Help..Onkyo 705 Static noise out of speakers

[numnuts77]

Hopefully someone might have a answer... I recently purchased a refurbished Onkyo 705 Home Theater Receiver and when using it with either movies, tv or games I get static noise from the speakers. The Static noise is mild and sporadic and i can still hear the movie but the static crackle is off and on and distracting when watching a movie..

I only have 3 speakers two boston acoustics front L and R and a Center channel Boston acoustic.

The static is more prominent depending on which surround mode setting im using most noticeably using surround or All Channel (which also is using all 3 speakers)

When I use Pure Audio or Dolby Direct or Stereo the static is reduced which is how I have been using the audio to avoid the static as its barely noticeable but the center channel does not play on those modes just the Left and Right Front Speakers

Now Im having two problems

-One and mainly the static when listening to any surround mode incorporating all 3 speakers

-problem 2 is why does my center channel speaker not play on the other surround modes like Pure Audio and Dolby Direct?

My DVD player, XBOX and Cable box are all going to the Receiver HDMI input and being output to the tv through HDMI output..

Anyone recommend any solutions?

the static seems like more Noise interference but not sure how to eliminate it even with a surge protector that helps reduce noise interference..

Ive tried speakers with banana plugs... trying different speakers..turning cable box or wireless modem off assuming it was causing noise..

Only thing I can think of would be i need a better surge protector with better noise reducing abilities (i bought a 80 dollar monster surge protector..maybe a 200 dollar one would provide better noise reduction?)

or simply the receiver needs to be fixed (maybe reason it was refurbished in the first place?)

Im gonna call Onkyo tomorrow and see what they can recommend but thought someone might have a suggestion otherwise on here

Thanks for any suggestions

[Tiguron]

Pure Audio is a stereo (2 channel only) format. Not sure about Dolby Direct, but I would guess it is two channel as well. Even though some people fight it, some audio sounds better in two channel than five.

As far as the static, it sounds like a loose connection. I would remove all the speakers and move a speaker as close to the receiver as possible. Take a short speaker wire and connect the speaker. Check for static. If you still have static rewire it with a different wire. If you still have static, change it out with one of the other speakers. If the static remains it is likely the receiver. Basically you want to eliminate the speaker wire and speakers as the possbile sources of the static.

I doubt a more expensive surge protector would do anything other than cost you more money. In fact you might want to try plugging the receiver into the wall without the surge protector as a test. The static may go away. It is possible the surge protector is causing the problem.

If you eliminate the wire, speakers, and surge protector as the possible sources, then you have to look at the receiver as the only remaining cause.

[numnuts77]

I will try plugging the receiver directly into the wall see what happens.

I have tried different speaker wire because my roomie had speaker wire with the banana plugs I hadnt purchased them yet. We wanted to see if there was a difference with the banana plugs rather than straight up wire..

still get static but we think we noticed the static noise had decreased a bit but could be our imagination its still noticeable..

Sounds like it may very well be the receiver if plugging it into the wall doesnt work...

Regarding Pure Audio as only playing in Two Channel and possibly Dolby Direct as well. What is the point of having a 7.1 speaker system and receiver if it doesnt play through all the speakers? There isnt a way to override it?

I am assuming if i had all 7 speakers plugged in it would play through all of them except the center since the rest are still left and right signals when using Two channel surround modes?

[onavarr8]

Hey I have experienced a similar problem to yours. I have occasionally experienced crackling noises when using 5.1 surround on my 6 year old Denon receiver and the only way to get rid of it is to set the sound option to Direct or Stereo so it only uses the 2 front speakers.

My receiver is under warranty and I took it to get it fixed earlier this year but after a month of waiting they said they were not able to find any problem with my receiver. Its kind of frustrating that I dont know what is causing the problem with the audio.

The problem seems to come and go. I hadn't had the problem for a while until recently it started doing it again. It normally happens to be after about an hour of use of 5.1, I will all of a sudden get the static noise and have to change the setting to direct and I have to turn off the subwoofer because the static is still heard from the sub.

I will get a new Denon receiver either by the end of the year or early next year anyway because I think its time I upgrade but I will see if it will get rid of the problem.

Any help or info on this problem would be great.

[numnuts77]

I just called Onkyos Product Support and they were not much help. All the guy really said was that it sounds like the HDMI cable needs to be replaced or it could be the DSP board has a bad circuit...

He asked how long i had the unit. I was like um two days....

He said well you can just return it..I was like well I ordered it online so its not quite that easy and the Company i ordered it from is out of stock.

If the HDMI cable replacement doesnt work (I already had some HDMI 1.3 cables ordered on the way in the mail) or plugging it straight through the wall doesnt work then I will have to send it in to a Onkyo Service center which closest is in michigan it seems from Washington State..

Only other option I am going to try is using the receiver on my friends HD TV downstairs to see if he encounters the same problem...

[Tiguron]

Pure Audio is meant to amplify the signal with little to no processing. It takes a two channel input, amplifies it, and puts two channels out. I could be wrong, but I think that is all it really means.

If the HDMI cable doesn't fix it, try using a radio station as a source. Provided the station is clear (ie no static) then it lets you eliminate another possible source.

If it is worse in surround modes, then it could be the DSP. It means that the receiver is not doing a good job of modifying the sound fields. It is adding static to the signal when it shouldn't be. Can you try a 'direct' mode of some sort? Any setting with no sound field additions (concert hall, theater, etc) used? Basically you want to turn off any extra enhancements.

[numnuts77]

I will try all those settings see what happens.. IM at work right now so i cant do much...


Sounds like it may be the DSP board but not giving up..

I did want to ask if anyone knew..

It seems the receiver can only do 4-6 OHMS

my speakers are all 8 OHMS (Left and RIGHt and CENTER), wonder if that may be a reason for it..

I dont think it would matter. we did swap out my 8 OHMS center speaker to my friends 4 ohms CENTER Speaker to see if it would correct it based on the receiver not having an option to go above 8 ohms.

But still had static through it..

[glocks out]

It could be lose speaker connections or poor connections. It could be bad wire. It could be the electricity.

Make sure all the connections are made properly for the speaker wire and all interconnects. If you have an optical cable, switch it out (even a speck of dust can ruin your signal).

Try a voltage regulator or quality power conditioner.

[numnuts77]

So got home tried all that switching out the HDMI, plugged receiver directly to wall still no go static...

But I plugged in a Optical audio wire from DVD to receiver and no more static...

But the modes that will play more than two channel speakers are nearly inaudible..Not sure why that is but the digital optical wire seemed to fix the static but except nearly in audible volume guess ill have to keep messing around with it...

always some new battle haha