It all worked out (and yes, customer pays to ship the unit back on warranty repairs, even in the first week). It took about 6 or 7 weeks to get my A16 back, and since it has new hardware (APM and ARM boards) it had to run the 2.15 firmware and so was not fully functional (with respect to PRIR...

Ouch. So sorry to hear this. My brand new A16 last June lasted 4 days before a red screen of death occurred and I had to send it back for a solder repair. They really need to address QC issues.

Trying either the coax or optical S/PDIF output - most AVRs or audio amplifiers will have one or both types of inputs - would definitely help narrow down the source of the problem within the A16.

Much appreciated! I also recalled this list of SQ-encoded CDs and found it in a search: Quad Compact Discs

I obtained a Surround Master V3 and hooked it up this evening via the line inputs. Works great! I configured a 5.1 PCM listening room with Lb/Rb (my large rears) for Ls/Rs and tried out a number of my stereo albums. Quad conversions using the “Involve” encoder sound very good indeed, and I love...

It’s funny how much the market fluctuates. I managed to find it about 6 months ago for about $30. It’s always worth cycling through places like Amazon as sometimes there will be a Goodwill or other thrift store selling things at a bargain. I’d hate to tell you how little I paid for the Sergeant...

The E. Power Biggs “Bach: The Four Great Toccatas & Fugues” quad SACD recorded in the German church with an organ in each of the corners and the four manuals at the center is not to be missed.

Just curious, did you have a mix of album types (SQ, QS, CD-4) and if so which sounded better? Q4 and Q8, assuming good mixes, always sound great to me other than tape hiss. There are some KBFH SQ broadcasts from FM in the wild that are very interesting (I particularly love a live Faces...

I do have Auro3D already. The one additional advantage to the SM is that, if I read correctly, it can decode SQ-encoded material (found on some vintage quad recordings). I’m not sure whether Auro3D can do that, but I need to read further. I don’t believe there is a good software SQ decoder...

I’m curious as to whether anyone here has used a Surround Master to input multichannel to the A16 via the analog inputs. I don’t have an AVR with individual analog inputs, just HDMI, but maybe this would work well for my stereo album collection? I know that Auro3D is a great option too. If the...

Follow the dts:X installation instructions found in the Downloads section of the Smyth website. It’s the same process as you use for the Auro3D permission file. Put the bin file in a REALISER folder at the root of the SD card directory structure. Power up your A16 with the card installed and...

You can try just a factory reset, rather than a restore. Maybe try the mild level first, then the full reset (that rebuilds the factory rooms) if that doesn’t do the trick. Then a firmware update if the prior two fail (which will need the mild reset afterwards).

If you go to Settings/Updates-About and then scroll down one screen you can see in pink what APM decoder licenses (for lack of a better term) have been installed. You need dts:X for Auro3D.

If you are at 2.14 you have older hardware and don’t need to update AFAIK for HPEQ/PRIRs . The new APM and ARM motherboard required 2.15. I will defer to others about staying or not at 2.14. The DTS and Auro3D enables survived my 2.15 -> 2.17 so at least for that upgrade I did not have to...

Also is yours a brand new A16? If so check to make sure it is running the 2.17 firmware instead of 2.15. Otherwise PRIR and HPEQ measurements will have disappointing results.