not a fun AV day!
Discussion
I decided to "upgrade" my speakers from 14 year old Kenwoods to Bose Acoutimass 10s. They were extremely cheap and are better than what I had and fit my need in the family room. I have a cinema room with something more meaty. What was my need? Small speakers that could be mounted from the ceiling but not in it and from the wall but not in it.
Surprisingly, the Bose were not the source of my bad AV day.
I bought a second hand Denon AVR X2300W and wired it up. First issue was the Audessy speaker set up. It was terrible. But this was over come by manually doing it. I thought there may be an issue with firmware so went to settings. That is when I found a dead network module.
Then my cable box died
Then I went to watch Grand Tour in the cinema room and my Pioneer Elite VSX 92TXH turned off and refused to come back to life.
All these are unrelated failures and just bad luck.
The good news is that a reset solved the pioneer. This reset requires you take all the HDMI cables out. I do not know why but it will not work if you dont.
The second piece of good news is that I stripped the Denon and found a disconnected cable and loose board. Once rebuilt the network card came back to life. This is particularly interesting because Denon (and I assume Marantz by association) have been struggling with the exact failure I had for years. I wonder if it is that simple to fix.
So, some satisfaction gained but a lot of work to get there.
Surprisingly, the Bose were not the source of my bad AV day.
I bought a second hand Denon AVR X2300W and wired it up. First issue was the Audessy speaker set up. It was terrible. But this was over come by manually doing it. I thought there may be an issue with firmware so went to settings. That is when I found a dead network module.
Then my cable box died
Then I went to watch Grand Tour in the cinema room and my Pioneer Elite VSX 92TXH turned off and refused to come back to life.
All these are unrelated failures and just bad luck.
The good news is that a reset solved the pioneer. This reset requires you take all the HDMI cables out. I do not know why but it will not work if you dont.
The second piece of good news is that I stripped the Denon and found a disconnected cable and loose board. Once rebuilt the network card came back to life. This is particularly interesting because Denon (and I assume Marantz by association) have been struggling with the exact failure I had for years. I wonder if it is that simple to fix.
So, some satisfaction gained but a lot of work to get there.
I know what you mean! I've experienced both that sinking feeling when your AV gear packs a sad and the happy relief when you manage to fix it yourself.
Bought a cheap sub second-hand untested, got it home and... nothing. I think "well the guy seemed straight up and I know where he works locally, surely he wouldn't have knowingly sold a dud". Unscrew the back panel and ah, obvious blown fuse is obvious. New $2 fuse and all better.
Its not always such a happy ending though, I have a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 225 sitting here with blown woofers. Seem to have overheated, they were running loudish (pointing out the window while I worked in the garden) for a few hours on a hot day. Quote for genuine replacement woofers is a fair bit more than I paid for the speakers second-hand, pretty hard to justify (the bloke quoting the replacement did offer a good deal on some Cambridge Aeromax 2 as a replacement instead which were quite lovely, but a bit over the top for an occasional use bedroom system).
I think I will chuck some similar aftermarket drivers in and see how they sound, will be better than nothing.
Bought a cheap sub second-hand untested, got it home and... nothing. I think "well the guy seemed straight up and I know where he works locally, surely he wouldn't have knowingly sold a dud". Unscrew the back panel and ah, obvious blown fuse is obvious. New $2 fuse and all better.
Its not always such a happy ending though, I have a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 225 sitting here with blown woofers. Seem to have overheated, they were running loudish (pointing out the window while I worked in the garden) for a few hours on a hot day. Quote for genuine replacement woofers is a fair bit more than I paid for the speakers second-hand, pretty hard to justify (the bloke quoting the replacement did offer a good deal on some Cambridge Aeromax 2 as a replacement instead which were quite lovely, but a bit over the top for an occasional use bedroom system).
I think I will chuck some similar aftermarket drivers in and see how they sound, will be better than nothing.
h0b0 said:
First issue was the Audessy speaker set up. It was terrible. But this was over come by manually doing it.
Well done fixing the Denon!Btw, Audssey has no clue what to with those speakers!
So you’re really are best fiddling with normal manual settings, as you’ve done.
All speakers measure as large, due to being wired up via the woofy type box.
You can’t use an EQ designed for 5.1 unless you have a 5.1 speaker system.
The Bose re-mixes the audio after the processor,discarding the Dolby/DTS soundtracks, so as to not break the little sat units.
The Bose has 5 sats and the mid/bass box, but you never actually hear the digital soundtrack.
You hear the re-mixed ‘Bose-Logic’ effect they create.
Audyssey can be pretty amazing, but that’s why you found it a disaster!
h0b0 said:
First issue was the Audessy speaker set up. It was terrible. But this was over come by manually doing it.
Well done fixing the Denon!Btw, Audssey has no clue what to with those speakers!
So you’re really are best fiddling with normal manual settings, as you,be done.
All speakers measure as large, due to being wired up via the woofy type box.
You can’t use an EQ designed for 5.1 unless you have a 5.1 speaker system.
The Bose re-mixes the audio after the processor,discarding the Dolby/DTS soundtracks, so as to not break the little sat units.
