Integra DHC-80.3 - Page 3

I know what you are saying, what you are arguing... but, 7 (gotta include the "etc") AVR's in 3 years? Got a problem with expectations?

Sparcs

The number is actually 15..

Since you don't know me or why I've owned that many, I don't think you are in a good position to know my "expectations" or motivations in doing so...

Heck, you've been here less than a month and have gone through 2.

LOL Touche'

Whew! Escaped the wrath.

No, I am done with the major component purchases/explorations/let's see if this does what I want. Its now the minor components that will either get jiggered around or added to the base system. And that too will cease. Eventually, I gotta enjoy what I got. And move on to other things to enjoy in life.

Adios numero 15 and counting,

Sparcs

I agree on the work around for owners of these units that need to find a fix since they already own one and your tip should prove helpful to them, but as somebody shopping for a new preamp I would not get one with a known defect as this. The reason people talk about it is because it seems Integra/Onkyo is the only one that has an issue that is this annoying. Sure none are perfect, but if the unit is constantly reminding you with clicks its hard to forget and move on.

Clicks and or Audio Drop Outs on changing channels, and going from TV show to commercial, and the most annoying one in midstream a movie! I will continue to listen to the owners of the new 80.3, I trust their voice more than those of Integra/Onkyo.

P.S. Those clicks are the only thing at the moment holding me from getting an 80.3, yet I am still considering others.

Are these clicks people are referring to coming out of the speakers or is a type of "solenoid like" sound coming from the processor itself when it switches resolution and then locks onto the new signal ?

Thus far, I AM NOT experiencing any of the audio clicking or audio drop out issues with my 3 day old 80.3. In fact, whatever switching clicks I am hearing, are expected (an expectation really set by the Denon 4311CI I demo'ed previously) and they are quieter than the Denon 4311CI. In fact, as I think about it, I think the switching is "smoother" with the 80.3 than it was with the Denon. What smoother means is, well, it not as prominent or as dramatic of an event as with the Denon. And I think it happens quicker. This may be as the Denon has internal amps (and all that entails) whereas the 80.3 doesn't.

The one aspect of my setup is that I DO NOT have any cable or satellite TV service and the attendant cable/sat set top box. I have FIOS Internet service and everything is wired Cat 5e (some interconnects are Cat 6 and I deployed an ethernet switch where the 80.3 resides). I get my local TV feed from a $40 antenna (sitting about 63 miles from the broadcast towers in DFW) and stream everything else through the Apple TV or the BD player. Everything works like I think it should. Quite satisfying and enjoyable.

The only issue (not a real issue per se) is the volume level doesn't go to zero when I turn off the 80.3. So, I have to get in the habit of zeroing the volume level before I turn it off.

My perspective, the clicking noise I hear is coming from the processor and not the speakers.

Yeah, its in the same vein as a solenoid switching, but but less mechanical. The sound, that is.

Sparcs

What I heard, on the 5008, was 1.) a "solenoid" like click... (same sound the unit makes when switching to direct/pure direct and 2.) a momentary loss of audio as the codec changed (i.e. commercials in stereo to programs in 5.1 (very common on Fox football broadcasts, or when skipping around on the DVR..)

Oh, the friggin' manual... Thanks for suggestion to read the manual again.

I will find it, where ever it is, and preset the volume to zero on startup.

Thanks, I appreciate your help.

Sparcs

Does all of this clicking problem come with HDMI only? If I connected the set-top box with component + toslink would it still happen? I'd probably not bother with HDMI for the set-top DirecTV box. Supposedly the DirecTV box + my TV (Mistu LaserVue) causing an issue with incorrect black levels due to the colorspace used by the DirecTV box. Supposedly this issue doesn't appear connected via component. Don't know if that's true...but...if it kills two birds with one stone, I'm fine with it keeping it connected via component.

Would like to consider this unit...need an HDMI capable processor, still using an old Denon 2106 as a pre, lol .

