The "official" The Onkyo TX-SR706 Owners Thread - Page 52

A refurb unit, huh? Who did the refurb, Onkyo or a third party? Probably doesn't matter as whoever did it obviously didn't know what they were doing.

And for the record, I was taught to NEVER turn on an amplifer and leave it powered up for any length of time without speakers connected. Maybe it is not as important in today's amps, but it is a rule I follow to this day.

There are no issues with just feeding the 706 with PCM from the PS3. All processing (THX, DPLIIX, Audyssey, etc.) is applied to pcm (regardless of the number of channels) just as when you are bitstreaming.

For all the posts I read from people having problems using PS3s/XBOXs in their home theater systems, I don't see what is so great about them.

Value and convenience, a BR Player, Networking from the computer and internet (love the availability and abundant choices of streaming music) and Gaming solution all in one box which replaces 2 separate connections and lots of space if you did them separately and money and for what I've seen there isn't any more post with this solution as opposed to a stand alone BR Player. One does have to realize how it works and how the audio options need to be selected though and that's where many of the post come from. I've had a PS3 mated with the 706 since December without any issues but I did my homework, realized how the audio was sent and made the appropriate audio adjustments during setup.

Not a gamer and I have a computer for Internet.

I use my home theater system to watch tv/movies and listen to music.

Would be nice if everyone did their homework/read the owner's manual first. But then there wouldn't be a need for a forum like this now would there?

The problem doesn't seem isolated to refurbs. In any case this one was refurbished by Onkyo and sold by accessories4less whose response I must admit was puzzling.

I believe what you're saying is true of valve amps (tube) but not sold state. Powering up the amp without speakers is how Onkyo recommends testing the receiver.

peace . . .

It does happen with both my PS3 and my Verizon cable box. I have disconnected and reconnected. If I change the speaker hooked up to the right trear channel, the new speaker has that static.

Definitely not buzzing from anything other than the speaker since I don't have them up that load and I can still hear it.

Yes, I do get the popping when I turn it on and off. Doesn't seem to be the speaker or the speaker wire in my case.

That's fine in your case nothing wrong with that but everyones different I and others love the options one component brings to the table at less cost than buying multiple items, nothing wrong with that either and yes, I think there would be a need for a forum like this if everyone did there homework and read owners manual first, the information and experience people can bring to a place like this goes far beyond that.

I don't have any problems with popping noises with my 706. Your problem could be a grounding issue, or the unit has a faulty capacitor.

Jake wins the longest sentence of the day contest....

In all seriousness though, I use a PS3, and I can't believe anyone would want a standalone BD player. The PS3 is still one of, if not the best Blu Ray players available, and it constantly updates with new features. Home Theater magazine has consistently listed it among their "Top Picks", as well.

Page 114 of the owner's manual says:

"The AV receiver/AV amplifier turns off as soon
as it's turned on
The amp protection circuit has been activated. Remove
the power cord from the wall outlet immediately. Disconnect all speaker cables and input sources, and leave the AV receiver/AV amplifier with its power cord disconnected for 1 hour. After that, reconnect the power cord and set the volume to maximum. If the AV receiver/AV amplifier stays on, set the volume to minimum, disconnect the power cord, and reconnect your speakers and input sources. If the AV receiver/AV amplifier turns off when you set the volume to maximum, disconnect the power cord, and contact your Onkyo dealer."

I read this as leaving the unit powered on without speakers for maybe a minute or so. They do not say to leave the unit up and running for 10 minutes or more with no speakers connected. Onkyo could legitimately claim that you caused the damage by leaving the unit powered up with no speaker load for so long. I'm not saying that you did cause the damage, but they could certainly claim so and you would have very little recourse.

Then why do so many people seem to have problems integrating PS3s into their systems? I see complaints in this forum and Sony tv forums and its a Sony product.

I have no problems at all with my Panasonic DMP-BD35 Blu-Ray player operating with my 706. it is also a Home Theater top pick.

Can't speak for anyone else specifically but my guess would be is they aren't aware of how it passes LPCM over HDMI, don't go into the setup menu and enable the correct audio formats plus they are expecting to see the pretty decoding lights and the display to say something other than MULTI. Once that's done there is no reason the PS3 should act any different than any other player.
My first thought also was to get a Panny or the Sony 350 and build a HTPC as I wasn't really interested into the gaming aspect until I researched and realized the PS3 was one of the top rated BR players out with the best updates and had the wireless networking feature. Then it became a value aspect in one component and the gaming aspect is just an added plus for me. It hasn't disappointed, I'd do it over again in a heartbeat.

