Surround setup problem

I mostly listen to stereo from Roon via ethernet to an Ayre QX-5/20 digital hub.

I'll try another HDMI cable.

If it's OK to have both the balanced and single-ended inputs to the amp connected, switching between them might be an easy way to select the Ayre preamp for stereo and the Bryston processor for surround.  I sent an email to Ayre.

auxinput - The problem was a faulty HDMI cable.  HDMI from the Ayre DX-5 DSD disc player to the Bryston SP3 processor that outputs balanced analog to the Ayre KX-5/20 preamp seems to be flawless.  The setup awaits only connecting the NAD amps for side and rear surround.

Thanks for the tip,
db 

I don't know what specifically the HDMI cable is, except it seems much more substantial than the cable it replaces.  The sound with Blue-rays, both music and cinema, is superb.  I was surprised that a setup aimed at the reproduction of music, Ayre 5 series, KEF Reference 1s, Velodyne HGS-15s, could portray the special effects in Casino Royale so well.

I’ve listened many times to a Blu-ray (Thielemann with the Wiener Philharmoniker) of the 2nd movement of Beethoven’s 7th symphony, both in stereo and surround. I always prefer surround. That was as true with my previous setup of Parasound J2 by-pass, Bryston SP3, JC-1 monoblocks, and KEF Reference 107/2s as it is with my current setup of Ayre KX-5/20 by-pass, SP3, VX-5/20. and KEF Reference 1s. An Ayre DX-5 DSD was the disc player with bass managed Velodyne HGS-15s for both setups. Same preference holds true for the "Legends of Jazz" Blu-ray, also listened to many times.

Last night I once again had dropouts with a surge in volume following each dropout. This morning no dropouts no surges. I really don’t understand.

Once again, the problem setup is HDMI from Ayre DX-5 DSD to Bryston SP3 with balanced analog from the SP3 to an Ayre KX-5 Twenty by-pass input (and to a pair of NAD digital amps for side and rear surround). The DX-5 also is connected via balanced analog directly to the KX-5; that works flawlessly. Cox cable is connected via HDMI to the SP3 with HDMI output to an Audio Engine 2+, but it can also output via balanced analog to the by-pass input of the KX-5; both work flawlessly.

Video appears unaffected by the audio dropouts, i.e., there are no corresponding video dropouts.

The other input to the KX-5 is from an Ayre QX-5 Twenty acting as a Roon endpoint via Ethernet, but that seems an unlikely contributor to the problem.

db

I bought the cable from Poland.  The cable I'm using has endpoints that look very like those of the Nordost cables,  It's got some sort of greenish material on the outside, and it's fairly thick.

My experience with an ultraSound Roon endpoint that has to be powered up in a specific order with the DAC suggests the intermittent dropouts may have to do with order of starting up the Ayre DX-5 DSD and Bryston SP3. It may be an HDMI handshake issue. If I select the disc player before powering up the DX-5 there are no dropouts; if I switch from cable to disc player, dropouts are likely. I know that shouldn’t be a problem, but maybe neither Ayre nor Bryston is as HDMI capable as Sony.

db