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Have you experienced in issues with your Marantz SR5004 or Marantz SR6004?

  • No, the unit is running without issue less than 45 days

    Votes: 0 0.0%

Marantz XXX4 Series Failure Issues

139K views 502 replies 116 participants last post by  henrikoj 
#1 ·
IMPORTANT UPDATE - PLEASE READ BELOW BEFORE BUYING

MARANTZ SR6004 AND SR5004 POP OF DEATH

ESTIMATED* FAILURE RATE: 43%

* Per this poll tracking failures as of 9/21/10

Numerous 5004 and 6004 owners both in North America, Asia, Australia and Europe have reported complete and inexplicable failure of the units with exact same POP of DEATH. Most of the failed units do so within the first 30 days, but others have reported POPs of DEATH after nearly four months of use. We believe the POD is related to a design deficiency of the unit to take slight surges from cable or sat boxes. This is unconfirmed and pure conjecture based upon reported failures of owners.

UPDATE AS OF 1/22/10: IF YOU EXPERIENCE THE POP OF DEATH, YOU CAN SOMETIMES RESET THE UNIT BY PRESSING SURR MODE, CLEAR AND EXIT SIMULTANEOUSLY. PLEASE ALSO CALL MARANTZ AT 201-762-6666 AND REPORT YOUR FAILURE




Here is my story:



I have owned five Marantz SR6004s, only one of which is still working today. All were purchased from an authorized dealer and were brand new or A stock. I bought two units - one for my study utilizing a 5.1 setup plus heights and one for my bedroom - 5.1 setup with two in ceiling speakers in each bathroom configured as a second zone.


The four units that died all died in less than 30 days. The quickest died after 8 days, the longest made it about 26 days. The death always included a pop or thud from all speakers and then the Marantz entering into protect mode. Once in protect mode, it cannot be revived - even by leaving it unplugged overnight or trying to reset it via the front panel. It is completely fried.


In both rooms, all of my speaker connections are without isssue; the Marantzs have replaced Onkyos and a Denon that have operated in the same setup for over two years. The Marantz was well surge-protected in both rooms - even to the point i surge protected the coaxial feed from the cable box.


The failures occurred without warning or symptom of a problem. Of the four failures, three occurred while watching college football on a saturday, one occurred one evening with the tuner on only.


The surving unit is still working without issue in the same setup. Earlier this week I torture-tested it, left it on for three days straight without issue or excessive heat.


It is my contention there is either a faulty part or faulty design that causes catastrophic failure to these units. One other has reported an identical death to mine on his SR5004.


Marantz categorically denies a problem.


I would hold off on buying this unit despite my true affection for its sound. There is something wrong with some of these units.


If you do buy one, buy it from an authorized dealer who has a generous 30 day return policy (and will pay for return shipping costs if online). These units have generally died within two to four weeks of use, but I have not made it too far past 30 days with my working unit.


I really like this receiver and have been more than persistent and attempted to trouble-shoot the issues with Marantz. They were of no help at all and continued to insist the problem was only in my setup.


it's a great receiver when working. I can only hope that Marantz addresses the catastrophic failure affecting these units and issues a recall to those affected.




After a number of reported failures, I thought I would keep a poll for owners to see who has experienced them and who has not.
 
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#3 ·
PLEASE REPORT THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION TO marantzusers@mail.com

MODEL:

SERIAL:

NAME:

COUNTRY:

DATE PURCHASED:

DEALER NAME:

NATURE OF FAULT:

ANY FURTHER INFO:




Functioning Unit Serial Numbers

6004:

MZ020945002429 (EU)

MZ020945002XXX (EU)

Mz000939001350 (US)

MZ000931000316 (ASIA)

MZ000935000887 (EU)

MZ02095100xxxx (ASIA)

Mz0009310000XX (US)



5004:

MZ000937000723 (US)

MZ000934000172 (EU)

MZ000934000328 (EU)

MZ000935000XXX (US)




Failed/Pop of Death Units:

6004:

MZ000930000048 (EU)

MZ000940000826 (ASIA)

MZ000931000272 (US)

Mz000931000817 (US)

Mz000931000794 (US)

mz000931000873 (US)

MZ030951003151 (US)

5004:

MZ000937000xxx (US)

MZ000937001372 (US)

MZ000934000670 (EU)
 
#4 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by winston9332 /forum/post/17593890


hotahr i believe

Winston is correct. I reported a failure on a 5004 unit.
 
