Marantz AV7005 - Page 122

When in surround modes like Dolby Digital 5.1, 90% of watched television for me comes out of the center only because most TV shows (and movies) that are dialog heavy almost always mix the dialog hard center. In a sense my L and R speakers seem as if dead most of the time, but it's really just the source, not my system. Sorry if you already know this, but I thought it couldn't hurt mentioning.

Next time this happens, here is a helpful diagnostic test:

Run a manual speaker setup where you can manually move the pink noise around to each speaker. Don't worry, you won't muck up any Audyssey tests as long as you don't change and then lock in any adjustments.

Menu> Manual Setup> Speaker Setup> Channel Level> [ get ready to turn your volume down in a moment, the next step is kinda loud, and unnecessarily so for our diagnostic test] >Test Tone Start> *use the up/down arrows to move the test noise to all speakers.* Exit test by hitting Menu.

If all the speakers worked and corresponded to the one shown onscreen, then we know everything works , but either the incoming signal is L & R channel info shy, the Multichannel analog in L & R connection/wire/source is absent (if you are using that port), or there is some weird mode on the AV7005 (I can't think of) that kills the L & R channels but preserves the rest. [or something is intermittent/broken]

edit to add:
Are you using any outboard amps or subs that have an "auto" (turn on) mode, by chance?

Is standby actually standby? You can set the pro up to keep the network card active and I have found that Airplay can totally lock my AV7005 up if I start a different upnp stream up from another device while playing an airplay stream. Turning off and on doesn't sort it out either! A 'hard' reset is the only way to sort it out, or disabling network standby and then cycling the power from the front!

was it just the L/R mains?

running the test tone is how I verified no sound from L/R mains. Interestingly, the test tones played thru mains (and all other speakers including wides) after reseting and BEFORE reloading my saved data, but not AFTER loading stored data.

Yes, in both instances only the L/R mains went out. Really bewildering when it happened, but power cycling cured it and it hasn't happened again in fairly long time.

Gives my wife and kids the option not to have to turn all the equipment to watch TV. And its just as easy for me to turn everything on to listen to TV audio through all the HT speakers.

Sounds like your saved data has a hiccup. I'd start fresh, do a factory reset, and redo Auto Setup.

If the problem recurs, as a diagnostic test on the back of the AV7005 swap the surround outs with the main front L and R speakers out. Play a surround rich passage. If the front L & R speakers then still remain silent we know the AV7005 isn't at fault, something else in the chain after it is kaput. If the surrounds are then silent, then send yout AV7005 in for service, or if you still can, DX, "defective exchange".

Has anybody out there tried playing the 192 kHz 24 bit FLAC files on the Marantz? Spec sheet says that the D/A is 192/24, but I have not tried a test file to see if it will play it. I know it does fine with 96kHz.

I don't (yet) have an AV7005, but if you want to try it on yours, there are some nice high resolution samples here to download in FLAC 24BIT/192kHz. I would also be curious to know if it does allow for playback of FLAC files recorded at that depth, especially over the network.

You might try lower your center channel by about 1.5 db.
I do this even after audyssey has made its level adjustments. I do this when listening to Directv stuff at normal levels. it seems to give a little better listeneing experience, at least for me.
Now when I watch a Blu-Ray movie , i set the center back up 1.5db.
This is a little trick that i learned from someone here on the forum. I like it !!

according to pages 28 and 36 of the manual, no... only up to 96khz...

note: i found this out by searching for "flac" on the downloaded copy of the manual on my laptop...

Thanks for the tip, however I personally don't feel the experience that the L and R channels seeming "dead" much of the time, under the conditions I specified, to be "wrong" or in need of correcting. I'm of the mind it is exactly how the recording engineers intended it to be and I don't want to second guess them. To me such an alteration would be like colorizing a B&W movie; this is a complete no-no in my book. [See also my signature, below.] YMMV.

^^^

i agree with this...

Rather than doing this why not use the offsets?

What offsets?
I never said that i had a 7005.

Have you tried it?
Or rather , you are condemning it without even trying it.?

Does the 7005 have the ability to assign different speaker configurations to different sources?

What I'd really like is a 4.1 option for listening to CDs in all channel stereo since I don't really like the center speaker in the mix for that. There's really no easy way to do that with my current AVR other than to go in and manually set the center speaker to "none".

