The "Official" RX-V3800 Issues & Observations thread

[kexodusc]

Oh okay, Rich, these are probably circa 1997 or so? I remember now. I get confused with some of the naming/numbering B&W uses, and for some reason I thought these were recent additions.

Nonetheless...you're not exactly hurting in the speaker department there, guy.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Oh okay, Rich, these are probably circa 1997 or so? I remember now. I get confused with some of the naming/numbering B&W uses, and for some reason I thought these were recent additions.

Nonetheless...you're not exactly hurting in the speaker department there, guy.

I may be wrong but it seems like B&W has renamed/reordered their speaker lines recently. I'm having a hard time understanding what's what on the website, but I know it's been redesigned.

The lab where these came from was cleaned out '02 but it's hard to say when they were on the market. I was in touch with their CS in Reading Massachusetts about a year or so ago to order replacement tweeter grills but I never thought to ask them if they could give me a build date based on serial number. I think it would be neat to know, just to satisfy my own curiosity.

[pixelthis]

I may be wrong but it seems like B&W has renamed/reordered their speaker lines recently. I'm having a hard time understanding what's what on the website, but I know it's been redesigned.

The lab where these came from was cleaned out '02 but it's hard to say when they were on the market. I was in touch with their CS in Reading Massachusetts about a year or so ago to order replacement tweeter grills but I never thought to ask them if they could give me a build date based on serial number. I think it would be neat to know, just to satisfy my own curiosity.

If you find out let us know, I DO KNOW THAT THEY PROBABLY HAVE natilus
tweeters, My 602s2's have those, added the year I bought them.
Not that it matters much how old these are, they only get better with age, except my asw1000 , which blowed a plate amp (a friend had it, he has bad luck with subs)

[AliAR]

HI,

i cant even see my computer (media server in there, any help will be appreciated. secondly how do i check which firmware i am on?

i have a Yamaha RX-V2700

Okay, well... uhhh... I uhhh, didn't go far enough into the receiver setup for Net/USB. I didn't run the steps where I press the Display button on the remote to get me to the Top Net/USB menu, and then select the PC/MusiCAST sub input. When I selected it, it then showed my computer name. I came back to my PC and sure enough there was a callout box on my desktop telling me a device was trying to connect and did I want to run the Media Connect procedure. After I went through that I was then able to start working my way into the music folders on the hard drive. I guess there's more handshaking going on between the receiver and the PC than I thought.

After I discovered all that I went into the Internet Radio sub input and found some stations. Favorite among them is a Classic Rock station called "Pink Floyd Rock-o-Roma".

So the moral of the story is... RFD! AND, no need to sub to XM!

[Rich-n-Texas]

I put aside the subwoofer tweaking tasks this weekend for a couple of other things I wanted to get done. I pulled my faithful old companion... my Pioneer PL-400 TT with Audiotechnica AT90 cartridge out of mothballs and connected it up to the receiver. No problems and it was kinda nice to see the word "Analog" on the display. Checked to make sure there was still a needle at the end of the shaft, dug up my Disk Washer cleaning bar and some spray and ran it over the newest album in my collection (Momentary Lapse of Reason purchased back in the late 80's), and gave it a whirl. The SQ was just *okay* in straight mode but I used the 7 Channel Enhancer mode which helped the music fill the room, and bring it out of what I'd say was too much warmth. (I've just now noticed though that the needle overhang is WAY off, so I'm going to fix that.) Playing some albums from my old and meager collection really brought back a lot of memories of the old days, and it seems like different records have different sound characteristics beyond just the normal wear-n-tear from over the years. Whatever.

I next took a shot at conquering that pesky Windows music sharing ordeal that had been bugging me from the get-go. I decided to just make playlists in WMP to see if the receiver could find them, and it did. Not only did it find the playlists, but it looks like every other MP3 on my hard drive was found as well. Don't know why but right now I'm listening to some Rod Stewart tunes that I'm certain weren't previously recognized. The only variable that comes to mind is that I installed WinXP SP3 last night. Maybe it helped, maybe it didn't but I'm just gonna count my blessings and continue on. I took a shot at trying to get .wav's to show up but no joy at this point ("Small steps Sparks")

I found a 3.5mm mono plug cable yesterday and connected Trigger out ==> Trigger in at my amp so that pop at power on is no longer an issue either ( Kex & L.J.).

So all in all some good progress in getting the myriad functions of my receiver put into service this weekend I'd say.