#7 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nathan P /forum/post/17614491


Winston let us know if this gets resolved, I really like the specs of the unit and the Marantz line but there's no way I'm risking that

A few more owners have reported the POP OF DEATH in the 6004/5004 owner forum. We now have a confirmed failure in Europe as well - appears to affect both North American and European models.


Marantz has yet to respond why there is such a high failure rate on these models.
 
#8 ·
Has this been documented with the xxx1 series as well? I recently purchased an 8001 and experienced the exact same failure. Audessy setup went fine, later power on and pop, then endless protect mode. I've been tearing apart my home theater searching for a problem, wiring, power etc and can't find anything. Marantz is replacing it though.
 
#9 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by levittbl /forum/post/17667560


Has this been documented with the xxx1 series as well? I recently purchased an 8001 and experienced the exact same failure. Audessy setup went fine, later power on and pop, then endless protect mode. I've been tearing apart my home theater searching for a problem, wiring, power etc and can't find anything. Marantz is replacing it though.

faulty thermoster with the 7001 and possibly 8001. your receiver think it's hotter than it was.
 
#10 ·
The most important point in this sting of mail is the fact that Marantz is replacing the 8001 for the customer. Any company can experience defective units, the mark of a good company is what they do about a problem when it happens. Marantz has shown and will continue to show we stand behind our products.
 
#11 ·
As for winston9332's wish, I post here again what I have already written in the Marantz SR5004/6004 owners thread.


Hi there, I'm new here and heard of this forum in a German AV community. I bought the SR5004 last Saturday and experienced the "pop of death" yesterday.


Here's what led to my "pop of death":


Setup:

- SR 5004 with speakers in a 5.0 configuration (without subwoofer)

- Input 1 (BluRay): Apple TV via HDMI, audio optical (as it's said to support Dolby Digital only via optical audio); Apple TV's remote mapped to the SR5004's remote

- Input 2 (DVD): Nintendo Wii via Component video and analogue audio

- Input 4 (TV): Computer via analogue audio and no video (it's an iMac with built-in screen)


What I did:

- Activated Dolby Digital on the Apple TV

- Played an AC3 test file

- Went into the SR5004's menu to change the display name to "Apple TV"

- Exited the menu


Then, it took about 1 minute until the Apple TV's output appeared again on my projector.


- Wanted to select another song


Now, on every button press of the remote, the sound disappeared for a short time.


- Switched the Apple TV to Stand-By


While the Apple TV went out, it did a loud "Pop" and the SR5004 was dead.


I have a replacement unit at home, will try it today, but I will now only connect the audio portions of Apple TV and Wii and will connect the video parts directly to the projector just like I did with my old AV receiver which only had a Composite out.


Taking into account my experiences with microcontrollers and electronics, I think, a firmware bug led to my pop of death. I suppose the following happened inside the SR5004:

When the Apple TV is connected to the receiver via both HDMI and optical link, the sound comes in via both sources. The receiver then takes the source which is "better" - first optical, then HDMI, and then analogue.

Entering the SR5004's menu while the Apple TV is playing deactivates the input from the Apple TV and selects the internal input from the receiver which I suppose is HDMI audio. After leaving the menu, the Apple TV is again selected as a source. There I think the firmware has a bug and selects both audio inputs at the same time. Maybe this led to a "high" signal on the optical link and to an electrical peak on the HDMI portion at the same time when switching the ATV off. After conversion of the optical "high" both signals added themselves and caused a peak.


The receiver SHOULD have been catching this, but I suppose it hadn't.


At least, I experienced similar phenomena when designing electronic circuits and where two outputs went into one input.


I don't claim this, but it COULD be a cause. Generally, I suspect the culprit somewhere in the electrical characteristics of the HDMI links not correctly being taken into account on the SR's inputs side, since as I read, most PODs came with HDMI involved.


I will leave HDMI unconnected on the replacement unit and connect my console and Apple TV directly to the projector again, and just connect the audio portions to the SR (Apple TV optical, Wii and PC analogue)
 
#12 ·
Hey guys, I ordered my 6004 in the beginning of September.


