One thing I do not like about the Marantz AVR is that the tone controls don’t seem to be able to be engaged on the 7.1 analog inputs.
You mean if you use the analog inputs there's no tone controls ?? That doesn't make sense but you're sure about that ? That wouldn't do for me. I'd use the 7.1 inputs quite a bit so that would keep me in the same boat I'm already in with the P7.
Hey
@Lance7489 , I found a workaround for this situation where the tone controls do not work with the Marantz 7.1 inputs. You can only do the following because you have a Parasound P7*. It took me two days to figure this out because the Marantz AVR is non-intuitive in some areas. I won't go through all the things that didn't work and only present what worked. (For those unfamiliar with the P7, the tone controls only work on the front channels and that can often be problematic.)
- Oppo 205 HDMI output connected to the Marantz AVR via HDMI
- Marantz AVR multichannel analog outputs connected to first set of P7 analog inputs
- Zone2 preamp analog outputs from Marantz AVR connected to input of Surround Master (or other outboard decoder)
- Surround Master multichannel analog outputs connected to second set of P7 analog inputs
- Set the ouput mode of Marantz AVR to STEREO
- With the Marantz remote, click the Z2 (Zone2) button and then the red power button to turn on Zone2
- On the Marantz remote, click Z2 so that the volume control on the remote now operates the volume seen by the Surround Master's inputs
Now to operate the Zone2 tone controls is where it gets funky:
- In order to operate the Zone2 tone controls, you must click MAIN on the Marantz AVR remote
- Then you go into SETUP
- From the SETUP submenu, scroll down to GENERAL
- Then select ZONE2 / ZONE3 SETUP
- And within the ZONE2 SETUP suite, there are bass and treble controls that control Zone2 and Zone3
So yes, the tone controls for Zone2 are accessed when you are in the MAIN zone menu...and they are nowhere in the same location as the tone controls that affect the MAIN zone. The MAIN zone tone controls are in the OPTIONS menu which is invoked by a different button than the SETUP menu. Yet the volume control for ZONE2 is accessed from the Zone2 menu. Totally unituitive, but it works.
*(I guess that a Zektor Switch or other switching device would work in lieu of a Parasound P7, but Lance and I both have the P7 and that was the genesis of the question. I don't know if the Denon units have the same funky menus as the Marantz AVRs, but these notes may apply to them as well.)
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@chucky3042 and
@Overture , you might find the above information helpful for those who have a Marantz Processor AVR with outboard amps, would like to incorporate a Surround Master into their system, and be able to apply equalization ahead of the unit.)