Need Ref 50 setup help

kelley

I have gone from loving the B&K ref 50 to hating this POS in one night! What I'm trying to do is not that hard, it just seems to be kicking my **** for the last 2 hours. I recently bought a Denon 2900 and hooked it up tonight. Using the 5.1 outputs from the 2900 to the 50 for SACD. Also using a digital cable between them for movie audio playback. Where I just can't seem to get it done is to be able to set it up so I can easily switch between music or movie. I'd like to be able to hit a button or 2 and be good to go for dolby digital, or SACD. Can't get it done, and I'm about ready to throw the f...ing manual out the window! Also, all of the settings for speakers i.e 4,5,5b etc. Which one is actually for 5.1? To top it all off the pq of the 2900 has really disappointed me and with all of the reviews I would guess there is a setting wrong there too. I have a 3 year old 36" non HD Wega so I changed the progressive setting to interlaced. It's fairly clear, but after 15 minutes my eyes were hurting. I'm looking for some help before both of my new expensive toys end up on the backyard with all of the dog ****.

racer4551

Kelley, are you having trouble with the setup on the denon or the ref50 ?

kelley

the ref 50 setup is a problem for sure. The settings on the Denon may be off too. If I bring up the setup screen for the 2900 on my tv the screen is slightly shaking. I tried to watch a movie but my eyes hurt after about 15 minutes. My old bottom line Panasonic never did that and I'm using the same composite cable so it's got to be a setting somewhere. My tv is a non hd 36" Wega. I have already set the 2900 to interlaced. Something's not right though.

racer4551

Are you using the 3 component out cables from the dvd player to the tv?

racer4551

Or are you using the composite single cable video out to the tv or to the receiver then to the tv? If you are using the composite cable i would recommend you try and and use a svideo out of the denon and see if that doesnt clean up the picture problem.I looked at the manual for the denon 2900 and it is the same setup as my denon 2200 and i have used the svideo and the component out connections with no picture problems.

danger boy

yeah use svideo or if your tv has it.. component video instead. run your video directly to your tv. not thru the receiver. that will also help with PQ.

does your B&K 50 have a button on the remote or receiver to switch to 6 channels of audio.. ie: SACD

my old Marantz i can switch between 6 ch audio for DVD-a or to optical or coaxial with just one button. it goes in sequence.. optical 1, 2, coax 1, 2, analog,
6 channel.

sorry i'm not more familiar withour set up.. but it should be way more easy than what you are going thru

kelley

Thanks for the replys. I should've been clearer with the cables I'm using. I am using the 3 connector cable straight from the dvd to the tv. I guess that's component (Y,B,R,). The Ref 50 can be programmed for quite a few things. The remote actually gets programmed on your pc. Leaves room for endless possibilities but also makes it very complicated at times. I just woke up as I decided to get some sleep before I got too pissed off last night. I guess my biggest concern at this point is the pq. I know with all of the good reviews on this player that I either have something selected wrong or maybe the player is defective. My tv I don't believe has any use for the progressive output and when the player first came up it was in progressive mode. The screen was tilted and blurred so I switched to interlace and straightened it out. Under "TV aspect" it has settings for 4.3 PS, 4.3 LB and Wide. I have a 4:3 tv and have tried both 4.3 settings besides the wide setting but didn't notice any difference. I will eventually figure out the programing issue on the ref 50 but it's not a priority until I figure out the pq.

brettw22

The only thing I can think of is do you have a HDTV or not? If you don't, you've bought a DVD player (that while one of the best) is overkill for what your set is capable of......

racer4551

What is the model no. of your tv?

pjdami

kelley,

On your Ref 50 DVD Input menu have you selected "yes" for the DVD Audio Input?

The Ref 50 should automatically adjust the listening mode based on the bitstream information it receives.

See the bottom of Page 37 and top of page 38 in your manual. If you have done this and you are still having trouble I will try to set mine up this afternoon (just got a SACD player but haven't set it up) and I'll let you know how it works for me.

As far as the speakers go, how many surround speakers are you running? If you only have 5 speakers then you should be using the 5 favorite speakers setup option (found on the bottom of page 38 in the manual).

kelley

Model # of my tv is KV-36FV27. Yes it doesn't require a progressive input but I wanted to pick up a little improvement on the audio side plus the multi channel audio formats. Then I am still set up for a decent DVD player when I change tv's. What I didn't expect was to lose pq over my $179 Panasonic. It's like the resolution is not as sharp. Images are slightly out of focus. Just slightly. I feel fatigued very quickly just trying to troubleshoot. I will work on the ref 50 setup. Thanks for the tips. Yes I do only use 5 speakers plus the sub. It seems like when I try to play a movie that the audio is still being drawn from the 5.1 outs on the player vice the digital cable. I will run a separate pair of interconnects to the cd input on the ref 50 for easier 2 channel listening.

pjdami

It seems like when I try to play a movie that the audio is still being drawn from the 5.1 outs on the player vice the digital cable.

So if you go to a movie screen setup and chose DTS or DD and start to play the movie does the DTS or DD light up on the Ref 50 screen?

The manual says to setup two favorite modes, one for movies and one for two channel. You really should take advantage of the 2900's audio capabilities with hybrid SACD two channel playback. It is supposed to be superior to regular redbook two channel playback.

