hdmi cord. Im waiting till everything is in place to do set up. I had to order an additional spool of speaker cable to finish off on front and center.
I havent yet seen what hdmi version firmware it has installed. I would guess since its a refurb recently that it should be updated but no telling. But just to be safe I will install the update. I have only had experience with onkyo receivers so this one is a bit different. I would really like to be able to order with confidence that 9.1 receiver that yamaha makes, but after the experience Ive had with previous receivers I couldnt dump 2k on it.
Due to the hdmi problem I added it all up as to what the first two receivers cost and replacement costs and labor to fix both of them a couple times. Also add in a top of the line projector that I purchased initially and then shipped it off to california to be fixed then just replaced. I have 7k invested in just costs due to hdmi problems.

 

[doctnj21]

I finally got the new receiver in place and set up. I was a little doubtful that I would notice a difference with the presence speakers in the ceiling but we sure can. I put them within a certain distance and angle from surrounds and they pan wonderfully.
The new receiver install was great and it Updated immediately. Im hoping that with this firmware update my hdmi problems may go away. Only time will tell. Just to hedge my bets any time I can unplug power outlet they will not be connected just incase there is something to the power surge explanation. I doubt that. I have several ham radios constantly plugged in the majority of time and none have taken a hit. If it looks like things are ok, I may get a new projector capable of 4k although the picture on this one is very nice.
any suggestions on projectors ? pm me.