I had no issues until today evening. I started a High Definition Demo Disc and then suddenly it went into Safe mode or something like that (Standby light started blinking).


Now I just wrote the store where I bought it and they told me to get it on monday to bring it to the Marantz Service Center.


Jesus, why over christmas? ...
 
#13 ·
Not likely possible to select two inputs at the same time in the way described above. There should be some sort of matrix switch for digital audio that controls which audio goes to the DSP. The DSP itself likely has one digital input, so there's no possibility of there being two active inputs.
 
#14 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by ptamberelli /forum/post/17680824


The most important point in this sting of mail is the fact that Marantz is replacing the 8001 for the customer. Any company can experience defective units, the mark of a good company is what they do about a problem when it happens. Marantz has shown and will continue to show we stand behind our products.


My 8001 died approximately 35 days out of warranty.

At first they said they would take care of me.

They later changed their minds.
 
#15 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by litchblade /forum/post/17751025


Hey guys, I ordered my 6004 in the beginning of September.


I had no issues until today evening. I started a High Definition Demo Disc and then suddenly it went into Safe mode or something like that (Standby light started blinking).


Now I just wrote the store where I bought it and they told me to get it on monday to bring it to the Marantz Service Center.


Jesus, why over christmas? ...

was their a pop noise when it died?
 
#16 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by litchblade /forum/post/17751025


Hey guys, I ordered my 6004 in the beginning of September.


I had no issues until today evening. I started a High Definition Demo Disc and then suddenly it went into Safe mode or something like that (Standby light started blinking).


Now I just wrote the store where I bought it and they told me to get it on monday to bring it to the Marantz Service Center.


Jesus, why over christmas? ...

you are the first person who had the pop of death after more than 30 days of ownership, which kind of spooks me. any rough idea of how many days old your receiver was and what kind of use it was put through?
 
#18 ·
Mine is dead too. Found this thread via google. Was watching a movie at quite moderate volume, suddenly a loud "poff" from the speakers and the standby led was blinking fast. Now it doesn't start at all.


6004 bought in sweden about 30 days ago.


I had to wait 2 mounths to get it and now I guess it will take at least one mounth to get it repaired
 
#19 ·
Another one bites the dust. Marantz SR5004. Found this thread when i was searching for an explanation of what happened. The remote was running a macro at the time, so i'm not 100% sure, but it did die, i think, when it was switching inputs. no "pop of death" though. The whole new rig which centered around the sr5004 was my xmas present to myself. What a thing to have happen on Xmas. At this point, we cant even get a replacement until tuesday, which is 5 days away. augh...
 
#20 ·
I have purchased my unit in early october, in this time it is used ( + 12 hours a day ) extensive, also it has never been turned off or switched to standby. I have had no problems with the unit yet.


This high reported failure raiting wurries me, i do use the unit maybe a bit different then most as the internal amp only feeds my front speakers which are set to small. My sub is powered and my rear speakers are feed with a seperate amp.


Also as i live in holland it hasn't seen high ambient temp.
 
#24 ·
After reading a bit more about this problem it seems quite clear to me that it has something to do with switching input signal or whathever its called.


As described before I was watching a movie with DD sound. I did pause the movie and it was the exact same second I unpaused it that the reciever died.


Reciever was connected from PC via DVI->HDMI cable for video and SPDIF coax for sound.
 
#25 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by CyberCill /forum/post/17810361


After reading a bit more about this problem it seems quite clear to me that it has something to do with switching input signal or whathever its called.


As described before I was watching a movie with DD sound. I did pause the movie and it was the exact same second I unpaused it that the reciever died.


Reciever was connected from PC via DVI->HDMI cable for video and SPDIF coax for sound.

i wonder if something in the dsps could be causing the amp section to blow...


it's amazing how many countries are involved - holland, sweden, belgium, america, etc.
 
#26 ·
Dropped off my Marantz SR6004 this morning at service center, got an email this afternoon (!) that it's already repaired. Apparently there was a problem with the power supply, making the receiver go into protected mode. They also said they upgraded the receiver to the latest firmware. Can pick it up tomorrow morning. Great service! Hope it'll be ok now.
 
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