I’ve used Denon receivers for years, and never had a problem before. However, their new AVR-1910, (and only this model), has a weird quirk whereas when using either a Key Digital, or Spectrum HDMI to Cat 5/ Cat 6 converter, (even with only a 50’ run of dual Cat 6), will not produce video.

I have spoken directly to both heads of these companies, and they too are trying to find out what the problem is. They both have also informed me that I’m not the only dealer who has run into or complained about this problem. I only use Liberty wire and connectors, and there are no crimps, bends, or staples in the short wire run.

Lastly, what is very unusual, I was not able to bring up the Blu Ray players menu, (Sony BDP-S360 with their newest software upgrade), but it would play the movie for about 30 seconds and then go blank on both brands’ boxes. I’ve tried 2 converter boxes from both brands, and 2 AVR-1910’s to eliminate the possibility of simply having a defective receiver or converter with no luck.

Anyone else out there running into this problem? And if so, has anyone successfully made it work? My best guess is that there’s nothing wrong with the converter boxes that I had on this job site, (because I’ve used them on other jobs with no problems and in my home with my OPPO BDP83 on an older Denon AVR-2808), and the problem lays within the AVR-1910. Any suggestions or solutions would be greatly appreciated.

Have you tried pre-tested (tested with at least a different Denon AVR) Converters? Based on Denon confessing to having a problem, your done trouble-shooting.

The last time I had converter issues, I pulled a test/temp, CAT6 (same length) between the AVR and display across the floor. to eliminate the pre-wired CAT6 cable. That happened to be Component over CAT6 and the job had two TV’s and that trouble-shooting method proved the problem to be with the TV, since the second TV worked (Vizio worked and the Nuvision didn’t (go figure?). The Nuvision was more sensitive to Component level voltages, which were low.

Trouble-shooting is nothing more than eliminating variables…... Good luck!

Shannon
Custom Wring Concepts

Been there, done that. The TV is a new 58” Samsung model and its voltage level is right on the money. I truly appreciate the advice & help. Jeff Boccaccio is working on this as we speak… if he can’t solve the problem, then we know not to sell any more AVR-1910’s for this type of installation.

Thanks again for your time & attention,
Dave Stevens

Interesting the TV is a Samsung. The one and only problem I’ve had with a 15m Ethereal HDMI cable was with a Samsung. I’ve since stopped using HDMI cables over 6m. Don’t you love this business, new manufactured problem every model change…...

CWC,
The original HDMI problems with the older Samsung TV’s was the hand shake between the TV and 1st generation Scientific Atlanta HD cable boxes. Samsung & SA have corrected that problem a year ago.  I will not go beyond 4 meters with any HDMI cable, that’s why I use the Spectrum BX170 Cat 5/6 converter boxes. I used to sell the Key Digital piece, but the Spectrum box offers more for less money.

BTW: Marantz A/V receivers also have this problem… it’s no wonder because Denon and Marantz are the same company. However, I can’t stand Marantz because their internal programming menus SUCK!!!  It takes 15 minutes to find what you’re looking for on a Marantz, and only 2 minutes, (and that’s only if you’ve never done it before), to perform the same system set up on a Denon.

Believe me, Jeff Boccaccio is the master and guru for anything HDMI… If he can’t get it to work, nobody can. Thanks again for your help and reply!

Dave

Dave, we’ve experienced the same problems.  We used several 1910’s on a project and when we turned lights on and off in the room the Denon would lose sync.  Really weird.  We were using Samsung and LG LCD’s.  It did it on both.  There was no pattern to turning the lights on or off and sometimes nothing would happen.  We could connect the TV’s straight to the components using the baluns and they never lost sync no matter what we did with the lights.  Finally, we switched the receiver out to an Onkyo and have never had the problem again.  The balun manufacturer suggested that when lights were turned on there was an interference that caused a little voltage drop over the line between the receiver and TV.  He thought the low tolerances in the Denon would cause it to lose sync.  We tried shielded Cat5 30ft long and it still lost sync.  All I know is the Onkyo fixed it…no more Denon for us.  Oh, and I completely agree about the Marantz menus.

Thanks workliveplay.tv!  I recently sent an AVR-1910 directly to Jeff B. at Spectrum, and he found the same issue. The minute the receiver experienced any voltage drop, game over. Jeff has worked his butt off and has finally come up with a solution… It’s some type of, “line driver,” that he just built that prevents this from occurring and hopefully I’ll be the 1st kid on the block to try it out.

Once again, the AVR-1910 was the only Denon piece we had issue with… all of the upper models perform flawlessly.

Thanks again for the response & Happy New Year!

Dave

We’ve experienced the same problem. We originally thought it had something to due with the increasing Arc Fault circuits that code in our area required, but were able to remove all arc faults breakers and still had the problem.
We had some success with using Onkyo receivers, but not in every situation.
I was planning to try more expensive Ethereal, & Wyrestorm baluns.

Any word on the line driver from spectrum.
Also, what about beginning with an amplified HDMI splitter?

Jason Walter
Electronics2You

jwalter,
Jeff Boccaccio at Spectrum is setting a new standard to prevent these incompatibility problems once and for all. Just like a manufacturer receiving a THX rating, DPL, (Digital Performance Level), will be the new standard for HDMI.  If the video component, (Blu Ray, cable box, A/V receiver, or TV), does not have a DPL rating, don’t purchase, recommend, or support any company that can’t achieve the DPL rating. Go to http://www.dplrating.org and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

Many manufacturers are already on board, but it’s important that we as dealers finally demand an HDMI standard in order for us dealers and installers to get home before midnight because our systems fail in front of a client and we can’t figure out why. This problem is more widespread than we all think, and it’s not getting better as manufacturers try to improve their bottom line by using sub standard parts or try to take short cuts in design.

Matter of fact, I’ll let you in on a little secret… The HDMI video rails in the AVR 1910 are superior to those of Denon’s more expensive current 2310, 3310, and 4310. Go figure…

We, too have seen some problems, but have experienced NONE with the new AVR-1911’s. I have also found NO PROBLEMS AT ALL running HDMI out to 16M (52+ feet) using Audio Quest Chocolate (or better) cables.  Using a Runco VX-3000i (internal processor), the HDMI picture was noticeably better with the HDMI than with the baluns (Niles and Key Digital).
BTW, you might re-think your Marantz bias when you see what the new SR7005 can do! WOW!!!