I had my 80.1 hooked up via the digital coax from my DirecTV HR24-100 DVR and it had the clicking problem, but I never had a problem with any of my other sources such as Blu-ray, PS3, Squeezebox or Apple TV. So far in the three days I've owned the 80.3 it hasn't exhibited any of the problems of the older unit. The only audio dropout I experienced was while watching the baseball playoffs on TBS where I only experienced a gap in audio but it made no clicking sound. So far it's been flawless on HBO and the other pay services.

I also own a Krell S-1000 processor and the clicking sound it makes is just as loud as the 80.1, so I called Krell customer service about it and they told me I'm hearing the relay as it goes from one codec to another. The way they handle random dropouts is they've built in a delay so it'll hold on to the previous stream for a user specified amount of time to bridge the gap before it hunts for a new stream.

I currently have a Onkyo 5508 and don't have any problems with loud clicks or pops, just slight hardly noticeable relay clicks. I did have a Integra 80.1 for a short time but the relay clicks on that were so loud they made you jump sometimes. A good friend of mine still has his 80.1 and his clicks are no way close to what I experienced. I also got some occasional slight pops from my speakers with the 80.1 but all around I got a lemon on that deal. I would recommend anyone who experienced the same problem to give it another shot as the Onkyo pre-pro's are much better than the equivalent Denon 4311 or Marantz AV7005 that also came through my system.

This is what I experienced with the Integra 80.1, was the worst with Showtime DVR'ed shows and ESPN HD broadcasts on DirecTv. The 5508 I have now doesn't suffer from that at all and has been excellent so far.

I just brought home an 80.3 today to replace my DTC-9.8. It took the better part of the day just to connect it. I will configure it tomorrow.

My sources include:
A Revox turntable
A Dune Prime 3.0 for digital sources and blu-ray
A Pioneer Universal player (SACD)
A DirecTV DVR
A Nakamichi Dragon cassette player
A Toshiba VHS Player

Sherbourn 7 Channel Amp

Panasonic VT25 Plasma

5 Speakers plus 1 subwoofer bi-amping the fronts.


So far I have just done a cursory listen with no audyssey setup and have not had problems with clicks. I can say that running Netflix on the display with audio return channel was functional and switched automatically. I will do the full setup and detailed listen tomorrow.

Curious if someone can list the Canadian MSRP for the 80.3?? Im curious in this AVR since I hope its a good upgrade from my current Onkyo 807 to the higher end Integra 80.3!

Does this unit allow for official firmware upgrades over ethernet or USB?

They are the latter and I intentionally used the word "ticks" to emphasize how little they bother me. In fact, these relay noises are somewhat reassuring to me, confirming that the device is responding to the changing situation. So, bottom line: These units do make some (minor) noises but one should judge for one's self whether or not they are obtrusive. I did not, however, experience any significant signal interruptions but some may be more finicky about this, too.

I purchased an 80.2 literally days before the 80.3 was announced. I have a habit of buying things at a premium just before the bottom falls out (like the "high end" Optoma H79 before they released the H78DC3 or whatever it was called, for a third of the price)

Anyways, my 80.2 clicks like crazy on some cable channels midstream. It is very annoying. But it has never clicked on any other source while I'm watching the program. I have minimized the clicking on cable by leaving the sound set to stereo. Kind of sucks, as my center channel goes unused (my system is 3.1) when watching cable.

I will say though that the sound of the unit itself is very nice. I've heard detail on music and movies that I hadn't heard before. It's definitely a premium product. It compares favourably to my Anthem AVM50v in my main viewing area. Not quite the same, but it's pretty close.

If only they could get rid of this clicking relay sound like $200 receivers are able to do!

Thanks Kal - I agree 100%, I like to know that the clicks are telling me that the unit is actually doing something. I am very much used to an industrial work area where noises like a solenoid is a welcome noise, I can hear that my machinery is working the way it should just from that and not have to eyeball inspect every little thing. Very reassuring for me...


