Semi-vintage 5.1 surround -- standalone decoder?

[ebosell]

I’m still having trouble getting 5.1 surround to work on a somewhat vintage hodgepodge of equipment. Here’s the gear I’m using:
1. Pioneer VSX-D2S surround receiver (no built-in decoder for external surround sources)
2. Marantz DP-870 (hooked up in the VSX-D2Ss pre-out/amp-in loop via the five surround RCA jacks )
3. Cheap Technics DVD player with digital coaxial output feeding into the Marantz.
I can only manage to get stereo (L+R) when playing back a DVD through the Marantz. The DVD player is set to transmit in “bitstream” (the other output option, PCM, I think, didn't make any difference) and I've selected Dolby EX 5.1 surround playback in the film menu (I’ve tried several different mainstream films, including Star Wars and LOTR).
I’ve verified that the cables are all correctly plugged in. When I hit the bypass switch on the Marantz, I can get perfectly good “faked” surround through all five channels using the Pioneer’s special effects.
I wonder if the problem is that this old Marantz (c. mid-1990s?) cannot recognize surround signals from newer films/DVDs? Will this unit only decode certain surround formats? Which ones? I have not been able to locate a user manual for the Marantz.
Any insights you might provide would be gratefully received.

 

[XEagleDriver]

I’m still having trouble getting 5.1 surround to work on a somewhat vintage hodgepodge of equipment. Here’s the gear I’m using:
1. Pioneer VSX-D2S surround receiver (no built-in decoder for external surround sources)
2. Marantz DP-870 (hooked up in the VSX-D2Ss pre-out/amp-in loop via the five surround RCA jacks )
3. Cheap Technics DVD player with digital coaxial output feeding into the Marantz.
I can only manage to get stereo (L+R) when playing back a DVD through the Marantz. The DVD player is set to transmit in “bitstream” (the other output option, PCM, I think, didn't make any difference) and I've selected Dolby EX 5.1 surround playback in the film menu (I’ve tried several different mainstream films, including Star Wars and LOTR).
I’ve verified that the cables are all correctly plugged in. When I hit the bypass switch on the Marantz, I can get perfectly good “faked” surround through all five channels using the Pioneer’s special effects.
I wonder if the problem is that this old Marantz (c. mid-1990s?) cannot recognize surround signals from newer films/DVDs? Will this unit only decode certain surround formats? Which ones? I have not been able to locate a user manual for the Marantz.
Any insights you might provide would be gratefully received.

Sounds to me like it is time to update your equipment.

For a modest investment (~$300-400) in a current AVR, you would gain the ability to properly decode DD 5.1, DTS, as well as the Blu-ray formats (DTS-MA and Dolby HD).
- Probably also Auto-EQ for your room/speakers.
- If you get an AVR with pre-amp outputs you would still be able to use your VSX-D2S as an amp, assuming it has a stronger amp section than the new AVR.

XEagleDriver

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Assuming all wired correctly - I think one of possible reason is Dolby EX 5.1 signal - according to Dolby - http://www.dolby.com/consumer/understand/playback/dolby-digital-ex.html the signal carries additional information, which your somewhat outdated equipment can not deal with...
Try with DVD's with regular Dolby Digital 5.1 audio tracks - I think it should work - make sure to remove pre-in - pre-out jumpers of-course and connect your Marantz to Pre-Ins