Kelley, setting these things up can be a little frustrating at times but worth it to extract all of the features that you paid for.

Mantis or Polkatese can help you better than I about this particular setup. I'm just getting started with the SACD thing. Need to get some interconnects now..

danger boy

i might be wrong here. but don't you have to use a digital TV to get the benefits of progressive scan? I could swear I read that somewhere recently. but then again. it could have been a dream too. :rolleyes:

danger boy

Kelly,

sometimes when i can't figure out a problem. i reset the system and start from the beginning. i know it's a hassle and pain in the ****..but sometimes starting over might help to clear up some of the problems. and maybe isolate why your PQ is so bad. just a thought.

kelley

I think you are right about a digital tv and progressive scan. I bought the 2900 though to play SACD and would be nice to have the extra capability when and if I do change tv's. The thing I'm not happy about is the drop in pq over my low buck Panasonic. I am very unimpressed with the Denon on movie pq. I own plenty of Denon gear so it's not that I'm bashing them. I've swapped my Panasonic back in to verify. The Denon is slightly blurry and it hurts the eyes to watch. I keep looking for that magic setting that I may have missed, but after 5 hours of looking I still haven't found it. I have Jaws in now and the ref 50 says NEO 5. Whatever happened to simple **** like saying Dolby DTS or something to that effect? Of course, I've screwed with so much stuff now that it will probably take some outside help to get it all right.

KarlJShields

Kelly

I have a similar video setup, with a Denon DVD-1600 going into a 36" Sony KV-36HS500. I can't help you with your audio, but I'll take a crack at the video side:

I should've been clearer with the cables I'm using. I am using the 3 connector cable straight from the dvd to the tv. I guess that's component (Y,B,R,).

OK, so you have a dvd player that sends a progressive signal via the component out put to your tv which also has a component input, correct?

i might be wrong here. but don't you have to use a digital TV to get the benefits of progressive scan?

Not exactly. See below.

The only thing I can think of is do you have a HDTV or not? If you don't, you've bought a DVD player (that while one of the best) is overkill for what your set is capable of......

Yes, but, I think he has this capability. What you need to take advantage of the progressive output of your dvd player is an HDTV--that is, High Definition TV, which are usually termed "digital-ready," if they do not already have a an on-board digital tuner.

I think what you've got here is a set-up problem, as you obviously have a progressive player, and I've never encountered a non-HDTV with component inputs. Of course, there's always a first time.....

I'm downloading your Sony manual right now. I'll be back in a little while.

KarlJShields

"duh"-ble post, sorry.

kelley

Karl, I think you'll find that I'm not HDTV. It is a 3 year old set from Circuit City, but I upgraded over the standard Wega for a different filter and a few other extras. I guess component video was one of them. I just can't seem to find why my video is not as clear now. I even tried a SVHS cable for the input and didn't see any difference from the component input better or worse.
Mitch

KarlJShields

Mitch

For your TV, check page 49 in your manual, and enter into the TV set up menu, and activating the 16:9 enhance mode.

To use this feature with widescreen DVDs, set your DVD player to 16:9 aspect ratio.

You wrote:

Under "TV aspect" it has settings for 4.3 PS, 4.3 LB and Wide. I have a 4:3 tv and have tried both 4.3 settings besides the wide setting but didn't notice any difference.

This is on the dvd player, right? I was also able to download the Denon 2900's manual. Take a look at page 16. Get into your setup menu, and select "Video Setup". For the TV Aspect, select the WIDE (16:9) mode and give it a whirl. Start with the Video Output in progessive mode, and if that doesn't work, switch to the interlaced.

If all else fails, you might take danger boy's advice and try restoring the defaults on your TV--page 56 in your manual:

Turn on the TV. While holding down the RESET buttonon the remote control, press the POWER button on the TV. (The TV will turnitself off, then back on again.) Release the RESET button.

Hope this helps, Karl
Now, if this thing will only post one time

kelley

Thanks Karl. Good ideas to try. I'm wiped out for today, but I'll give them a shot and let you know how it turns out tomorrow.
Mitch

danger boy

sounds like his TV is fairly new.. while not HDTV. it should still provide a pretty good picture from the Denon 2900. I'm just stumped as to why his PQ is so bad. I'd say.. hook up another DVD player via your component cables and see what the results are then. If the picture improved greatly over the 2900. then it's possible your 2900 is the culprit and not your TV or anything else.

Every once in a while.. a good product has bad problems. and needs a repair. I would think if it's faulty. then Denon or where ever you bought it should fix it.

kelley

Update. I think for now I'm going to have to chalk my video problems up to trying to focus on things in the video that really don't have anything to do with actually watching a movie. The setup screen on the 2900 really does look poor on my set, but the movies I think are very good. I came home tonight and just started watching a movie like nothing was wrong. My eyes survived and I think I'll have to spend some more time before I decide there is anything wrong with the player. I think working with the setup screen everytime last night had a big role to play with my eyes feeling fatigued. Time to get 3 pairs of matching analog IC's tomorrow instead of the 3 different sets I have thrown together. I still need to get the ref 50 programmed though. Thanks for all of the replies.

Mitch