IntelliVolume
Prominent Member
Bear with me here, friends and fellow blokes...
I own an Onkyo 605 amp, which we bought when the model was brand new and launched circa 2007/2008. As the first one on the market -- at least here in the States -- to support and decode the high resolution codecs, namely Dolby's TrueHD and DTS' Master Audio, the unit has served us well up until this very day...plenty of power, nice looks, solid Onkyo build quality and incredible value. Of course, the amp is HDMI 1.3-compatible, which means it only passes through up to 1080p video via its HDMI ports, which was fine for our needs, even up into the 4K era (let me explain).
When we purchased our Samsung 4K display we were using an older Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray player, so the connections were made as before, with our 1080p display...that is:
Oppo HDMI OUT > Onkyo 605 IN
Onkyo 605 OUT > TV HDMI IN
So the Oppo was sending out 1080p signals and the Samsung was upconverting them to 4K. We then purchased a new Cambridge Audio CXUHD 4K Blu-ray player, so some connection changes needed to be made; now, I was splitting the audio from the Cambridge from the video of the player via two HDMI cables, with one going directly to the Samsung for video and the other going to the amp for audio. That's how we've been running the system up until now (again, the Onkyo can't do 4K passthrough).
However, in order to still see and check the Onkyo's menu settings from time to time, I connected the amp's HDMI OUT to an available port on my Samsung (HDMI 4), but this was strictly for checking the onscreen menu.
Recently, I was getting random drop-outs over this connection, where the screen would intermittently flash, sometimes not even allowing me to see the setup menu at all, rather just a bright blue blank screen. Alas -- a couple of nights ago when I did a system settings check, as I do from time to time, the amp's Setup onscreen menu wouldn't come up at all...I just got the blank blue screen.
I think this is that "blue screen of death" I have heard about, which occurs when these Onkyo HDMI boards go bad...so my first question is, does anyone think that's what this is? I know the 605 model had reports of premature HDMI failures, but this only began occurring NOW -- and we've had the amp for over 10 years with nonstop use.
If this IS the HDMI OUT failing, I am going to need another AVR because when I attempted to read the amp's display to check the settings, I couldn't really see anything from my seating position....so I need to have an AVR with onscreen prompts again.
Now, in getting into new AVRs, it's been quite some time since I shopped for one, as you can tell, but I've always been an Onkyo fan, from the time I was introduced to the brand by a friend of mine years ago, and when I bought my first surround amp, a TX-SR600 (which I still own). I know the brand has gone somewhat downhill in terms of quality over the past few years -- to say nothing of its acquisition of Pioneer -- but I have also recently read that it has regained its reputation as of late, and it's a brand you can consider once more.
I suppose my selection would come down to a Denon or Onk -- I'm not going to be able to afford the likes of NAD, Cambridge or Rotel -- but I need some suggestions going forward for a new unit; first off, I do NOT need every bell and whistle under the sun, as we don't do any streaming nor do we listen to any iPads/iPods/iWhatevers. Our viewing in this home theatre room is strictly via the Cambridge UHD Blu-ray player (for DVDs, Blu-rays and 4K Blu-rays), which will be going straight into a new AVR and then off to the Samsung display. I also don't really care about proprietary setup systems (Onkyo's Accu system) or Audyssey protocols, as I do all my own calibrating/adjusting of levels and don't utilize room EQ (I realize these systems are baked into every amp, but I'm just saying it's not a priority).
What IS important is power (I'd like something no lower than 100 watts per channel, even two channels rated, as is common, because we're coming from 90 watts and I'd like just a bit more horsepower) and preamp outputs, so I can possibly add a power amp down the line. Our budget would be somewhere in the maxing-out-at-$800 (U.S.) area, so I might be able to consider something from Onkyo's premium RZ Series (not sure).
Anyone have any suggestions with regard to the blank blue screen and my future AVR choices?
I own an Onkyo 605 amp, which we bought when the model was brand new and launched circa 2007/2008. As the first one on the market -- at least here in the States -- to support and decode the high resolution codecs, namely Dolby's TrueHD and DTS' Master Audio, the unit has served us well up until this very day...plenty of power, nice looks, solid Onkyo build quality and incredible value. Of course, the amp is HDMI 1.3-compatible, which means it only passes through up to 1080p video via its HDMI ports, which was fine for our needs, even up into the 4K era (let me explain).
When we purchased our Samsung 4K display we were using an older Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray player, so the connections were made as before, with our 1080p display...that is:
Oppo HDMI OUT > Onkyo 605 IN
Onkyo 605 OUT > TV HDMI IN
So the Oppo was sending out 1080p signals and the Samsung was upconverting them to 4K. We then purchased a new Cambridge Audio CXUHD 4K Blu-ray player, so some connection changes needed to be made; now, I was splitting the audio from the Cambridge from the video of the player via two HDMI cables, with one going directly to the Samsung for video and the other going to the amp for audio. That's how we've been running the system up until now (again, the Onkyo can't do 4K passthrough).
However, in order to still see and check the Onkyo's menu settings from time to time, I connected the amp's HDMI OUT to an available port on my Samsung (HDMI 4), but this was strictly for checking the onscreen menu.
Recently, I was getting random drop-outs over this connection, where the screen would intermittently flash, sometimes not even allowing me to see the setup menu at all, rather just a bright blue blank screen. Alas -- a couple of nights ago when I did a system settings check, as I do from time to time, the amp's Setup onscreen menu wouldn't come up at all...I just got the blank blue screen.
I think this is that "blue screen of death" I have heard about, which occurs when these Onkyo HDMI boards go bad...so my first question is, does anyone think that's what this is? I know the 605 model had reports of premature HDMI failures, but this only began occurring NOW -- and we've had the amp for over 10 years with nonstop use.
If this IS the HDMI OUT failing, I am going to need another AVR because when I attempted to read the amp's display to check the settings, I couldn't really see anything from my seating position....so I need to have an AVR with onscreen prompts again.
Now, in getting into new AVRs, it's been quite some time since I shopped for one, as you can tell, but I've always been an Onkyo fan, from the time I was introduced to the brand by a friend of mine years ago, and when I bought my first surround amp, a TX-SR600 (which I still own). I know the brand has gone somewhat downhill in terms of quality over the past few years -- to say nothing of its acquisition of Pioneer -- but I have also recently read that it has regained its reputation as of late, and it's a brand you can consider once more.
I suppose my selection would come down to a Denon or Onk -- I'm not going to be able to afford the likes of NAD, Cambridge or Rotel -- but I need some suggestions going forward for a new unit; first off, I do NOT need every bell and whistle under the sun, as we don't do any streaming nor do we listen to any iPads/iPods/iWhatevers. Our viewing in this home theatre room is strictly via the Cambridge UHD Blu-ray player (for DVDs, Blu-rays and 4K Blu-rays), which will be going straight into a new AVR and then off to the Samsung display. I also don't really care about proprietary setup systems (Onkyo's Accu system) or Audyssey protocols, as I do all my own calibrating/adjusting of levels and don't utilize room EQ (I realize these systems are baked into every amp, but I'm just saying it's not a priority).
What IS important is power (I'd like something no lower than 100 watts per channel, even two channels rated, as is common, because we're coming from 90 watts and I'd like just a bit more horsepower) and preamp outputs, so I can possibly add a power amp down the line. Our budget would be somewhere in the maxing-out-at-$800 (U.S.) area, so I might be able to consider something from Onkyo's premium RZ Series (not sure).
Anyone have any suggestions with regard to the blank blue screen and my future AVR choices?