Nope. I fear it would alter the sound in a way that is audible, so why would I want to do that considering the sound as it stands now seems perfectly correct?

I thanked you for your tip, stated my personal opinion/preference opening with the words "I personally..." and concluded my post with, "YMMV".

Sorry, it works just like your current AVR.

Some brand(s) (Yamaha is one) have super secret user preset modes. That is to say almost every conceivable aspect of the AVR can be altered in a bunch of undocumented user presets, at just the touch of a button. I call it "secret" because it is a completely un-listed feature in many (but not all) of their receivers which actually have it!

If it were to come to light that Marantz has this too (although I doubt it, since I don't think Denon, their now sister company, has it) what you are asking for could be implemented as a user preset.

Unfortunately, being an undocumented feature, this is a very difficult topic to research since neither the owner's manuals nor company representatives will have any idea what I'm talking about even exists. Your best bet is to pick the brains of advanced, professional remote control programmers*, which is where I learned about this trick. Good luck.

*One of their hang out locations is the forum at www.remotecentral.com

My 7005 is supposed to arrive this afternoon according to UPS (and it's 4:22 out here, so there's not that much this afternoon to go). I think I will wait until after the Super Bowl to set it up (I am playing golf on Saturday) -- I'd hate to be in the middle of everything when the game comes on.

Of course, I may not have that much control!!!

I am trying to have photos play on my Samsung C8000 and listen to a Itunes playlist via airplay on my AV7005. I plan on using this to create the ambiance to propose to my girlfriend on valentines day! I searched the forum and only found a response which I also found on the Marantz FAQ that goes like this; "How can I watch one video source and listen to a different audio source using my receiver?

This feature originally called "Sound Injection" is used to output audio from one source and video from another source. To use this feature, first select a video input. (i.e.: DVD, TV, VCR) Then select the Tuner source by pressing the "Tuner" button on your remote. You will then need to choose between AM, FM, *XM, or *SIRIUS on the remote control by pressing the "Band" button. The video source initially selected will remain and you can then listen to the separate audio program.
If you connect a separate composite video (yellow) cable in addition to the HDMI cable for a video source, (i.e.: DVD, TV, VCR) then assign the V/S input to an audio source, (i.e.: TAPE, CD/CDR, AUX) you can then select a separate audio source while watching the same video source.

NOTES: In this case, the video resolution may be lower than the original HDMI source. The "Sound Injection" feature may not be documented in the owner's manual.
*The XM or Sirius capability will be based on the model's feature set. You will need a subscription to XM or Sirius for playback capability"

I can get the pictures to play via the TV and Samsung Media player via a usb storage. I can't figure out how to get itunes to play although it works fine by itself.

Here's one for the books, While trying to get the Video (Mediaplay photos via Samsung c8000) and a NET/USB (Pandora) playing together I got this message on the screen "Are you still there? We try not to play to an empty room. Are you still there? and it has a choice of "yes" enter. I tried hitting the enter on the remote and on the AV but it would'nt do anything and I can't return out of this menu. Anyone ever run across this before?

It's Pandora noticing you haven't pressed any buttons in a while. See the Pandora FAQ.

I don't know why it didn't respond to you pressing Enter. Maybe the remote was in the wrong mode.

Hi All,

So I currently have Marantz separates - the AV9000 and MM9000 (5 channel amp).

So I only have 5.1 in my living room, and am really not interested in the 2 additional speakers that 7.1 will give me. So a few questions for y'all...

1) I'm guessing that I can use my MM9000 with the AV7005 using RCA cables to connect the two. Should work fine, right?

and

2) Is there any wireless Ethernet solution? I don't have another Ethernet cable handy in my stereo area... Yeah, I could use a switch, but why don't they include wireless? It's 2011!

Anyone wanna buy my AV9000?

- Jon

I can only respond to question #1 - using an MM9000 with the AV7005.

That's exactly my setup - I use 5 Blue Jeans RCA cables and couldn't be happier!

^^^

1) yes.

2) you'll need to add a switch into your rack. alternatively, you can use a wireless bridge.

