Digital Man Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 Hi All, Okay, so, about 4 months ago, I decided to upgrade my digital source and go all out, I bought a Cambridge Audio Azur 551r V2 AVR, with the 551 r V2, I have noticed a couple of things that I do not like, the first is this, when I first turn on the avr it shows on the tv screen that the sound is turned off, this only happens about half as many times as I turn it on for use, does not happen every time that I turn it on for use, okay, so I press the mute button on the remote, result, no affect, I then power off the unit and turn it back on, still no affect, the only way to get the mute turned off is to turn it off at the power point, hmm, next, I notice that there is a button for mono/stereo, great, I can use this for some of my mono cd's, I press for mono and nothing happens, again, hmm, the last thing is this, when I put in a disc, it misses the first few seconds, another hmm, with all of these issues I am giving Cambridge Audio a big fat zero, these things, in this day and age should just not be happening, especially with the reputation that Cambridge Audio has, so, in light of all of this, I am beginning to think of selling it and either going back to 2 channel, my main idea, beyond improving the sound of my digital source, was to eventually go into surround sound with music and movies, as I have never experienced it, or see if Sony has a AVR that is equal to or even better than the Cambridge Audio, that does not have these issues mentioned, I also bought the Cambridge Audio Azur752BD, I am thinking of selling this as well, as it will not recognise nor play some disc that my Sony 380 BDP will play and I seem to have lip syncing problems as well, with a 3 second delay, mostly this lip syncing problem only happens with some of my movie files stored on my HHD, with movie discs it's no problem, thus far, really not that impressed. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwt Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 2 things come to mind Digital Man ; your hdmi devices need to exchange their edids to communicate properly so a different start up sequence may help . The loss of music at the start of a track is the necessary blanking period needed to pick up a new codec without distortion - its a balancing act that if too short can allow hi frequency noise through [ and can get a fried tweeter ]. Certain chipsets have a bit of a track record with this [ cirrus logic that's in your avr was also in a cary 11a I have owned which had a number of firmware upgrades to get right ] and its a fine balance.. Take it back and see if another firmware is in the works to fix these problems ; not good enough.. Japanese manufacturers generally do a very good job muting the signal well A dedicated media player will generally do a better job covering more codecs and having better organisation of files than the 752d . A Zappitti or Dune has the latest UHD capable chipset if interested this is the top of the line with balanced xlr's ' http://dune-hd.com/eng/products/full_hd_media_players Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digital Man Posted January 28, 2018 Author Share Posted January 28, 2018 Hi CWT, I had a look at the Dune, doesn’t play disc’s which is primarily what I play, so the Dune, or anything like it won’t suit, the main question I would like answered is, what Sony avr would be the equal of the Cambridge ? without the mentioned issues. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwt Posted January 29, 2018 Share Posted January 29, 2018 (edited) 5 hours ago, Digital Man said: Hi CWT, I had a look at the Dune, doesn’t play disc’s which is primarily what I play, so the Dune, or anything like it won’t suit, the main question I would like answered is, what Sony avr would be the equal of the Cambridge ? without the mentioned issues. Thanks. The Cambridge has decent honest specs listed for output; ''60 watts RMS per channel at 8 Ohms (all 7 channels driven)'" I hope you are open to other ce's beside Sony ? The top of the line sony has far less detail in its specs and like a lot with a poor power supply use tricks like a low impedance to make them look impressive. What you want to see is 20hz-20khz; not just 1 point - 1khz and 5 or 7ch driven at once like the Cambridge ;more honest I would look at the new Nad T758v3 who are honest with their output [and conservative too which is good] . Its also got full pre outs for another power amp which is very handy whatever you choose ; sony doesn't...heres its patchy specs ; ''165W (6ohms, 1kHz, 1ch driven THD 0.9%)'' . Edited January 29, 2018 by cwt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digital Man Posted January 29, 2018 Author Share Posted January 29, 2018 Hi Cwt, Okay, do either the Sony's and Nad's have the same time delay as I have been experiencing with the Cambridge ? if I abandon multi channel in favour of two channel, will there be an option to use hdmi with a two channel amp ? and dsd ? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwt Posted January 29, 2018 Share Posted January 29, 2018 17 minutes ago, Digital Man said: Hi Cwt, Okay, do either the Sony's and Nad's have the same time delay as I have been experiencing with the Cambridge ? if I abandon multi channel in favour of two channel, will there be an option to use hdmi with a two channel amp ? and dsd ? Thanks. A lot of avr's have lip sync time delays built in ; ever since hdmi 1.3 . It can be caused by things like video processing so best to turn that of if possible . Bob Pariseau @ avs as usual has a handle on it http://www.avsforum.com/forum/90-receivers-amps-processors/1160970-how-hell-does-hdmi-s-auto-lip-sync-work.html#post16782873 It was improved again with hdmi 2.0 vvv ; try a different source to see if its the 752. Quote it adds the capability to better sync audio to what’s happening on your TV. Venuti explained it this way: “With the wide range of video content sources available today, video processing times vary greatly. This can introduce delays in the audio/video timing. Dynamic Auto Lip-Sync automatically addresses this issue by dynamically adjusting synchronization of video and audio streams without user intervention.” HDMI is found mostly on multichannel components due to that multichannel aspect but there are some 2ch components like the lyngdorf Tdal 2170 that have nice compatibility with dsd etc . There may be others ; Ime into multichannel more ;sorry https://hometheaterhifi.com/reviews/amplifier/integrated-amplifiers/lyngdorf-audio-tdai-2170-fully-digital-integrated-amplifier-review/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digital Man Posted January 29, 2018 Author Share Posted January 29, 2018 Hi Cwt, I did try it with my Sony S380 bdp, same result Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digital Man Posted January 29, 2018 Author Share Posted January 29, 2018 to add, if it is indeed endemic to all avr's I will then go back to two channel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digital Man Posted January 29, 2018 Author Share Posted January 29, 2018 it also seems, from what I have read, that the problem remains, whether you use hdmi or analogue connections Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwt Posted January 29, 2018 Share Posted January 29, 2018 (edited) 3 hours ago, Digital Man said: Hi Cwt, I did try it with my Sony S380 bdp, same result I have struck the same thing with a few downloaded files . Maybe worth remuxing those files ? Ive had some start out ok and by the end are 100+ ms out. Some avrs have a decent amount of manual audio delay ;others little.. Quote it also seems, from what I have read, that the problem remains, whether you use hdmi or analogue connections Yes ; All displays have video processing - too much and things get out of sync . HDMI inherently should have no lip sync errors due to edid comms ; your not using analog rca's on the off chance ? this would help ; https://www.lindy.com.au/lip-sync-corrector Edited January 29, 2018 by cwt remux not remix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digital Man Posted January 29, 2018 Author Share Posted January 29, 2018 Hi, No, I am only using cdmi, I did read that even analogue won't fix it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digital Man Posted January 29, 2018 Author Share Posted January 29, 2018 I mean hdmi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dokken Posted January 29, 2018 Share Posted January 29, 2018 I would personally steer clear of NAD. You'll most likely end up encountering hdmi handshake issues like the Cambridge. Safest bet would be a Denon or Marantz AVR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digital Man Posted January 29, 2018 Author Share Posted January 29, 2018 Hi, What about Sony ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quark Posted January 29, 2018 Share Posted January 29, 2018 4 hours ago, Digital Man said: Hi, What about Sony ? Sony have the puniest power supplies - we're talking 240W on some models - half or a third of typical competitors. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digital Man Posted March 21, 2020 Author Share Posted March 21, 2020 Hi All, I am reviving this old thread of mine, since last that I communicated on this thread, not much has happened, I did sell off the Cambridge Audio gear and just let it all go until now, I did purchase a Auralic Mini, as I will now rip all of my cd’s and load them into the Auralic Mini, utilising the ssd that I have installed into the mini, I am still wanting to have a 5.1 surround sound setup, this will be mostly for movies, some live 5.1 concerts on either Blu Ray , Blu Ray Pure Audio, DVD-A, and a very small handful of some SACD’s, so, to avoid the sound delay issues as mentioned by me in my original, earlier post’s, is it safe to assume that I will not experience the same time delay issues with either a Denon or Marantz AVR ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hi-Fi Whipped Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 1 hour ago, Digital Man said: Hi All, I am reviving this old thread of mine, since last that I communicated on this thread, not much has happened, I did sell off the Cambridge Audio gear and just let it all go until now, I did purchase a Auralic Mini, as I will now rip all of my cd’s and load them into the Auralic Mini, utilising the ssd that I have installed into the mini, I am still wanting to have a 5.1 surround sound setup, this will be mostly for movies, some live 5.1 concerts on either Blu Ray , Blu Ray Pure Audio, DVD-A, and a very small handful of some SACD’s, so, to avoid the sound delay issues as mentioned by me in my original, earlier post’s, is it safe to assume that I will not experience the same time delay issues with either a Denon or Marantz AVR ? you shouldn't receive them from any supplier really, I'm A Cambridge CXR200 owner and never had any issues, the older generation of Cambridge gear was more susceptible to faults though. Not sure of budget but if you like the Cambridge sound you may pickup a clearance CXR120 or 200 models given they are now superseded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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