Marantz SR7011 refurbished problems-any advice on their customer service???

[kap'n krunch]

I have been trying to hold back but I can't take it anymore...as some of you know, I left my Pioneer receiver and JBL Speakers in Madrid last year...more expensive to bring it over than buying a new system.. took me several months to gather the moolah for a decent system and I finally managed to get some sweet Polk Audio S50s x 4, an S30 Center and .. a refurbished Marantz SR7011 receiver bought online for $999 from "Safe and Sound" in MA...

So I receive the SR7011 about a month ago and all hell breaks loose in my previous apt. (Sewer pipe breaks, etc...but NO damage to my gear though).. so I have to postpone the debut of my system to 2 weeks ago..
And oh ,man I was SOOOO HAPPY!!!!!!.. but alas, my happiness was not meant to last... (wonder what kind of karma I am paying...but let's not wax metaphysical yet...)

Friday night I get home, turn it on and a few minutes later some horrible horizontal lines started to appear on my TV... being sort of a smart cookie, I made sure it wasn't my other gear.. and it wasn't... I had to reset it to the Factory Preset , thus , losing the EQ , etc. BUT , it worked.. at least for Friday...
THEN yesterday, I was listening to Queen's ANATO and I paused it.. and to my dismay, I started hearing staticky/bad connection noise on the speakers.. and AGAIN I made sure it wasn't the OTHER gear.. and of course, it wasn't..oh ad the lines were there again...

SO , I decide to call Marantz to see what the hell they were going to do about it...a 1-800 number that was within operating hours.. I call and of course a recorded message tells me to hold.. and after 4 minutes , it hangs up on me..so I call again...the same..I tried it like 5 or 6 times, to no avail...
I finally decided to send them an email ad I still haven't heard from them..

BTW, the few printed pages I got with the receiver said that , if there were any problems to NOT return it to the seller but to get in touch with Marantz...and yes, the manual for everybody is a downloadable PDF...

And today, I turned it on and the lines were there again BUT they disappeared after 15-20 mins.. and the noise is not there yet...

I have NOT updated the firmware but, I am sorry, this is no firmware issue,,,

Has anybody had to deal with Marantz customer service recently???

 

[Jeffrey Michael]

Sounds like a bad HDMI cable issue.

 

[kap'n krunch]

Sounds like a bad HDMI cable issue.

wish it were that easy...I did check and I turned off the receiver while my BD player was on ,and the receiver has a passive circuitry that passes the signal from the BD to the TV and the lines weren't there, so the signal from the BD to the receiver and from the receiver to the TV is not compromised by any of the cables...

Yeah.. all of this has taken me to my Berklee MP&E days.."100 reasons why you can't hear a signal plugged to an input in the studio over the speakers" was one of the first classes taught by a great guy who works now as a SFX creators for shows like CSI.. David Van Slyke...

 

[Jeffrey Michael]

Process of elimination.

If you have two HDMI outputs on your BD player, try using the Split signal option. Audio out to your AVR and video out to your tv monitor.

 

[kap'n krunch]

Process of elimination.

If you have two HDMI outputs on your BD player, try using the Split signal option. Audio out to your AVR and video out to your tv monitor.

Lines were present while playing the Oppo 980 too.. not there bypassing the receiver.. I tell ya, I am good at finding connection problems.. but please keep trying cause I am NOT perfect...

 

[Jeffrey Michael]

I would call the place you purchased the Marantz from.

But first...

Didn’t know you had an old OPPO player. Could be the player. Go buy a new Blu-Ray or 4K Blu-ray player and make sure is isn’t the OPPO. This way you can rule out the player and know if it’s definitely the AVR. You can always return the player for a full refund. Either that or borrow a Blu-ray player.

 

[kap'n krunch]

Oh I have both connected and I made sure it wasn't either of them nor their HDMI cables...

 

[Jeffrey Michael]

Get a hold of the dealer ASAP.

 

[Jeffrey Michael]

At one time, I considered a “B” stock AVR, but the more I thought about it with spending $1,000-$2,000, I didn’t want to take the chance with all the various possible problems. I’d rather buy new, on sale, and take the chance on the occasional lemon. So far, I’ve been lucky with my only three AVR purchases.

 

[kap'n krunch]

yeah I know , but then I thought.. hey it's MARANTZ, can't be that bad...we'll see...

 

[von kulper]

I have been trying to hold back but I can't take it anymore...as some of you know, I left my Pioneer receiver and JBL Speakers in Madrid last year...more expensive to bring it over than buying a new system.. took me several months to gather the moolah for a decent system and I finally managed to get some sweet Polk Audio S50s x 4, an S30 Center and .. a refurbished Marantz SR7011 receiver bought online for $999 from "Safe and Sound" in MA...

So I receive the SR7011 about a month ago and all hell breaks loose in my previous apt. (Sewer pipe breaks, etc...but NO damage to my gear though).. so I have to postpone the debut of my system to 2 weeks ago..
And oh ,man I was SOOOO HAPPY!!!!!!.. but alas, my happiness was not meant to last... (wonder what kind of karma I am paying...but let's not wax metaphysical yet...)

Friday night I get home, turn it on and a few minutes later some horrible horizontal lines started to appear on my TV... being sort of a smart cookie, I made sure it wasn't my other gear.. and it wasn't... I had to reset it to the Factory Preset , thus , losing the EQ , etc. BUT , it worked.. at least for Friday...
THEN yesterday, I was listening to Queen's ANATO and I paused it.. and to my dismay, I started hearing staticky/bad connection noise on the speakers.. and AGAIN I made sure it wasn't the OTHER gear.. and of course, it wasn't..oh ad the lines were there again...

