The "Official" Onkyo TX-NR906 Owners Thread... - Page 90

So Option 5 for dealing with my TX-NR906 HDMI board failure is to go with separates. This is what I really want to do, but I'm not sure if my wife will approve the funding.

When I got my TX-NR906 my long term plan was to get external amps and use the 906 as a preamp for a couple more years maybe until it died. With my HDMI issues I wonder if I could do it the other way around: buy a preamp now and use the amp section from my 906. I know it's kind of backwards and I wouldn't gain the full benefits of separates but with my situation it might just have to do, assuming it's possible that is. And besides, the amp section of the 906 isn't terrible, at least for a receiver.

So the question is... Is this possible. What I'm think is I would connect the preamp to the 7.1 channel input on the 906 and leave the 906 in Pure Audio mode. The preamp would do all processing including Audyssey and the sound I get should be comparable to the sound I get out of the 906 now. Technically I can't think of any reason it wouldn't work.

The one thing I'm not sure about is the best way to control the volume. I would think the best way would be to set the preamp volume at some setting, not sure what though, and then control volume with the TX-NR906.

Am I completely off my rocker thinking this might work?

Hey AVGeek

Firstly the amp section of the 906 is very good. No doubts about that. I was merely comparing a power amplifier to an AVR. I am not technically versed in how a preamp will power an AVR such as our 906. Bear in mind if your idea works this pre/pro must be decent enough to go hand in hand with a power amp later on when you decide to buy. The Outlaw 7500 costs $1600.00. If you want to go to Emotiva and get their XPA-5, it is also a nice unit with many satisfied owners and that will run you $900.00. This can save you money. You would have, what I think, an excellent pre/pro in the 906, which I am happy about and the added invincible power of an amp. Remember the 906 is a good pre/pro when going 7.1 analogue. I run mine on Pure Audio and the fidelity is excellent.

The point you made above is the issue of Audyssey which 7.1 analogue will not pass through. I have tried it both ways and I'm not sure what the huge fuss over Audyssey is about. As far as I am concerned Audyssey sets your sub way too weak. Everybody runs their sub a bit hot which is definitely above the Audyssey settings.

Try it your way but this pre/pro will cost money as well and your wife must approve of similar costs to a power amp.

Audyssey seems your stumbling block right now as far as I see it.


I do welcome everybody else's comments on my comment I just posted. This will help our friend AVGeek get the best for his investment.

If my 906 was fully functional then my separates upgrade path would definitely be to use the 906 as a preamp and get a separate amp. I have been thinking about that for a while with my eye on the Emotiva XPA5 as you recommended. The only reason I'm even considering my goofy separates upgrade path is because the HDMI Board in my 906 is dead. So essentially what I'm left with is a flagship receiver circa 2001 or 2002 plus Audyssey.

If I get a Preamp to use in this goofy way it will likely be an Integra 80.2 or 80.3, maybe the Onkyo equivalent. The preamp would do the Audyssey processing prior to sending it to my 906. I would run the 906 in Pure Audio mode so there should be no additional processing by the 906 and I would hear exactly what the Preamp was putting out.

I am a true believer in Audyssey. My home theater is pretty square, which is not an ideal shape for good sounding acoustics. I always read that the shape of a room and what it is made of has a huge impact on sound. I learned how really true this is when we moved into our new house four years back. In our old house I built a dedicated theater in our basement. The room was approx 24 x 14 x 8. I had an HK AVR7200 and it sounded great. I love 2 channel music and it sounded very good in that room. I would listen to at least 1 CD per night.

The theater room we had built in our new house is almost square 19 x 18 x 8. When I got my HK system hooked up it sounded terrible. Movies were ok, but 2 channel music sounded bad; very muddy, no soundstage, terrible imaging. Audyssey was part of the reason I went with the TX-NR906 when I upgraded 3 years ago. I was a little skeptical but I was upgrading so I figured I would try it to see if it improved my 2 channel music.

For the first couple months I just used the normal manual 7 band EQ in the 906 and it was a noticeable though not a huge improvement over the HK. After I got accustomed to it I engaged the Audyssey set up and OMG what a difference; it was like night and day. All the muddiness was gone. The soundstage filled the front of my room and it was the best imaging I had ever heard; instruments floated in space and were no longer tied to the speaker. Movie performance was greatly improved as well. As long as I am in this house I will have to have Audyssey.

I would venture to guess that Audyssey will not have as big an impact in all rooms. Acoustically treated (not necessarily professional) rooms of the proper shape are going to sound a lot better than my theater room with no room correction. But if your room doesn't have the greatest acoustic properties then Audyssey will make a very noticeable difference. Dynamic EQ helps a lot as well especially in the bass department.

You should try Audyssey just to see if it makes any difference. After you set it up switch between stereo and Pure Audio mode. In my room Pure Audio mode sounds anemic, stereo mode with Audyssey engaged sounds MUCH better. Again my crappy room is partly to blame, but I bet it would make a difference in most rooms.

For the fried HDMI board do you still have audio? If there is still audio why not spend the money on a video processor? I connect the audio in of my iScan Duo to the HDMI 1 on the 906 and for the past year and a half they work perfectly.

Unfortunately there is nothing working on the HDMI board, no audio or video. Went from perfectly fine with never an issue to completely dead in 24 hrs.

Okay AVGeek

I do see how Audyssey is very important to you. I myself am going to replace my 906 with either Outlaw's upcoming pre/pro (when and if the thing ever comes out) or go the way of the Marantz I spoke about. I have every intention of going HDMI and running my system with Audyssey BUT all bass management Audyssey sets will be reset a bit hot on the sub at around 3db.

