AM radio buzz from HDMI cable

[Squishman]

Looking at solving the issue by perhaps subscribing to SiriusXM. I know jack squat about it though at the moment. Trying to find content, etc. 1st before I sign up. Plus no idea if my car stereo or my new marantz needs a device or what! Both have SiriusXM, but like I say, I know jack.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Maybe a few more experiment? Turn on the Tv and receiver, what happens? Unplug both the TV and receiver by the power cord.
As asked, any electronic dimmer switch in the kitchen or other areas? Turn on on and off to see if that does anything.
May also want to try grounding the chassis of the tv, receiver and whatever equipment box you have connected by the tv directly to power ground pin?
Or, by a long power cord connect all those to another outlet to see what gives?
Yes, all this sounds strange but so is the problem A good experimental problem.
Most curious indeed as that portable radio is not electrically by cable, connected to the house.

 

[Squishman]

Buzz with TV/AVR on. No dimmers in the house.

 

[MR.MAGOO]

Try moving the radio further away from the HDMI cable.
Try turning the radio so it's antenna (built-in?) is at a different angle to the HDMI cable.
Is the radio station's signal weak or strong? Try tuning to a stronger station.

I did an experiment with a battery powered portable radio/cassette recorder-player I have. General Electric Model 3-5207A, mid 1980's.
Tuned to a good clear AM talk-radio station. Buzz occurred when near my Apple iMac desktop (powered on, LED desk lamps on, KEF EGG speakers off), moved to center of room, no buzz! Clear as a bell. Moved to near my AVR (Yamaha RX-A1020, powered off, Sony LED TV off, ) buzz!

 

[Squishman]

Try moving the radio further away from the HDMI cable.
Try turning the radio so it's antenna (built-in?) is at a different angle to the HDMI cable.
Is the radio station's signal weak or strong? Try tuning to a stronger station.

I am only interested in one station at that time of day. It is about 2 miles north of me (as are their antennas). Probably not a super powerful station. Yes the buzz fades when farther. I found one angle to turn the radio for a little less buzz. So tomorrow, I will try it in another room and turn it way up. I live alone. Before this week (before using hdmi arc), it was awesome. I could set that radio anywhere in the kitchen at any angle. And as far as AM sound with no interference, this Sangean makes a good AM signal sound like FM. Not kidding. It is a fabulous radio.

 

[Squishman]

I have another issue regarding interference. I have an air antenna that has been fabulous for 3 years. No issues until now with this amp. I get an intermittent, loud blurp, blurp, blurp when watching TV from my outside air antenna. Like a cell phone nearby is powering up. But there is not. I have to dive for the mute button, because it is loud and I don't want to damage my new (2 weeks ago) Klipsch La Scala speakers. This sound only happens in air antenna mode. I have no cable or live TV streaming service. Yesterday for the Vikings game, I had to have the portable FM radio on instead of TV sound (which is fine. We have the best NFL radio announcer team in the country) Even though I knew that my previous Yamaha AVR (sold) did not do have this or these problems, I decided to bring out my bedroom Yamaha AVR (RX-A670) and unhook the Marantz and try it. No radio buzz! And no air antenna interference, although that one is intermittent. But I believe it is also gone with the Yam hooked up.
So, if I switched brands would this Onkyo be a step down from the Marantz SR-5014 or lateral? https://www.crutchfield.com/p_580NR6100/Onkyo-TX-NR6100.html?tp=179
It is on back order, but I could wait for however many weeks (not months)
I am just afraid of sending the Marantz in for a look-see, I'd have to pay for shipping. It is under warranty. But they may find nothing wrong. I mean something is wrong, but maybe it is an idiosyncrasy of this model or brand.
What in the heck would you guys do???
The bedroom Yam has no turntable input and no pre-amp outs that I use to record LP's to mp3. So, I cannot use it permanently in the living room.
I was on the phone with Marantz today and they said to try a factory reset, which I did but it did not change a thing.

 

[Squishman]

I would like to know if the Onkyo is a lateral, not a downgrade from the Marantz. How is Onkyo generally for 2 ch music, HT, etc. ? If I bought one from Crutchfield and this issue happens with it, they are a class act so I am 99% sure I could return it.

