I have been having what I assume is an HDMI/HDCP handshake issue between my cable box (Scientific Atlanta 8300HD) and my preamp (Marantz AV8003). I have an HDMI cable connecting these two components. The preamp is set up so the video passes through via another HDMI cable to my TV, while the audio goes directly from the preamp to the speakers and is not output to the TV.

My problem is losing audio, but not video. At random times, the audio will be dropped for a second or two. Sometimes this happens every 30 seconds or so for awhile, other times it won’t happen for days. Also, I have had the preamp unable to get any audio signal at all from the cable box when the components are first turned on. In both cases, I usually have to re-boot (i.e., unplug) my cable box and then turn everything back on. This resolves the issues, at least for awhile.

My questions are:

1. Which component is to blame? I have read that usually it is the source (the cable box). I did have an audio drop out once when using my Blu-ray player, but I think this was an isolated incident. I called Marantz and they said it is not their preamp, for whatever that is worth. A cable guy is coming out in a few days. Any thoughts on what to do?

2. Does it matter what HDMI cable I am using? Marantz said it needs to be “HDMI certified,” but www.hdmi.org says that “all HDMI products are required to be certified.” I have no idea the brand of the HDMI cable I have (got it from the cable company), but I know it is a 1.3a. Would I benefit from a “name brand” cable? Do I need a high speed (Category 2) cable since this is only 1080i max?

3. Does it matter what order I power on and off my components? Marantz said no. I wonder though if turning on the preamp last results in a signal being sent out of the cable box with no device to connect to. Would turning the preamp on before the cable box make any difference?

Thanks for any and all suggestions.

Ive also got a Scientific Atlanta 8300HD cable box, and a Yamaha HTR-6160 receiver, and am having a similar audio problem as you.

My Samsung tv hasnt arrived yet, but i have the HI Def cable box with the HDMI output. I wanted to make the HDMI connections now so that when the tv gets here, Im ready.

I connected the HDMI out from the cable box to the HDMI TV in port on the receiver, and listened to the sound being output to my speakers attached to the receiver.. The audio is all chopped up, and the HDMI light on the front of the receiver is blinking on and off.. Is this whats happening to you? Is there some thing wrong with the Scientific Atlanta 8300HD box? I think my problem may be different from yours because my signal flickered on and off every few seconds, with that flickering HDMI light on the recevier showing clearly something was wrong.

I was thinking maybe the problem was because i dont have the tv yet and therefore there is nothing connected to the HDMI Out jack on the receiver.. Could that be a problem? Or should I be able to hear a smooth audio stream right now with just the cable box connected to the receiver?

*** EDIT *** I just solved my problem.. On the cable box's Settings menu, go to the "Audio: Digital Out" selection which defaults to HDMI.. Change that to Dolby Digital, and all is well ( i got the tip from reading the cable box manual. So happy to see they really do sometimes put useful info in there!).. .Smooth, strong Audio is sent and transmitted by the receiver with this change on the settings menu from the cable box.