The Bose has 5 sats and the mid/bass box, but you never actually hear the digital soundtrack.
You hear the re-mixed ‘Bose-Logic’ effect they create.
Audyssey can be pretty amazing, but that’s why you found it a disaster!
You are right, all speakers are set to large and there’s a few other settings that mess with the sound. I went through a guide for suggested settings and the sound was transformed.
Got a new strange issue. I’m sure a reset will sort it but I already have the return approved so it’s probably going back. Here’s the issue though, when I first turn it on the sound comes on for a second and then no sound. If I toggle the power, the sound comes back on. It also feels like the center channel is warming up. I didn’t have this issue on my old Kenwood.
I only upgraded because I’m going to buy an OLED tv and wanted my receiver to have all the HDMI work. Due to its age, the kenwood only did sound so I had multiple cables to the TV. One of the big disappointments of the Denon was the lack of analog to digital conversion. I had assumed it would take care of this but was stuck with no Mario on the Wii. I had to buy an external converter to input HDMI to get it to output a signal.
It’s annoying because its the lounge so I’ve been mod project for over a week now.
Got a new strange issue. I’m sure a reset will sort it but I already have the return approved so it’s probably going back. Here’s the issue though, when I first turn it on the sound comes on for a second and then no sound. If I toggle the power, the sound comes back on. It also feels like the center channel is warming up. I didn’t have this issue on my old Kenwood.
I only upgraded because I’m going to buy an OLED tv and wanted my receiver to have all the HDMI work. Due to its age, the kenwood only did sound so I had multiple cables to the TV. One of the big disappointments of the Denon was the lack of analog to digital conversion. I had assumed it would take care of this but was stuck with no Mario on the Wii. I had to buy an external converter to input HDMI to get it to output a signal.
It’s annoying because its the lounge so I’ve been mod project for over a week now.
It could well be a faulty amp.
As it’s a 2300 model though, it might still be under the original two year warranty. Worth checking.
If not then send it back where it came from.
How much was it?
However, it could be the crossover in the Bose woofer could be causing the issue / apparent ‘blockage’
You really need to test it with some normal speakers. Just wire one passive full range speaker to the dedicated centre speaker connection on the 2300 and see if the same issue occurs.
If not, then it’s a fault in the Bose box.
As it’s a 2300 model though, it might still be under the original two year warranty. Worth checking.
If not then send it back where it came from.
How much was it?
However, it could be the crossover in the Bose woofer could be causing the issue / apparent ‘blockage’
You really need to test it with some normal speakers. Just wire one passive full range speaker to the dedicated centre speaker connection on the 2300 and see if the same issue occurs.
If not, then it’s a fault in the Bose box.
After a bit of troubleshooting I’ve confirmed the Denon puts itself into headphone mode. This could be caused by dust or a faulty headphone socket.
The Denon will be going back and temporarily replaced by my pioneer. The demon was $300 and described on eBay as “as new customer return”. When I opened it up it was clear some idiot had been poking around. Unfortunately, this would rightly invalidate any warranty.
The Denon will be going back and temporarily replaced by my pioneer. The demon was $300 and described on eBay as “as new customer return”. When I opened it up it was clear some idiot had been poking around. Unfortunately, this would rightly invalidate any warranty.
h0b0 said:
After a bit of troubleshooting I’ve confirmed the Denon puts itself into headphone mode. This could be caused by dust or a faulty headphone socket.
The Denon will be going back and temporarily replaced by my pioneer. The demon was $300 and described on eBay as “as new customer return”. When I opened it up it was clear some idiot had been poking around. Unfortunately, this would rightly invalidate any warranty.
Ah, not sure what the warranty situation is on your side of the pond!The Denon will be going back and temporarily replaced by my pioneer. The demon was $300 and described on eBay as “as new customer return”. When I opened it up it was clear some idiot had been poking around. Unfortunately, this would rightly invalidate any warranty.
Headphone mode / faulty socket, is a fault I’ve seen before.
Yes, send it back while you can.
Switched out the Denon with my trusty old pioneer elite 92txh. The sound quality is night and day better.
My father used to say you can tell how good an amp will,be simply by weight. This may not be scientifically backed but the 92 weighs more than a baby elephant.
Some draw backs of new set up
Original upgrade plan was for 4K hdr Atmos so missed the target on all accounts.
110” screen in cinema room is now a large waste of space as it has no feed.
Bloody 92 has a lot in common with me. Not only is it a bit weighty. It’s bloody huge and doesn’t fit in my stealth av cabinet. Had to take the door off so the kids don’t force it closed.
The replacement hunt goes on.
My father used to say you can tell how good an amp will,be simply by weight. This may not be scientifically backed but the 92 weighs more than a baby elephant.
Some draw backs of new set up
Original upgrade plan was for 4K hdr Atmos so missed the target on all accounts.
110” screen in cinema room is now a large waste of space as it has no feed.
Bloody 92 has a lot in common with me. Not only is it a bit weighty. It’s bloody huge and doesn’t fit in my stealth av cabinet. Had to take the door off so the kids don’t force it closed.
The replacement hunt goes on.
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