[pixelthis]

I put aside the subwoofer tweaking tasks this weekend for a couple of other things I wanted to get done. I pulled my faithful old companion... my Pioneer PL-400 TT with Audiotechnica AT90 cartridge out of mothballs and connected it up to the receiver. No problems and it was kinda nice to see the word "Analog" on the display. Checked to make sure there was still a needle at the end of the shaft, dug up my Disk Washer cleaning bar and some spray and ran it over the newest album in my collection (Momentary Lapse of Reason purchased back in the late 80's), and gave it a whirl. The SQ was just *okay* in straight mode but I used the 7 Channel Enhancer mode which helped the music fill the room, and bring it out of what I'd say was too much warmth. (I've just now noticed though that the needle overhang is WAY off, so I'm going to fix that.) Playing some albums from my old and meager collection really brought back a lot of memories of the old days, and it seems like different records have different sound characteristics beyond just the normal wear-n-tear from over the years. Whatever.

I next took a shot at conquering that pesky Windows music sharing ordeal that had been bugging me from the get-go. I decided to just make playlists in WMP to see if the receiver could find them, and it did. Not only did it find the playlists, but it looks like every other MP3 on my hard drive was found as well. Don't know why but right now I'm listening to some Rod Stewart tunes that I'm certain weren't previously recognized. The only variable that comes to mind is that I installed WinXP SP3 last night. Maybe it helped, maybe it didn't but I'm just gonna count my blessings and continue on. I took a shot at trying to get .wav's to show up but no joy at this point ("Small steps Sparks")

I found a 3.5mm mono plug cable yesterday and connected Trigger out ==> Trigger in at my amp so that pop at power on is no longer an issue either ( Kex & L.J.).

So all in all some good progress in getting the myriad functions of my receiver put into service this weekend I'd say.

Maby I AM MISSING SOMETHING...
but I really dont see the need to connect your receiver to a home network.
I have mine hooked up with a usb and it works fine.
I dont use my ethernet port at all, maybe I am missing something, but controlling
files, etc, through your receiver seems cumbersome.
Anyway, glad its moving along for you

PS, does your yammie have a USB plug? Just curious.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Maby I AM MISSING SOMETHING...

Yes you are, but that's something you should take up with your doctors.

but I really dont see the need to connect your receiver to a home network.

You're entitled to your opinion.

I have mine hooked up with a usb and it works fine.

You have your WHAT hooked up with a USB?

I dont use my ethernet port at all, maybe I am missing something,{see my first response} but controlling
files, etc, through your receiver seems cumbersome.

Depends on what your definition of "cumbersome" is. If picking up your remote and simply scrolling through the menus until you find the playlist or artist or song that you want to hear, then pressing the enter key is "cumbersome" for you then yeah, it wouldn't be something you'd be interested in.

PS, does your yammie have a USB plug? Just curious.

Go look it up!

[f0rge]

Rich i dunno how many mp3s you have, but i have about 9500 and going through my receiver's OSD is the least effective way of picking a song. for example, with like 400 artists, scrolling from A to L takes FOREVER. i'm not sure what the yammy's GUI is like, but my denon's is pretty sweet and it's still a PITA

there are better ways to do it if you ask me. like that PS3 you're always talking about buying, it streams mp3s rather nicely, and while still cumbersome to find artists, is much easier than trying to do it on the receiver itself.

in theory it's a good idea, but in practice it's not all it's cracked up to be

[Rich-n-Texas]

Rich i dunno how many mp3s you have, but i have about 9500 and going through my receiver's OSD is the least effective way of picking a song. for example, with like 400 artists, scrolling from A to L takes FOREVER. i'm not sure what the yammy's GUI is like, but my denon's is pretty sweet and it's still a PITA

I don't have anywhere near that many MP3's! Holy smokes dude! But keep in mind I can sit in front of WMP and organize all of my music into playlists; short ones, long ones, genre specific, artist specific...etc, and when I go back to my receiver, there they are. Sure, I could buy an iPod dock, or a flash drive, but the cat5 wire was free. I spent the effort wiring it into my walls so I feel like I should take advantage of the convenience a networked receiver offers. Why spend funds on one if you're not going to exploit the option, like pix did?

there are better ways to do it if you ask me. like that PS3 you're always talking about buying, it streams mp3s rather nicely, and while still cumbersome to find artists, is much easier than trying to do it on the receiver itself.

in theory it's a good idea, but in practice it's not all it's cracked up to be

If I could find one I'd buy it. There have been none available since they went on the shelves three weeks ago... sold out in one day.

[L.J.]

Rich i dunno how many mp3s you have, but i have about 9500 and going through my receiver's OSD is the least effective way of picking a song. for example, with like 400 artists, scrolling from A to L takes FOREVER. i'm not sure what the yammy's GUI is like, but my denon's is pretty sweet and it's still a PITA

there are better ways to do it if you ask me. like that PS3 you're always talking about buying, it streams mp3s rather nicely, and while still cumbersome to find artists, is much easier than trying to do it on the receiver itself.

in theory it's a good idea, but in practice it's not all it's cracked up to be

I agree with using the PS3 to stream vs the Yammie. The PS3/Tversity combo gives you quite a few ways to access your songs and I found "folders" to be the best option. My folders are listed using the artists name and all are in alphabetical order. Clicking on the artist name then pulls up whatever albums I have under that name.

