Have you tried connecting a ground wire between the Marantz the 7700 and the TV? It sounds like a ground loop between the amp and the TV. Connecting a ground between the chassis of all 3 eliminates that loop.
Not necessarily.
It is entirely possible that the "feed" to the TV has lost its ground. I have seen cases where landscapers busted the grounding wire to antenna / satellite / cable ...
I have used these for problems with cable --
http://www.jensen-transformers.com/iso_vid.htmlYou might also check to see if there is a grounding block and ground rod with nice un-corroded wire firmly attaching them --
http://www.amazon.com/Cables-Go-41037-Si...grounding+cableIf you have a grounding issue with DirectTV this might have enough bandwidth to work --
http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/33...CFY1DMgodxi8AxQGood Luck!