I would vote for the switch if you have room to put it. They are much less complicated, less expensive, and I'd argue the connection can be more reliable than using wifi. A wireless bridge may cost ~$100 where as a 4-5 port switch can be $10-$40. I personally don't care for using wifi for the majority of things in my house. I will use it for two items, my laptop when doing basic browsing of the web and for my phone. Everything else gets a cable.

You ask why they don't include a wireless solution and in return to that question, I would ask how much extra EMI would that add to a device meant to play/produce quality audio/video? I've heard my cellphone cause problems to audio devices when it's placed next to it. Can a wifi device cause similar noises? I know they are different frequencies and technologies...but what extra steps would Marantz have to take to make sure it doesn't interfere with the audio and video within the device? My opinion being: I'm ok with a pre/pro/receiver not including wifi connectivity internally even in 2011. :-)

Hi Chris - snow enough in NJ yet?? Norway has been getting an early taste of spring lately

I have been continuing to enjoy and explore the 7005 and its features. I have been trying to dial in the correct sub setting after your last recommendation to me, and I am getting closer to where I want it.

As I mentioned in an earlier post I actually like the Audyssey configuration with the fronts set to "large" and the cross over at 40Hz. I admit that I have yet to try to set them to "small" and the cross over to 80Hz and re-run Audyssey though. However, I have a couple of questions for you in this regard:

1 - Have you ever tried your Salks in full range for stereo listening without the sub?? If so how do you think it compares to your "normal" setting??

2 - I do like to have Audyssey engaged also for stereo listening, not using Direct or Pure Direct then - but the lowest cross over frequency setting is 40 Hz, and I'd like to run the fronts at full range. Does Audyssey actually filter the frequencies below 40 Hz to my fronts?? If so do you know is there a way to get the full range thru the fronts with Audyssey engaged??

Thanks - and have a great weekend all of you!!

Skule

@handruin...

+1...

1) wired is ALWAYS preferable to wireless, and you wouldn't even have to "argue" that. the same goes in my house. everything other than the lappys and the idevices has an ethernet cable hooked to it. switches and patch cables are cheap.

2) i'm glad it's not there too. it's just one more thing to break. and given the networking issues on the sister side of the house (which, thank goodness, do not appear to have migrated to our units, knocking on wood), "breaking" is a real possibility.

3) it would add a "cost" to the unit. and given that this unit was obviously built to a price point*, i can see why they would not include it...

*that's not a "bad" thing, btw... i'd much rather that they concentrate the "cost" part of the unit on "the good stuff", rather than "the extras"... for example, some may lament the lack of copper screws (and so on)... and yea, they could have pimped the unit out... but then it would retail for 2500 bucks instead of 1500... i think all of us are much better off with the unit the way it is (works great, no quirks, etc.) and that extra 1000 bucks still in our pocket...

so i'm perfectly content with there being a rj45 jack on the back of the unit... it's the "best" option...

also, if i was a cem, i wouldn't put wifi in a avr for a more practical, bottom line reason... the customer service calls would be a pita... many people have issues between the keyboard and the chair with their wireless networks, and those issues would result in phone calls to the cem wanting to know "why their avr doesn't work right"...

@skule...

howdy, my norwegian friend... slowly melting, but more on the way... btw, i LOVE the view out your window... almost enough to make me move to norway... almost...

a few answers...

1) yes. subjectively, i prefer using the sub. objectively, the few measurements i've done bear out the subjective observation. the submersive does a better job with the low frequencies, for several reasons...

a) that's what it is made for... i can't think of a "main speaker" that will produce low frequencies better than the submersive will...

b) it's in the "best available spot" for low frequencies to come from in my room...

c) i use an anti-mode 8033 for it, and the combination of it and audyssey does a pretty decent job of flattening out the response in the low frequency range...

i have the center and the surrounds crossed at 80. i'm still experimenting a bit with the mains. i really need to spend some time actually measuring, but that's not my favorite thing to do in the world.

2) if you set your mains to "large", then your mains are going to get a full range signal, regardless of the xover setting... audyssey will attempt to filter whatever you are sending them, down to whatever it "thinks" your speaker will actually produce... so you are getting what you want they way you have it set up now...

if you have it set to "lfe+main", the sub is also getting what is below what you have the xover set at... i do not like "lfe+main", i find it impossible to blend the sub with the rest of the speakers with that setting...