I also have thousands of MP3's organized under different folder names like r&b, jazz, rap, slow jams....you get the point. Everything is in order and easy to find. Just a few clicks away. I'm using Tversity to organize and stream my music/photos/videos to my PS3. It also transcodes on the fly, allowing me to rip my music to flac even though the PS3 doesn't support it yet.

[f0rge]

that Tversity thing looks pretty cool

i dont even have a desktop, me and my gf both have laptops, all my media (mp3s and video) is stored on an HP MediaVault network attached drive that streams it to my computers, ps3 and xbox. it also allows for direct file access via the laptops

it's kinda neat being able to remove the computer from the equation, and it also means i can save space on both my computers. i download a ton of movies and it takes 5 seconds to boot them up on my 360 and watch them on the bigscreen.

for mp3s i use an apple airport express controlled via itunes on one of the computers.

granted that's about the most complex setup you can have, but so far so good lol

[Rich-n-Texas]

"TVersity offers the largest user population regularly consuming Internet content on devices other than the PC"
Is this another file sharing service?

[L.J.]

"TVersity offers the largest user population regularly consuming Internet content on devices other than the PC"
Is this another file sharing service?

http://tversity.com/support/faq/

[L.J.]

Rich, couple of questions about the 3800 I'm curious about.

Not sure if your using zone 2, but if you are, can you use a digital source for zone 2? I can only use analog for my zone 2.

Also, does your volume show up on the screen with digital sources? Again, this only works with analog on the 2700.

Just curious.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Rich, couple of questions about the 3800 I'm curious about.

Not sure if your using zone 2, but if you are, can you use a digital source for zone 2? I can only use analog for my zone 2.

"Analog audio signals only" according to the diagram I'm looking at in the manual.

Also, does your volume show up on the screen with digital sources? Again, this only works with analog on the 2700.

Just curious.

The volume bar shows up during CD/DVD playback, phono, Internet radio... but not when I'm watching TV (STB is connected to the receiver via HDMI), which is kind of annoying.

Question for you: Would you buy a 1 meter HDMI cable if it only cost $.99 from a cable distribution house? A guy I work with got an e-mail from a cable supplier he purchases from, and they're offering these cut-rate prices on HDMI cables of varying lengths. The question I asked him was, are they v1.3 compliant, but should the better question have been... will they pass 1080p?

[L.J.]

Question for you: Would you buy a 1 meter HDMI cable if it only cost $.99 from a cable distribution house? A guy I work with got an e-mail from a cable supplier he purchases from, and they're offering these cut-rate prices on HDMI cables of varying lengths. The question I asked him was, are they v1.3 compliant, but should the better question have been... will they pass 1080p?

For a buck, why not

I think all HDMI cables should be able to pass 1080p and MC PCM. You should be OK. I picked up my cables from BJC before all that 1.3 compliant crap started showing up everywhere and I have no issues. You plan on bitstreaming some DTSMA sometime soon? I thought you were getting a PS3?

I guess if it's really a concern, you could scrap up an additional $3 and get one from monoprice

[Rich-n-Texas]

Well, if you know where I can get the 80Gig/MGS4 bundle right now I'll buy it. I checked CC yesterday; they're on backorder but you have to buy a second controller, so that along with tax brings the total to $600. I think I'm going to hold out for Amazon to restock. Hopefully they'll have it for the $500 price and free shipping. And like you said... "For a buck, why not?" My co-worker was trying to get a few people to commit so we can split the shipping cost.

[f0rge]

do you even like MGS games?

i've never played before and so far i'm not really digging it, in fact i stopped playing a went out and bought battlefield bad company instead and i'm having tons of fun.

[Rich-n-Texas]

I'll tell ya what f0rge, the 40gig PS3 is becoming more and more attractive with each passing day.

Who was it earlier that reminded me that the MGS4 bundle not only comes with an 80 gig drive, but a $50.00 game AND a dual-shock controller?

[pixelthis]

"Analog audio signals only" according to the diagram I'm looking at in the manual.


The volume bar shows up during CD/DVD playback, phono, Internet radio... but not when I'm watching TV (STB is connected to the receiver via HDMI), which is kind of annoying.

Question for you: Would you buy a 1 meter HDMI cable if it only cost $.99 from a cable distribution house? A guy I work with got an e-mail from a cable supplier he purchases from, and they're offering these cut-rate prices on HDMI cables of varying lengths. The question I asked him was, are they v1.3 compliant, but should the better question have been... will they pass 1080p?

Forget that...will they conduct electricity?
And "zones" carry analog only for the same reason you need two digital tuners for a two
channel DVR, you'd need a digital board for each zone, kinda pricey

[f0rge]

Who was it earlier that reminded me that the MGS4 bundle not only comes with an 80 gig drive, but a $50.00 game AND a dual-shock controller?

lol might have been me

but you're right, it is a pretty sweet deal