SO , I decide to call Marantz to see what the hell they were going to do about it...a 1-800 number that was within operating hours.. I call and of course a recorded message tells me to hold.. and after 4 minutes , it hangs up on me..so I call again...the same..I tried it like 5 or 6 times, to no avail...
I finally decided to send them an email ad I still haven't heard from them..

BTW, the few printed pages I got with the receiver said that , if there were any problems to NOT return it to the seller but to get in touch with Marantz...and yes, the manual for everybody is a downloadable PDF...

And today, I turned it on and the lines were there again BUT they disappeared after 15-20 mins.. and the noise is not there yet...

I have NOT updated the firmware but, I am sorry, this is no firmware issue,,,

Has anybody had to deal with Marantz customer service recently???

Bummer. I've got a Marantz SR6004, going on probably 9 years now, which I have never had a single issue with (knock on wood). Has been a wonderfully reliable AVR, which I followed up with a two-channel Marantz PM8005 for vinyl a couple years back, and it too has been rock solid.

I've never had to deal with their customer service, but from what I've read on other home theater forums, they certainly don't have the reputation that Oppo has when it comes to customer service. Good luck!

 

[kap'n krunch]

sending it to a place in Texas next week.. about $60 UPS freight... hopefully they will straighten it out... still got 1 year warranty so the repair and the return shipping is on their dime

 

[Clint Eastwood]

sending it to a place in Texas next week.. about $60 UPS freight... hopefully they will straighten it out... still got 1 year warranty so the repair and the return shipping is on their dime

Well...on the positive side...it appears that the 7011 is a good model...so unless the repair department is clueless... you should be good to go

 

[Clint Eastwood]

I might mention that if someone is looking for a refurbished model this company has a good track record with people I know that have purchased from them..

 

[kap'n krunch]

We

I might mention that if someone is looking for a refurbished model this company has a good track record with people I know that have purchased from them..

Well, they are the same company.. that was my second choice... I had ALWAYS wanted to own a Marantz receiver... hopefully , it will all be fine after they are done with it...
(Pity party alert).. so far , I've had a pretty bad track record with receivers.. my Pioneer in Madrid started giving me problems about 4-5 years after I had bought it.. NEW!!!!
I pray that this is not the case now...

 

[Clint Eastwood]

We

Well, they are the same company.. that was my second choice... I had ALWAYS wanted to own a Marantz receiver... hopefully , it will all be fine after they are done with it...
(Pity party alert).. so far , I've had a pretty bad track record with receivers.. my Pioneer in Madrid started giving me problems about 4-5 years after I had bought it.. NEW!!!!
I pray that this is not the case now...

Actually you should hope the problems appear during the first year...because then you are covered

 

[DuncanS]

Actually you should hope the problems appear during the first year...because then you are covered

In general failures follow the 'Bathtub' curve, so early fails, long period of working, then units start to fail - if they've been well designed!. So always give new equipment heavy use in the first 6 months or so, that should shake out the bad ones. Expect equipment to last 10 years, but more failures from year 5-6 will occur.

 

[kap'n krunch]

Actually you should hope the problems appear during the first year...because then you are covered

Very TRUE!!!

 

[kap'n krunch]

OK, quad bothers and sisters...
Sent my receiver to Texas (Pyramid Audio) after talking to Marantz..I just got word yesterday from them with pics of the BENT speaker connections in the back , which , BTW I received it like that and thought that since it's a refurbished unit, it would not affect performance and there was no damage to the box when I received it, BUT it looks like it was the culprit cause Pyramid was NOT going to start repairing until I got in touch with the seller, Safe and Sound, so I did forward them the photos and talked to Dave (very nice) who told me I should have gotten in touch with him originally (except that the papers that the receiver came with said to NOT do that and contact Marantz...which he said he did not know why they do it.. but hey!)..
So in the end Dave told me today that they were going to send Pyramid a shipping sticker to send my unit to Marantz and that since they are starting to sell NEW (new Old Stock) of the latest version, the SR 7012, I would get a HUGE discount on a new unit, so , for $295 extra, I'll get a BRAND SPANKING new receiver WITH 3 years warranty...a brand new one is $2.2K..so a $900 discount sounds good to me...

So, word of advice, , if you need to call Marantz do NOT stay on hold cause it will hang up on you and TALK to anyone
AND
Safe and Sound is a really nice place to get gear...

 

[Clint Eastwood]

OK, quad bothers and sisters...
Sent my receiver to Texas (Pyramid Audio) after talking to Marantz..I just got word yesterday from them with pics of the BENT speaker connections in the back , which , BTW I received it like that and thought that since it's a refurbished unit, it would not affect performance and there was no damage to the box when I received it, BUT it looks like it was the culprit cause Pyramid was NOT going to start repairing until I got in touch with the seller, Safe and Sound, so I did forward them the photos and talked to Dave (very nice) who told me I should have gotten in touch with him originally (except that the papers that the receiver came with said to NOT do that and contact Marantz...which he said he did not know why they do it.. but hey!)..
So in the end Dave told me today that they were going to send Pyramid a shipping sticker to send my unit to Marantz and that since they are starting to sell NEW (new Old Stock) of the latest version, the SR 7012, I would get a HUGE discount on a new unit, so , for $295 extra, I'll get a BRAND SPANKING new receiver WITH 3 years warranty...a brand new one is $2.2K..so a $900 discount sounds good to me...

So, word of advice, , if you need to call Marantz do NOT stay on hold cause it will hang up on you and TALK to anyone
AND
Safe and Sound is a really nice place to get gear...

That's a nice receiver