What I am trying to say with Audyssey is that everybody should begin with what Audyssey sets to their respective rooms BUT then each enthusiast should then carefully assess what their room is like and adjust accordingly to suit their personal tastes.

No restaurant, no matter how nice, satisfies everybody the same way.

Now as for your situation, I would then go the way of the pre/pro you suggested and run the 906 as an amp. Bear in mind though that any descent pre/pro such as the Integra models you mentioned are not cheap AND eventually to get the most out of your fidelity......ie what Audyssey sets and the quality of your pre/pro's fidelity, you will eventually need to ditch the "goofy" set up via getting rid of the 906 and going into a multichannel power amplifier of your choice.

The question now lies......can a pre/pro run the 906 as an amp? Make absolutely certain that this is no problem.

Sorry to hear that

Bass Excavator, see comments above. Basically I couldn't agree more with everything you said.

and I also normally bump up the surrs and surr backs about 1.5db. The crossover is the one setting that I don't think works very well, at least in my room it doesn't. I could run Auto setup 5 times and never get the same crossover setting the same two times in a row.

What do you mean. Did YOU break into my house and set my system up? Unbelievable how your setting AVGeek is like mine on surrounds and crossover settings. I have my surrounds up 2db.

Still the best foundation to set up a system is with Audyssey and tweeking Audyssey is the way to go. I am also looking at Integra but I fear that may run me too expensive.


I'm worried she'll go ballistic if I get rid of it completely especially if I have to put up $3500 or more now for a whole new set up.

Outlaw has their model 7700 (7 channel amp) and Marantz 7005 pre/pro combo for $3299.00. This does not include any applicable taxes and shipping. I see your point. Now the issue is if your lady gets upset at this OR goes ballistic. My point is wait until she is finished her period before you break the good news about the new additions to the family.

You know what they say about women...."You can't live without them and you can't enjoy hi-end home theatre with them."

Remember....all you Home Theatre lovers, Rome wasn't built in a day so consider your HT systems as projects. Get the pre/pro out of the way and then buy the wife something nice she likes and then bring in the beast power later.

To get it (probably) fixed yourself, you have to get your solder gun out and start replacing some or almost all of the bigger electrolytic capacitors on the HDMI board, which are the culprit most of the time. They probably dried out, because the original temperature range (85°C) specified was to low for that hot environment. They have to be replaced with new ones of the same capacity but a temperature spec of 105°C.

Jon

I have given up on Onkyo. They are a company never to do business with. I am not saying this because our 906 is having problems 1) with the HDMI board and 2) the DTS bomb, but with the fact that this company will NOT fix or upgrade any problems that would benefit current or past customers.

Onkyo is no different than the Ford Motor Company in reference to their Taurus automatic transmission in which a design flaw caused many of that model's transmission to fail prematurely. Ford KNEW of the problem but felt that it cost too much money (effort) to fix it so they let customers fend for themselves while continuing to churn out that aformentioned bad transmission for years to come. (source: Phil Edmonston Lemonade Used Car Guide)

Onkyo does not care because it is who they are all along in their abysmal, abominable, pathetic, reckless, and careless customer service care track record.

My advise is that if anything goes wrong with their units, cut your losses and learn a lesson and NEVER go back. Read up on their Onkyo DVD players a few years back. The AVS dept. in my company had constant returns with the players facing fed up customers on a regular basis.

My 906 is now used as a pre/pro and run as 7.1 analogue. It works well but when I get a real pre/pro I will nickel and dime it out of my posession.

I have to TOTALLY agree with Bass Excavator's post, I own a perfectly fine 906 so far, but two years a go when I bought it, I called Onkyo Tech support in NJ and when I finally reached a man, he was lost, and I knew immediately he was just there to collect a pay check while being clueless. Of know help at all and bad attitude. I had read even then of their bad track record and confirmed it myself, they really just don't care. I assume they feel they made a decent product at a cheaper price then the other AVR makers, so it's the old "buyer beware" on their part. I was a sucker once, but never again, next time I'd prefer to pay more from another company and simply hope they are more responsive. Oppo does not make an AVR, but they shine in customer support on their DVD and BlueRay products, going against the trends these days. Onkyo got me once because of their, now very old and no longer deserved reputation for really good products at a good price, but that was long, long a go....

I have two Onkyo Receivers... TX-NR906 and the newer version of the same receiver (can't remember the model).

Can I take the HDMI output from one receiver and connect it to one of the HDMI inputs on the second receiver? (For more sources)

I tried that but the HDMI light on the second (new) receiver just flashes.

I am certain that the configuration for HDMI in/out is correct. (I can plug the source into the same HDMI input on the second receiver and it works. I can plug the monitor into the HDMI output of the first receiver and it works.)

Both units work... just can't seem to "stack" them.

I don't believe you can daisy chain this Cody since it seems to me that you are going through two junction points.

If you go from bluray to the 906 and then to the tv, then you are going from a source through a junction (906) and then to the display.

What you are doing is going from the junction (906) to another junction to an end point like a display (tv)

I would hope somebody else can help shed some light in my analysis.

Theoretically it should work, because both units are so called "HDMI repeaters".
Repeaters can be daisy chained. But i don't know, if that HDMI implementation in both Onkyo units will permit this.

I have one which is named CD_SR906123_08919A_08605C_08506A.wav and is 11 703 064 bytes in size.
I think I got it in the same zip which Main 1.05 was in.

keep me posted.

Please upload the file.

Yes, please upload it.

TIA

no worries Jon, they will fix it in the coming 6-12 months.
start to think the whole thing is not worth it, maybe will continue with LPCM till I upgrade my receiver (1-2 years from now). one thing for sure, it won't be the same brand