Video Processor Drama
 

This is strange. I have a DVDO iScan Duo VP, which I've been using for a few years. Four sources plug into it (cable box, LD, two BD players). The system is plugged into two Furman units: the Elite-15PFi and the SPR-20i; the Elite is plugged into the SPR, so everything is either plugged into the Elite or into the SPR directly. Last night I'd removed the C2300 preamp from my setup to change out tubes. Having done that, I put the 2300 back. But when I plugged it in, I lost my cable feed immediately. I had a blank blue screen with no sound. No pops or noises, it just . . . happened.

I'd been watching the news and was listening to what was going on. Normally nothing is on when I do something like this, but I was engaged with the news. Whether turning things off would have mattered, I don't know. Now, the Duo doesn't recognize the cable box and back-up BD inputs (at least). I get the dreaded red LED, which means no signal. Oddly, the inputs with the main BD and LD players don't have a problem. I rebooted the VP, the back-up BDP and the cable box. No joy.

I may try a few more things, but I'm already thinking about replacing the Duo if I can't resolve things soon rather than try getting it fixed because replacing it is quicker. Though discontinued, it's still available. BUT, there's the Lumagen Radiance 2124/2144. Much more money, but it would offer 4K upscaling in case my Kuro dies and I go for a 4K TV. It's supposed to be better than the Duo, but not 2X plus as good I don't think.

What I wonder is what happened exactly. It seems to have been some sort of surge or feedback which tweaked the Duo VP when the 2300 was plugged in. I might have not plugged the 2300 into the same outlet it was in before; maybe the caps I put on the unused connections of the 2300 made a difference; I don't know. Does anyone have an idea?

Was the DVDO iScan powered up when you removed a live HDMI?

Thanks for the reply. No, I didn't move any HDMI cables, only plugged the 2300 back in. And when troubleshooting, it wasn't powered up when moving HDMIs.

I did try the back-up BD on another HDMI input, but the Duo still doesn't see it. So far only HDMI 2 (main BDP) and the S-Video (LD) connections work. Since the VP's processing is better than the TV's, I want to keep a VP in the mix rather than connect everything to the TV.

That really is quite strange.

Slow at work at the moment, but I have one idea.

The "PF" in the Elite-15PFi name stands for "Power Factor," and there are four outlets which carry a 45A current reserve for amplifiers. Two are occupied by my 501s. I probably plugged the preamp into one of those rather than back into one of the A/V outlets, which is where I think it was at first. So lacking any other explanation, I believe this is the most reasonable scenario.

I remember a couple years back I had the SPR plugged into one of the Elite's PF outlets, and whenever the air conditioner's compressor kicked in, the system was shut down due to a line surge. Plugging the Elite into the SPR instead solved the problem.

Decision made, after a bit of angst. I've ordered another Duo VP.

I'd considered the Lumagen Radiance 2144 because of the 4K upscaling, which would future-proof me if my Kuro went down and I bought a 4K TV (a 55" flat OLED would be the ideal, and they're on the way from LG), plus it has more options for tweaking a TV's picture; it is better than the Duo overall. But again, I didn't think the improvements were enough (based upon my research) to justify the much greater expense. And this time of year is a bad time for such a large discretionary expenditure, what with the holidays coming and other things I want/need to do.

The Duo is more than sufficient for my current needs and system. I got it at a tremendous discount also, so that made it easier. It's much simpler to operate than the Lumagen and I'm already familiar with it, so I took the chance and sprung. Of course, if the Kuro does die and I get a 4K set the Duo's useless (unless everything's set to pass through with no processing), but that's a chance I'm taking.

I installed the new iScan Duo and have a setting or two to tweak, but it's up and running. The sound from the TV seemed better than before when running the cable box straight to the TV via HDMI. Video looks better, too. All the HDMI inputs on my TV are ISF-calibrated, so the Duo's processing must be the difference. I'm pleased so far.

I never did contact Furman to ask what they thought of the scenario that knocked out the previous Duo's inputs. Maybe I should still do that.

https://criticalmissives.files.wordp...-good-luck.jpg

:D

I finally got off an e-mail to Furman asking if they have any ideas as to what happened with the VP's inputs being taken out as they were. I included a PDF of the power connections when the incident occurred; I've attached it here.