Your main problem is with the HDMI spec, I'm afraid. It was lifted from the computer industry's DVI standard, which was for computer monitors and therefore didn't need to run very far. HDMI in a home environment frequently has to run farther, and the maximum length (per spec) of 15 meters for the total signal path is probably being exceeded by your 40' cable and your short cable into the SR5005 from the Panny. Is it a stupid idea to design HDMI that way? Yep. Would it be nice for Marantz to have included a booster in the HDMI output? Yep. It's a common problem, though. The best bet is to either do what Outlaw suggested (a booster) or look elsewhere for such a long cable run - something like these BJC Series 1 cables. Granted, a 40' BJC Series 1 will cost you $110, but they've built them specifically to function in spite of the length.

Thanks for the response. Other than getting rid of eight short cables (analog out) to be replaced by one HDMI cable is there a sound difference? If I stick with the analog out cables I might want to get better quality ones than the ones that I'm using but we're talking about 2 footers.

Everything seems to work fine, both picture and sound, so I might leave everything alone for now while experimenting with what the SR5005 has to offer.

John

To Jefny,
Outlaw will allow you to download the manuals for most of their equipment to your computer and then you can search the pdf. file for whatever. Better than an index to me. I do this for whatever gear I buy when it is an option. I don't have to hunt around for the manuals when I need them either.

It depends on the equipment. Using HDMI, the receiver or processor does the audio processing and D/A conversion. Using analog, the player does audio processing and D/A conversion, while the receiver or processor typically just provides volume control. (A few exceptions exist, like the Model 990's A/D/A conversion for bass management and the analog bass management on the Model 950, 1070, and 970). If the receiver or processor offers room correction, it's only available via HDMI. If the receiver or processor has better DACs than the player, they'll only be of benefit via HDMI. On the other hand, my stock BDP-83's analog output (without benefit of room correction) was very comparable - possibly even superior to - the HDMI audio connection through an Onkyo PR-SC885 (with Audyssey MultEQ room correction), so it is theoretically possible for analog to be equal to or even better than HDMI.


XenonMan's got a point. I've read through a lot of equipment manuals over the years, and I don't know the last time I saw an index. Outlaw's never included one as far as I remember, and neither does OPPO Digital or Anthem. It would take a pretty extensive index to be really practical, and a search function could be more useful than that anyway.

Again thanks for the responses. Everything was working in the meantime and I was mulling whether to get a repeater with a 15 foot HDMI cable to add to my 25 footer. Unfortunately disaster struck with a sudden loss of electrical power and a power surge when it came on. The result was damage to my front projector (despite a fairly expensive surge protector) and to my Verizon Fios (no telephone Internet and TV for 3 days). The projector is covered by a warranty and I sent it for repairs. I should mention that my cheap surge protector actually protected my plasma TV as well as the Marantz (the fuse on the protector was blown).

Anyway, when my projector is returned and I have had more time to work with my setup I will report back.

Good idea XenonMan. I did download the SR5005 manual.

I continue to have problems with the Marantz in the setup for the audio part. For some reason when I play a bluray disk the video is fine (using an HDMI cable through the Marantz to a plasma TV) but for some reason the audio comes up as 2 channel stereo for the BD playr as opposed to hi def sound. The manuals are virtually no help and I am constantly experimenting with the menus to the point that I wish I could go back to the 950 which was intuitive where the Marantz is not.

At this point I would not advise anyone to replace their Outlaw pre-amp with the Marantz-it is overly complicated and I would return it if I could. I might consider trying to sell it on EBay as it is still under the original warranty.

I think Outlaw has done its customers a disservice by being so tardy in coming out with its own up-to-date pre-amp while pushing the Marantz.

John

What you describe sounds like a player issue - either a setting in the player causing that output or the player is seeing the HDTV via HDMI and downmixing to stereo because that's what the TV is asking for. The receiver shouldn't generally cause the player to downmix multichannel audio to stereo over HDMI. The Blu-ray player's input is set to use HDMI for audio, isn't it?

Gonk:

Thanks for your continuing sensible and helpful responses. I got my repaired projector as well as a 15 foot hdmi cable along with a passive extender. I was able to run a 5 foot hdmi cable from my bluray player to the SR5005 and then run 40 feet to the projector (a 15' cable, the extender and then a 25 foot cable) and this seemed to work. The signal was picked up by the projector and I played a regular dvd that had dolby EX sound and this worked.

However (there always is a however) on two occasions during play back, the signal was lost by the projector and the sound stopped. Within a few moments the signal was picked up. I next tried a bluray DVD which was sending a 1080p video signal and high def sound. I got the high def picture which was stunning (Fantasia 2000) but DTS, not high def sound. A call to Outlaw resulted in menu changes for both the bluray player and the SR5005 and this time I got true high def sound.

As for the interruptions the Outlaw tech thought that there still is a signal issue because of the length of line from the receiver to the projector and he surmised that sometimes a loss of sound happens when there is a loss of picture (a hand check issue). He did suggest I get a shorter cable from the bluray player to the SR5005 to shorten the overall path (which I did by ordering a 1.5' hdmi cable to replace the 5 foot one. He also suggested an active extender to boost the signal.

I should mention that we played the whole bluray movie and there were no interruptions.

Thanks again for your continued support.

It sounds like you've just about got the system dialed in. In the process of beta testing Blu-ray players for OPPO Digital, I've seen a lot of ways for Blu-ray players to give you something other than what you really want, and unfortunately a lot of players try to "simplify" their menus and make it harder than it has to be to get the right combination of settings in place. Add in a long HDMI run and all the anguish that can produce, and it's a nasty combination. I know how frustrating it can be when this stuff doesn't "just work" right out of the box, but once you get HDMI to behave for you from source to screen I think you'll be very pleased with the system as a whole.

Today I played a DVD with DD EX though I had to manually select DD EX and we saw the whole movie without interruption. I then played a bluray movie (Fantasia) and both signal and sound were high def though I had to manually select auto and it picked up hi def sound (DTS HD MA).

There is still a signal issue because when I make any changes the projector takes a bit of time to search and find the signal. I did notice when I plugged the hdmi cable directly from the bluray player to the projector it found the signal much faster. Hopefully, when I substitute a 1.5' HDMI for the 5' cable that runs from the player to the SR5005 I will be reducing the overall length.

The Outlaw tech did suggest an active extender to replace the passive one I'm using so I am looking for a recommendation for one. I did see the Tripp Lite B122-000 HDMI Extender, HDMI F/F on Amazon. Anyone familiar with this?

Again thanks for your interest.

John