Marantz SR6004/SR5004 Owners' Thread - Page 5

Pure direct is intended for MUSIC, not video or movies! Aud. will only degrade sound in stereo Pure Direct mode anyway, that's why it's "pure" and "direct". Get it?
Aud. is not applied to HD audio sources (which is a mistake IMO)- pure direct mode and HD audio are two separate things- one is a source from blu-ray movies and one is a function of the amp.

I get that, what I don't get is why people whine about Pure Direct and Audyssey not working together with Dolby TrueHD. From what I understand, you don't need Pure Direct for TrueHD at all!!

And my final point is there is nothing wrong with Audyssey and Marantz, just use Source Direct mode.

EDIT:
Audyssey Dynamic EQ and Dynamic Volume does not work in Source Direct mode either. You can only select EQ in Source Direct to "User", "Off", "Flat" and "Audyssey". So now I get what all the fuzz is about!

As I mentioned before I am not a fan of Marantz and I don't have any doubt about your honesty or ability. I do appreciate your participation and sharing all good and bad experience with us. I don't like coming to a conclusive statement before knowing the issue in detail. Now that I think, you may have a lot of experience in this field and you can do that. May be you are right. Don't feel bad about it. I just expressed my feeling a little too soon. Take it easy,

It is not about being a fan or being brutally honest, have you heard the sentence that with great power comes great responsibility? Marantz name is like that, I guess all people have more expectation from it including myself. That is the reason we list problems more often than the actual and OBVIOUS advantages.

I picked up the sr5004 yesterday, i will comment more detailed on the sound quality later on but wan't to give the unit first a week to 'break-in'. Marantz recommends 100 hour.

Right out of the box i was not impressed, but after a day the sound is improved a lot, only real nit pick i have at the moment is that the high's are not completely clean, altho this is improving already. I purchased the unit to replace my sr4500 in my budget living room system:

4 x wharfedale diamond 9.1
4 x sand filled target stands
1 x wharfedale diamond sw 150
All speaker cable monster m.75 biwired (locking banana)
All interlink cable the hull the bay c5 hybrid (locking cinch)
Cd source logitech squeezebox classic
Video source popcorn hour c200.
Video display panasonic 37pv70 plasma.

Front speakers powered by the marantz sr5004
Rear speakers powered by a quad 306


After 1 day i would say compared to my old sr4500:

Stereo

Soundstage better in wide then depth, but the sr5004 display's a very wide soundstage extending further then the 4500.
Dynamic performance, very impressive much faster then my old 4500.
Also the bass is more under control.
At the top end the unit still sounds a bit harsh, the sr4500 does this better. It's just not completely clean, but in my experience this is exactly the kind of problem's which dissapear when the unit is out of his 'break-in' period.

On multi channel i loved the unit but for me it's hard to compare as i also switched from compressed dts or ac3 to uncompressed dts-hd or true-hd.

I do have 1 complain and that is that the remote is terrible, i hate the layout of it and it retired ultra fast as i programmed the marantz sr5004 in my logitech harmony. Also it seems to be broken as i cannot enter the set-up menu form the remote weirdly. It say's in the manual to push amp then set-up but in my case nothing happens then. So i had to set-up the unit with the buttons on the front of the unit.

What i am curious for is the hdmi handshake problem's, i have had twice now that my plasma cannot lock in after i connected the popcorn hour to the marantz. I never had this before, altho this also could be a problem with my popcorn not shure.

So how do hdmi-handshake problems manifest ?

I did try the set-up button on my remote, it doesn't even flash the transmit led. Even when i first use the button amp. Think i will go back with it, unless i seem to have missed something obvious.

Hmm hdmi handshake could be terrible then, i will be watching the problems. Currently i do not turn off the popcorn when i switch inputs. I still haven't received my ir eye for the c200. So maybe it will be better when the source's are put in standby or off. Which i will program in my harmony.

I am not a fan of Harmony and I did have several Learning Remotes in the past 5 years. I do confess the remote layout is a bit weird and I found myself picking it up in reverse position but after several hours, I am oK with it.


I have programmed Pioneer DV-420 buttons, Sony BD-S360, Scientific Atlanta (Comcast Cable Box) and XBR7 40" Sony with it with no problem.