Oh I don't think so.

First of all they're the ones who tell you to run the amp without speakers in the first place and the issue of time/duration isn't even mentioned and secondly and most importantly running an amp without speakers for 10 minutes = damage is not true of modern solid state amplifiers.

Don't get me wrong. I appreciate your thoughts but this isn't anything to worry about. Besides its not like Onkyo doesn't know about the flaming receiver problem, its documented enough.

But I guess I'll see later today.

Well, I wish you luck. Don't be surprised if Onkyo balks at what you did. The corporate world is not that benevolent.

My wife had a car that everytime she ran it through the car wash, developed electrical problems. Instead of trying to figure out what was wrong, the dealership general manager told me that the car company might consider running the car through the carwash "an improper use of the vehicle!" I laughed so hard I almost fell out of my chair. Then I told him I would be there in 10 minutes so he could tell me that to my face and put it in writing. Of course, he quickly changed his mind.

You are probably right. Most people don't want to take the time to read about and understand the equipment they buying. They want to plug it in and go. Instant gratification.

Of course, if you consider the fact that the 706 owner's manual is over 150 pages long and my previous AVR, a Marantz 5.1 unit, only had 14 pages, who can blame them.

These things are basically computers now and some people don't consider that.

The signal limitation on the PS3 is a real limitation. I'm not saying it is significant, but it is more than just in a person's head. There is no way with the PS3 to get the HD signals and then use the receiver's listening mode configurations to do different things for different types of signals.

Since the PS3 won't send the original signal as DTS HD Master Audio or as Dolby TrueHD, then I have no way of treating them differently.

I would like to send an unaltered DTS HD Master Audio signal (no post processing) for my "Bolt" movie that already has 7.1.

For my "Iron Man" which is only 5.1 Dolby HD, I would like to upconvert is using my receiver's post processing options, like "THX Select2"

I don't know how these post processors work. But if I want 7.1 with "Iron Man" and if I want to HD audio, then I have to set PS3 to PCM and I have to use one of the post-processing options for ALL my audio coming from the PS3.

That means when I pop in my "Bolt" cd 2 hours later, it is going to go through the "THX Select2" post-processing, even though the source is already 7.1 and is already HD.

If the PS3 would correctly recognize the signals and send them to the receiver as what they really are. I could use the receiver's settings to do the "THX Select2" post-processing only to the Dolby HD audio and the I could select the Correct setting for the DTS HD Master Audio to be processed as "Master Audio". Better yet, for the Dolby HD 5.1, I could choose to process it as "Dolby EX" which would upconvert it to 7.1

The idea of using different upconverters/signal-processors for different signal types is exactly why the receiver has all these options in the first place. This flexibility is taken away from you when you use PCM on the PS3.

Now maybe it doesn't matter in the end with regard to sound quality, but if it didn't matter at all, why would these options be available on the receiver in the first place?

Anyway I set to PCM and set post-processor to one that converts to 7.1, can't remember which one I settled on. I now get 7.1 for all movies. But is 7.1 "Bolt" run through "THX Select2" post processing as good as 7.1 "Bolt" with only the original DTS HD Master Audio decoding done? I don't know. But I don't have the option of listening to unaltered Bolt audio without sacrificing my 5.1-7.1 upconversion for other cds. The only reason I don't have this option is because the PS3 will not send the HD audio to the receiver as unprocessed HD audio.

Thanks but the good news is I don't have to deal with Onkyo, I got it from accessories4less with a 30 day return. So far no problems, should have an RMA today or tomorrow.

The car wash story was nuts, thanks for sharing.

I can't go the the on screen menu, all I get is snow on the screen. On the display on the 706 it says it at the menu but I can't see it. When I turn my PS3 on there is sound but no video. The same way when I turn my Wii on. The screen just flickers between black and snow.

I will look in my manual about how to reset the unit to see if that helps or not.

My TV doesn't have adussey EQ(sp?)

Added....

A month or so ago I thought my Xbox 360 stopped working. There was sound but no video. Since that is a common with the 360 I thought it was done. I just hooked my 360 straight to the tv and guess what. It works!

