Custom Dealers/Installers - Please Read - RE: 515 and 616 issues - Firmware upgrade didn't solve

I am a custom dealer that has been dealing with the same issues that all of you have been in the last few weeks. That is...The "turn-on" issue and the "audio, but no video via HDMI". I did read something else about the "HDMI pass-thru issues", but I am guessing that is related to the HDMI issue as a whole, as I never tried it.

While I have used many Onkyo surround receivers in the past, I can say the receivers used to be rock-solid. However, I just don't understand how and why an upgraded model (from the 609 to the 616 and 509 to the 515) can have SO many issues?!? Even after the latest firmware update on Friday June 15th, we are still having the HDMI issue of audio, but no video. The only way to solve this is to power cycle (unplug and plug back in) the receiver.

Now.....without going completely off the handle, can any of you tell me that you are still having this problem after the latest update? More importantly, are you using a good quality HDMI cable or cat5e baluns? I am using cat5e baluns in one job...the one that seems to have the most issues. However, I don't see how power cycling the Onkyo receiver would make everything work if it was a balun issue. We will test the system tomorrow with a 50' HDMI cable to verify, and at that point will probably then go completely off the handle. And YES, I will have a replacement receiver with me to put this to rest once and for all. Any feedback from anyone else with the same issues would be appreciated.

When I unplug the 616 and plug it back in the receiver flashes some message about "resetting"/"restarting" the HDMI "service"/"system". Then I get video back on the main HDMI output. My guess would be that if we had the ability to restart or reset the HDMI from a button on the remote, it wouldn't need to be unplugged.

Another interesting symptom for me is, I retain video output through the secondary/sub HDMI when the primary be goes out.

Overall, my impression is that the hardware is good and the software is rushed and poorly designed. From a "user experience" standpoint, I don't like the menus. I feel like there are too many operations/switches that should be a single button press instead of being buried in menus; e.g. Turning the output to the secondary HDMI on and off (the QA is obviously pretty bad. I think we customers are more like beta testers)

Menu items get disabled "greed out" for no apparent reasons. I would rather it not be disabled, but tell me why it isn't "usable" when I select it.

Pretty much all software...

All oft ware issues.

It's really too bad that you are losing so many customers over this, but I can now say that after multiple attempts to fix this and give Onkyo plenty of oppurtunity to come through....I'm done. I have swapped out receivers to a different brand and now everything is working in all three of my jobs. I will never even think about purchasing another Onkyo receiver, and I will surely let my vendors know where I stand. Obviously they (my two vendors that sell Onkyo) have already heard it from their other dealers, but I will do my best to make sure nobody runs into this same fiasco that I did. Goodbye Onkyo.......forever.

It's not just you Milinko,
I currently have 2) TX-NR515's running in my home. One is mine and has been swapped 3 times already, the other is a customer's and is in a rack I'm building and programming.
I have the latest firmware running on both receivers and they both intermittently fail to pass video over HDMI upon start up. If the new Yamaha receivers were shipping I'd have switched brands already. I've been selling Onkyo exclusively for 6 years now and I'm sad to say that this is probably it for me as well. The first nail in the coffin was forcing the step to powered zone 2 up to over $350 cost (509 was 5 channel, 508 was 7). Now Amazon has the 515 for $30 above my cost, free shipping and no tax. It's almost cheaper for me to buy through Amazon than my distributor when you figure in my time and gas to go pick it up!
And finally, what good is a product that doesn't work, has been "fixed" four or more times now and is still broken. Are we supposed to sell this defective crap to customers and tell them to unplug the receiver daily because that's "normal"?? I'm glad I vetted this crap before putting it in the hands of a customer..........................

Jonginear wrote:It's not just you Milinko,
I currently have 2) TX-NR515's running in my home. One is mine and has been swapped 3 times already, the other is a customer's and is in a rack I'm building and programming.
I have the latest firmware running on both receivers and they both intermittently fail to pass video over HDMI upon start up. If the new Yamaha receivers were shipping I'd have switched brands already. I've been selling Onkyo exclusively for 6 years now and I'm sad to say that this is probably it for me as well. The first nail in the coffin was forcing the step to powered zone 2 up to over $350 cost (509 was 5 channel, 508 was 7). Now Amazon has the 515 for $30 above my cost, free shipping and no tax. It's almost cheaper for me to buy through Amazon than my distributor when you figure in my time and gas to go pick it up!
And finally, what good is a product that doesn't work, has been "fixed" four or more times now and is still broken. Are we supposed to sell this defective crap to customers and tell them to unplug the receiver daily because that's "normal"?? I'm glad I vetted this crap before putting it in the hands of a customer..........................

Jonginear- You summed it up perfect here. I hope everyone reads this thread.

So what are you all going to? I use Onkyo because it (used to) give my customers the biggest bang for the buck. It still would, if it worked. But I, like you all, have had to go to a number of customers over the last month or 2 the try repeatedly to fix these issues.

I had a 709 that I have loaned to one customer until the 515 (hopefully) gets fixed. But for new customers, I am struggling to find receivers at a similar price point with similar features to the 515 or 616.