The only unclear thing was for resetting the remote to factory settings. On 5004 remote, you need to press and hold "Setup/Mode" and "Set" buttons together simultaneously until it flashes. Now you can press "HDMI" button and top right "ON" and "Standby" buttons altogether and simultaneously (3 buttons) to reset it.

Since I have programmed all my devices if you have any problem, I can help you.

EDIT:
Forgot to mention AMP and SETUP keys do not transmit anything to the UNIT. They are internal remote operation buttons. However, you can program "Setup/Mode" button in BD, DVD, VCR...

I did the reset procedure on the remote and now all buttons work normally. Thanx for the tip

I already programmed my harmony so i will not use the original, but is is nice to know it ain't broken

After 3 days of playing with Marantz 5004, I have found out that my UNIT generates a very weak HISS noise when nothing is playing specially if you increase the volume (and it is more in tweeters). Changing the mode to Pure Direct eliminates this HISS noise for middle volume range but appears again at about -15db to +18db.

Is it normal and is this a problem with all Amplifiers?

My second question is, do you know any way to turn the UNIT DISPLAY on in pure direct mode and make it to stay ON? I tried using Display button and it momentarily turns on and then automatically goes black again.

Winston,

The Marantz only upconverts analog sources, if your sources are connected via HDMI then it just passes it through. Marantz is definitely not about VP or features, it is about sound. I'm not sure what display you are using but typically I'd let the display do the VP over any Marantz receiver. Most decent displays have better VP anyway.

We typically run a composite and component to the display as well as HDMI especially with Marantz. We usually only let the Marantz handle video switching and let the display handle VP. I understand everybody wants one cable to the TV but depending on equipment it is not always the best solution for the best PQ. If you have a good universal remote it is esy to automate everything.

Hope this helps.

Bob

I have an sr6004 connected to my HTPC with HDMI. When I play DTS material I can't get the receiver to use DTS ES it will only engage DTS NEO. I had no problems with this with my previous Marantz (sr7400) connected with spdif. Dolby Digital 5.1 can use Dolby Digital Ex with no problems. The computer uses an ATI 4650 card with original dvi->hdmi converter.

hi,

has someone compared the stereosound from the marantz 5004/6004 to the new denon 3310 ? i am searching a good receiver with the best stereosound. thanks for your help.

I got my SR5004 yesterday and can't wait till I set it up with Kef KHT 2005.3

Congratulations! Post your experience.

I have minor HDMI switching problems when turning multiple devices ON/OFF but it is not major and I just change the input to Tuner and get back, and it recognizes the source again. (Screen turns into old TVs no signal snow screen when this happens, you know the black, grey and white random dots all over the screen).

The sound specially on Highs were bad/disserted at first but after a couple of days it is much better now, or, my ears have been adopted.

I would think the processor in the Kuro (I have one as well) would surpass the Onkyo upscaler?

I need help with satellite box connections. Let me explain. I have Dish-network DVR. The first TV gets the receiver (Satellite box), second TV gets coaxial cable to the other floor and any room remote for channel control. I want to set up TV-2 with SR5004. I could not find input with coax port (or I don't know about it). Do I need to buy an attachment or converter to component A/V?

Thank you in advance.

I think by Coaxial he meant the Coaxial Cable for TV not the Digital Sound Coaxial Cable.

The receiver has not any built in TUNER except AM/FM Radio. You need to get a separate Cable/Sat Box and attach your coaxial cable to it. Then use either Component or HDMI out of that box to your TV or to your receiver.

WOW! That sucks!! We have NEVER had a problem with Marantz but I think we might wait before getting the x004 series. If your dealer does repairs I'd have him check the other components in your system as well and make sure nothing is out of spec.

With 3 units going bad it is either very poor QC, a design problem that got missed in beta or possibly something else causing it to fail. I'd also give Marantz a call or have the dealer call. I would hope they would want to examine these units to find out what is causing the problem.

Of the major brands we have had the best luck with Yamaha, Marantz and Sherwood Newcastle with no failures of any their receivers. HK probably the worst followed by Onkyo, the others somewhere in the middle with just an occasional problem.

I hope whatever you try next is problem free

Bob