[Hildy68]

I have a Marantz 5003 receiver, a panny 3D blu-ray dvd, HD cable box, and xbox 360.


My current configuration is to run XBOX, Blu-Ray, and cable box to the TV via HDMI. I am then running a single optical cable from the TV to the Marantz.


My challenge... of late... is that whether I am watching a Blu Ray, cable, or playing Xbox.. I am not getting anything but 2 speaker stereo out of my home theater. The LFE doesn't kick on at all.


Two weeks ago this configuration was working fine. I dont have any idea what happened.


I called Marantz and did some troubleshooting. I connected the Xbox directly to the receiver via HDMI and all 5.1 speakers kicked in perfectly so I know the Marantz is working. We decided that the problem must be that the Panny TV is receiving the signals from my devices and then passing only 2 speakers back to the Marantz.


I then called Panasonic and the "support" person told me that these TVs are not designed to pass 5.1 signals to any external devices (ie. receiver) unless the signal is a cable or tuner signal that is entering the TV directly and then passing to the receiver.


I am 99.9% confident that this configuration was working perfectly up until recently. I don't know that I changed anything specifically to cause such a dramatic change.


If anyone has any ideas, I would appreciate the help. I don't really want to go back to my "old" configuration of sending an HDMI for each device into the receiver and then a single HDMI to the TV.


(The reason for this is that the Marantz doesn't "translate" the HD cable signal well to the TV. When I change from an HD station to a non-HD signal, I get a "snow storm" on the screen with the audio not impacted)

 

[chunon]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Hildy68 /forum/post/20870680


I have a Marantz 5003 receiver, a panny 3D blu-ray dvd, HD cable box, and xbox 360.


My current configuration is to run XBOX, Blu-Ray, and cable box to the TV via HDMI. I am then running a single optical cable from the TV to the Marantz.


My challenge... of late... is that whether I am watching a Blu Ray, cable, or playing Xbox.. I am not getting anything but 2 speaker stereo out of my home theater. The LFE doesn't kick on at all.


Two weeks ago this configuration was working fine. I dont have any idea what happened.


I called Marantz and did some troubleshooting. I connected the Xbox directly to the receiver via HDMI and all 5.1 speakers kicked in perfectly so I know the Marantz is working. We decided that the problem must be that the Panny TV is receiving the signals from my devices and then passing only 2 speakers back to the Marantz.


I then called Panasonic and the "support" person told me that these TVs are not designed to pass 5.1 signals to any external devices (ie. receiver) unless the signal is a cable or tuner signal that is entering the TV directly and then passing to the receiver.


I am 99.9% confident that this configuration was working perfectly up until recently. I don't know that I changed anything specifically to cause such a dramatic change.


If anyone has any ideas, I would appreciate the help. I don't really want to go back to my "old" configuration of sending an HDMI for each device into the receiver and then a single HDMI to the TV.


(The reason for this is that the Marantz doesn't "translate" the HD cable signal well to the TV. When I change from an HD station to a non-HD signal, I get a "snow storm" on the screen with the audio not impacted)

Not disputing your certainty, but to my knowledge Panasonic and most tv makers restrict output to 2.1 for the optical out. The only exception to that rule is for OTA thru the internal tuner. This has to do with HDMI copy protection standards. Definitely sucks.

 

[fatuglyguy]

Solution: Run HDMI directly into your receiver for your Xbox and BD player. Since your HD cable box has issues when routed through the receiver, connect it directly to the TV via HDMI and then run an optical from the box into the receiver. 5.1 audio for everything!


As the above post stated, not saying you're wrong, but simply mistaken. My Panasonic G20 only sends stereo out to a receiver via optical out unless it's coming from the internal tuner.

 

[Hildy68]

I've had a few more convos since i posted and found the same thing. What I was hearing was simulated surround. Thanks for the help!

 

[chunon]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Hildy68 /forum/post/20871337


I've had a few more convos since i posted and found the same thing. What I was hearing was simulated surround. Thanks for the help!

No problem, its an unfortunate limitation of optical out on most sets