 

[lovinthehd]

I would like to know if the Onkyo is a lateral, not a downgrade from the Marantz. How is Onkyo generally for 2 ch music, HT, etc. ?

About the same as the others IMO, i.e. not much difference among avrs generally by brand consideration alone, mostly about their features/connectivity/flavor of dsp. No guarantees the Onkyo won't have the same issue as the Marantz either.

What's involved with your over-the-air antenna as far as electronics in between antenna and avr goes? (I'm clueless with over the air as haven't lived in a place where reception is possible for a while now) Wonder if there's not something that you can insert in-line to alleviate the issue rather than change avrs altogether.....

 

[Squishman]

If I solved that, there is still the radio issue. No video amp or co-ax amp of any kind. It is a long run. Very high up in the air. Hardly any digital drop outs. Some, yeah. But it's good. It hooks to the TV antenna input.
I am aware that the Onyo or another brand might do it too. Might not is what I am shooting for!

 

[Trebdp83]

What other features are you interested in if you get The Onkyo? The 6100 does NOT have Dirac like the TX-NR7100 or the TX-RZ50. If you do not need HDMI 2.1 features like eARC and 4K@120 for gaming, the still available TX-NR696 is comparable to the 6100 in most other ways and cheaper. I have one and like it very much. I switch to it every time my Yamaha RX-V6A acts up. You can compare it to the Marantz to see if you gain anything you'd like or lose something you have now.

Marantz SR5014 vs Onkyo TX-NR696: Comprehensive Comparison

Compare the Marantz SR5014 and Onkyo TX-NR696. Discover the differences in features, specs, performance, and find out which A/V receiver is the best for you.

www.zkelectronics.com

 

[Squishman]

Features important would be true 5.1.2 sound. I need my heights to be active. I know in optical mode, you don't get the heights. Otherwise, I'd go optical, keep the Marantz and call it a day.
EARC? No idea what that even is, nor do I care much. I don't do gaming or Blueray discs. Sound is where it's at for me. Good video, but no need for the best, most modern. I have a 3 year old Sony 65" that is just fine.
Good or great internal turntable preamp.
How is the tablet app with it?

 

[Trebdp83]

It supports 5.1.2 in Dolby Atmos and DTS:X.The Onkyo Controller app is pretty good. It also has a web setup feature for those who like to make adjustments from their PC or tablet screen instead of using the GUI on the TV.

 

[Squishman]

I am not super familiar if Atmos set up is the same as height. Will it do 5.1.2 with height, not necessarily Atmos?

 

[Squishman]

Actually, looking at the back, yes. That answered my question. I think I will order one Trebdb. I appreciate your input brother!

 

[Squishman]

I just bought one on Amazon. Crutchfield was out of stock. Only 4 left 10 minutes ago, now after my purchase, only 2 left!

 

[Trebdp83]

Not sure what you mean by no heights with optical. If you have a 5.1.2 setup with your heights up front, using the the Dolby Surround mode will send information to any speakers beyond those in the track. So, if a 2.0 or a 5.1 track, "Direct" mode will not send information to any speakers other than those corresponding to the channels in the track. Switching to Dolby Surround or DTS Neural:X mode will up mix the track and send information to the extra speakers in a setup. So, you would get information to your height speakers. Go into your AMP ASSIGN settings. Set it to 7.1(Front Height). From there, check your Speaker size settings. The Front Height should be set to Small by default. If they are set to None, change the setting to Small.

As for Atmos or DTS:X tracks, they need no up mixing as the metadata knows to go to your height speakers. When playing any other codecs, the Dolby Surround and DTS Neural:X up mixers will extract info from the tracks and send sound to the height speakers. Both of them can do it for 2.0 and 5.1 tracks. They can also fold in signals from the surround back channels when playing 7.1 tracks when no surround back speakers are present.