What this sounds like to me is not necessarily the issue with the pre-amp, but rather that this is mainly happening with the STB or cable box sending out multiple handshakes over HDMI which the preamp has to deal with... I'm sorry but changing channels on a cable box should not require a new audio/video handshake, which is the unit that is causing this to happen. To me that the problem is the source not the Preamp.... Cable and Dish set top boxes are some of the cheapest manufactured products out there - not at all high end products...

You have a faulty 80.2, you should get it fixed or exchanged for a new unit under warranty. I had the same problem with a 80.1 but the 5508 which is the same as the 80.2 does not have the same clicking problem.

Uh Oh! First problem encountered on my new 80.3. My kids are out of the house to go to school and the air conditioning is turned off, so I decided to run my audyssey xt32 calibration.

I plugged in the mic and was presented with a screen that asked if my fronts were normal or biamped and if i have high and wides. It defaulted to bi-amp as that is how I set up my speakers in the initial hardware config. It also asked how many subwoofers i had and I chose one.

It then gave a tone and asked me to change the subwoofer gain to output 75db. I did so. Then it said to move the mic to position 1. It did the normal sweeps on my 2 fronts, center, surrounds and sub. It did 2 sweeps on my sub, a quiet sweep then a louder one.

Audyssey asked me to change to position 2 and continue. I did so and when I continued, it only used the mids and tweets on my fronts but the normal full-range on my others. I thought that was odd, but finished all 8 positions. It then calculated a 40hz crossover for my surrounds and center, but a 150hz crossover for my fronts!!!!!! My fronts are bi-amped Piega P10s! On the Audyssey on my former DTC-9.8, audyssey tried to set them as full range and I changed the crossover to 45.

It seems that the bi-amp is not being engaged for the fronts after position 1.

I did a factory reset and then did a retest with the same results.

I called tech support and they said that they have not heard of this issue and that they DO NOT HAVE ONE TO TEST WITH. What are they there for, if they cannot test an issue? Are they only there to read the manual to me?

They did offer to call me back later today and said they would speak with my dealer if I wanted a refund.

Beware anyone that has bi-amped front speakers...

How about just doing a work around for this, by just running a single amp and jumper the speakers as such, then run Audyssey and then change it back to bi-amp after.

If your sending the same signal to both amps anyways - I'd imagine that you would just have to adjust the levels then after the fact...

I'm keeping an ear on it, but like I said, I have no clicking while watching material on any other input. It's just the cable box, and I have been told from a previous visit by the cable company that my cable signal is quite bad/weak. I am currently thinking of switching to satellite.

I used to have a DTR 6.5, and it also clicked when switching inputs. So I'm not too worried at this point that the unit is a bad unit.

With the 80.1 I had the same problem, only had the popping and audio dropouts with Directv but was fine with BD, DVD's and the other inputs. I never experienced this problem with the Onkyo 886 or the newer 5508 in the exact same system so the only thing that was faulty was the 80.1.

A workaround for a brand new piece of gear?

I ran the "quick" audyssey configure which is just a one position sweep and it worked for the most part, but I want the detail of a full config.

Yes, you need to "fix" this "bi-amping" issue before you can be sure that something isn't wrong with the unit.

Of coarse no-one wants to deal with bugs, but if they don't get reported they don't get fixed in future firmware updates, and that one seems to me to be a biggie.

This has truly become the way of the world these days, the consumer has become an integral part of product testing and advancement.... Sad but true..

I would do the workaround to make sure you will be able to do a full Audyssey sweep at all, making sure there isn't something wrong with the unit as pepar stated... Then get with Integra after the fact, so you can confirm that you are able to run Audyssey in single amp mode. At least thats where I would start, just to confirm, its not like its a huge chore, are all your speakers bi-amped or just the mains.... ?