I haven't opened either of the A2 boxes yet, though I plan on installing one later today. I haven't been able to use my Xbox360's add-on HDDVD player since my Xbox went into "Hardware Failure" two days before its 1 year birthday and the day I'd be SOL without warranty service.

Stupidly enough, I was originally wondering about the XA2 since it had the 5.1 analog outs for my non-hdmi receiver. What occurred to me only recently though, is that since the A2 doesn't handle SACD or DVD-A discs, I still need to use those 5.1 inputs on my receiver for the Oppo to play the hi-rez audio.

I guess it's becoming apparent that I'm going to need to upgrade to an HDMI-compatible receiver to take full advantage of all this stuff, and quite frankly, it pi**es me off.

[old man rant on] Used to be, that if you wanted a new format to work with your amp or receiver, it was just a matter of buying the component and hooking up your RCA jacks. Now, because of the digital handshakes of different components, standards and versions, it seems that a person doesn't just need to buy the new component, but also all of the connected components to keep everything compatible.

When I bought my $1200 Denon 3805 two years ago, I figured I'd get 5-7 years out of it. It's not software, which I expect to upgrade somewhat frequently. It's a damn amp, right?
Yeah, I know it decodes Dolby Digital and does bass management and stuff…but really? Two years ? [/old man rant off]

I'm not dumb. I work in fields that involve changing technology. I'm comfortable on computers and often have five running at the same time…rolling my chair between desk positions. All of my friends and family consider me the guy with the latest/greatest and the knowledge of what's hot with this stuff.

But really: should equipment like receivers and TVs need to be updated so often to stay current with the latest digital-copyright infringement protection standard or the latest, newest, bestest version of HDMI?

Is anyone getting annoyed by this stuff? Besides BrotherBob, I mean!


::::::: No disrespect to Axiom, but my favorite woofer is my yellow lab :::::::