 

[TLS Guy]

I have another issue regarding interference. I have an air antenna that has been fabulous for 3 years. No issues until now with this amp. I get an intermittent, loud blurp, blurp, blurp when watching TV from my outside air antenna. Like a cell phone nearby is powering up. But there is not. I have to dive for the mute button, because it is loud and I don't want to damage my new (2 weeks ago) Klipsch La Scala speakers. This sound only happens in air antenna mode. I have no cable or live TV streaming service. Yesterday for the Vikings game, I had to have the portable FM radio on instead of TV sound (which is fine. We have the best NFL radio announcer team in the country) Even though I knew that my previous Yamaha AVR (sold) did not do have this or these problems, I decided to bring out my bedroom Yamaha AVR (RX-A670) and unhook the Marantz and try it. No radio buzz! And no air antenna interference, although that one is intermittent. But I believe it is also gone with the Yam hooked up.
So, if I switched brands would this Onkyo be a step down from the Marantz SR-5014 or lateral? https://www.crutchfield.com/p_580NR6100/Onkyo-TX-NR6100.html?tp=179
It is on back order, but I could wait for however many weeks (not months)
I am just afraid of sending the Marantz in for a look-see, I'd have to pay for shipping. It is under warranty. But they may find nothing wrong. I mean something is wrong, but maybe it is an idiosyncrasy of this model or brand.
What in the heck would you guys do???
The bedroom Yam has no turntable input and no pre-amp outs that I use to record LP's to mp3. So, I cannot use it permanently in the living room.
I was on the phone with Marantz today and they said to try a factory reset, which I did but it did not change a thing.

I highly doubt there is anything wrong with your receiver. I suspect it is making pops due to dropping of the signal or, and improper antenna installation.
From what I have seen round here many outdoor antennas are dangerous and in violation of the electrical codes.

ALL outdoor antennas must have a grounding block by code.

This video will explain what that is.

So the first thing to sort out is grounding if your installation is improper. Improper installation can damage your equipment and even cause a house fire. It can make your home owners insurance null and void, in the event the improper installation is deemed the cause of the fire.

The next issue is getting a strong signal that will not drop out and cause a problem. Where you live in Eagan, this is easy, as all the TV masts are in Shoreview. So you can use a highly directional antenna, with strong forward gain and rejection of interference. The best antenna in that situation is the time honored Yagi-Uda array.

Here is one that is very good value.

I would use an installer, so that the antenna can be precisely orientated by instrument. In any event it takes two people to do an antenna installation properly.

When we had our lake home we also had one of those condos on Beaver Dam Road, off the Diffley Road. Since we had Direct TV at our main home on Benedict Lake, I did not want to pay for two services. So I had a Yagi-Uda array installed at Beaver Dam Road. The signal was right up to the maximum a TV tuner could tolerate. If it had been any higher I would have had to attenuate the signal. I was using a Marantz 8801 pre/pro at Beaver Dam. I never ever had any signal drop out, never any interference and a perfect picture always.

So my advice to you is to engineer to code, and second to the highest engineering standards. The latter always achieves the best results, and always to be preferred to dangerous, and or second rate installations.

Lastly I would avoid Onkyo like the plague. Their gear has had reliability issues for years. It was bought out of bankruptcy three months ago. In my view it is still on death row. I would not touch anything Onkyo with a barge pole.

 

[Trebdp83]

They had reliability issues years ago, not quite the same thing. Their old HDMI issues are hardly an issue today compared to the HDMI 2.1 issues from Denon and Yamaha. I’ve already returned one 2020 model from Yamaha and continue to wrestle with the one they sent me. The damn thing was free and sometimes I still feel like I was robbed. He ordered an Onkyo. If he doesn’t like it, he can return it. I have a 2017 and a 2019 Onkyo. They have been solid and proven more reliable than my 2020 Yamaha and run cooler than any Denon I’ve ever owned and I’ve had more than a few. Oh, I like ‘em, they just run too damn hot. Results will vary for every user of course as everybody does different things with, and to their equipment. That is a very nice antenna, though. I’m gonna’ put a pin in that one for Christmas.

 

[Squishman]

The antenna is fine. That is not a dropping sound. In fact, you hear jack with digital drops. Picture is not affected with the crazy sound. If it was a dig drop, you lose the picture temporarily. It is working beautifully with my yam AVR hooked up.
The Onkyo comes tomorrow!

 

[Squishman]

With the yam hooked up, it is great to have no AM radio noise too. I will never buy another Marantz.