Just a followup to my 706 catching Fire, the unit was repaired under warranty. No information as to what was repaired or why it went.

You are, unfortunately, correct. You DO NOT understand how post processing works. It is very simple.

All post processing is applied AFTER the audio is converted to LPCM, either 5.1 or 7.1 channels. It is irrelevant WHERE the signal is converted. A Blu-Ray player (ANY Blu-Ray player) can be set to either bitstream or LPCM output depending on its internal processing capabilities. The receiver then accepts either a bitstream which the receiver converts into LPCM internally or it accepts the external sourced LPCM. Post processing is then applied to that LPCM signal.

Now if you are using DPLIIX (my choice) for creating 7.1 channels from 2.1 or 5.1 sources and you feed the receiver a 5.1 channel bitstream, the receiver will convert the bitstream into 5.1 channels of LPCM. Then and only then is DPLIIX applied to create the additional 2 back surround channels. If you feed the receiver LPCM straight out of the Blu-Ray player, DPLIIX will do the same thing.

Now, if you feed the receiver a 7.1 channel bitstream, the receiver will convert it to 7.1 channels of LPCM. DPLIIX will see 7.1 discrete channels of LPCM and WILL NOT do any post processing. Same thing if you feed it 7.1 channels of LPCM straight from the Blu-Ray player. DPLIIX will do NOTHING to a 7.1 channel signal.

You can see this happening on the front panel of the 706. If you have a 7.1 speaker setup, you will see 8 boxes on the front panel representing the 8 speakers (including the sub). If you feed a 5.1 channel signal to the receiver (it does not matter if it is bitstream or LPCM), and have DPLIIX turned on, you will see 6 boxes with speaker names in them and 2 without. You will see either LPCM or whatever flavor DD or DTS you are feeding the receiver. You will also see DPLIIX indicated.

Now, if you feed the receiver a 7.1 source, either LPCM or DD TrueHD or DTS HD-MA, you will see that source indicated on the front panel and 8 boxes with speaker names in them. You WILL NOT see DPLIIX indicated, even if it is set as an audio preset because it is not being invoked.

So, what do you do? Set up the receiver audio presets to DPLIIX for LPCM, DD and DTS (lossy or lossless, it does not matter), sit back and enjoy 7.1 channels of surround sound. If the source is 7.1 discrete, you will get 7.1 discrete. If the source is 5.1 discrete, you will get 5.1 discrete channels and 2 matrixed channels. If it is 2.1 discrete channels, you will get 2.1 discrete channels and 5 matrixed channels.

By the way, DPLIIX will create stereo back surround channels where as THX Select 2 Cinema creates only a mono back surround channel fed to both back surround speakers, as does DD Ex.

As a final note, Audyssey is also applied to the final LPCM audio and not to the bitstream.

Hope this helps.

Have you tried replacing the cable (HDMI?) between the receiver and the tv? Sounds like a bad cable to me.

No tv that I know of has Audyssey.

Good to know. Can I ask was your 706 new (as opposed to a refurb like mine) and how long did the warranty service take door to door?

I deleted my last post to say I did the hard reset and it seemed to take care of everything. My 360 is working fine and so is the PS3.

I re did the speaker setup. The only problem I am having now is when watching a blu ray like Iron Man the Onkyo would show DTS. Now it just shows all channel or something like that. I have selected PCM on the PS3 and when I push the select button it says its running in 5.1 True HD. I changed it to bitstream just to check and it was 2 channel. I will have to keep messing with the settings to get them back how I had them before. It would have been great if I would have written them down.

I appreciate the help and suggestions. I don't understand why the receiver lost its mind in the first place. I hope it's not a sign of a more serious problem with it.

My 706 has been out for repair for almost 2 weeks (Friday will be 2 weeks). My understanding is that the HDMI boards (to fix the 1080p/blue pixel issue) are on back-order from ONKYO. Is anyone else still waiting? If so, for how long now?

I guess no one is having any problems decoding lossless codecs, passing video, or extinguishing blazing fires. That's good, but its getting kind of lonely out here in cyberland. I may have to come out of Mom's basement and into the sunshine for a change.

Go get some sun, every things fine here, 706 is running like a charm, no issues at all. Enjoy yourself.

Gonna rain this weekend.

But Monday I head to sunny southern California for the entire week on business.

If you end up in San Diego, head over to Fred's Mexican Grill for dinner. Mmm, Mmm!!!