Pre-Amp Issues

[Yamaki]

After purchasing my new Sony 70" XBR 4K television, I began to have HDMI handshake issues, namely no video on the TV and intermittent sound coming from the pre-amp...right after I plugged the TV in and said good-bye to my old Samsung LED DLP. Oh, there were never any handshake issues between the pre-amp and the Sammy.

This was confusing as the TV is not the source of the audio to the pre-amp. I surmised that the video loss was a communication problem between the TV and pre.

So after trying different cables and different inputs/outputs at the TV and pre ends of the equation, I added a second HDMI cable and brought up the pre-amp menu. No problem with video there but the output is 720p so I didn't expect one.

More testing ensued with no success so I called the pre-amp manufacturer and we tried a firmware upgrade. No joy. So we tried a factory total component reset. Again, no joy. So they asked me to send it in, it arrived in their shop on 7/11 and it's been there ever since.

Of course, no pre-amp means no music from the main system, no audio for TV or movie watching except through the TV speakers (now that SUCKS, man! ) and generally a less than optimum situation.

I connected the bluray and cable STB directly to the TV and those all work, of course. It keeps coming back to the pre-amp, doesn't it.

I called the pre-amp manufacturer today to check on the status (testing but cannot duplicate customera complaint - figures) so I tell them to button it up and send it back. We talked a bit about HDMI 1.4a protocols and the tech explained that the 1.4a version was totally compatible with the resolutions demanded by the TV, which confirmed what I had read.

I then contact Sony tech via chat on their website.

The first chat session was a total technical flop. The person at the other end of the interwebs from me stuck to the company script, even going so far as to send me a link showing me how to connect my TV to an HDMI source after I explained I knew how to hook up the unit, had read the manual and had tested with different cables, inputs and outputs. I took offense at that.

After terminating that session and moving on to other things, I re-visited Sony tech chat and this time I got a very helpful person who walked me through a HDMI reset procedure I could try when the pre-amp gets back to me.

I am hopeful but at the same time skeptical that my issue will be resolved. I may end up having to split audio and video out from each component, with HDMI going to the TV from the bluray and STB, with audio going to the pre-amp via another connection. If so, I've got some programming ahead of me.

Or...maybe a new pre-amp is in my future...

My question to anyone who has managed to reach the end of this diatribe is...

Has anyone here had a similar experience and managed to work through it and find a fix?

Thanx in advance for any input you may have.