It's been a lifetime, as I've never been to confession before. What brings me in now? Murder someone? Inspirational new Pope? Use the Lords name in vain numerous, numerous times in creative combination with other four-letter words?

Yup. That one.

My original sin? I've not kept up with HT technology. I use my Axioms to watch TV 95% of the time, watch a B-D disc the other 5% and listen to music 0%. I used to love my HT and listening to music. Then life got in the way, and I fell behind on the technology that seemingly changed every four days. Oh, and there's the square room issue that has laughed and thrown up a middle finger at me, Exorcist-style, every time I've tried to tweak things. At some point, I gave up.

My receiver did a re-set during a power storm about six months ago, despite a couple of layers of AC protection. It took me two months to re-name the input labels and I still haven’t even “set it up” with the included Audyssey.

I bought a Harmony One remote about a year and a half ago. It’s still in its box.

I bought Wish You Were Here on multi-channel two years ago and now The Endless River on B-D Multi-Channel. I even have Moving Pictures on Multi-channel B-D disc. Never listened to any of them.

I have a couple of Pixar 3D discs that are kind of fun to pop in when my niece and nephew visit. I have to hook up the Pannie player directly to the TV on an occasion to watch them, and then I lose out on the quality of the soundtrack.

I’m not kidding; I really kind of gave up on the whole HT thing. No time. And the longer you put it off, the further behinder you get, you know?

All of you, disciples of great sound... I lay my burden at your feet and ask forgiveness. I come to you selfishly to avoid researching this crap myself.

I have a Denon 3808 receiver and a Pannie DMP-BD35 B-D player. According to the Pannie manual chart, it should play any aforementioned disc. But my receiver can’t decode the better soundtracks.

I also have a good number of SACD and DVD-A discs that I can currently play through an old Oppo player with multi-channel analog audio outs into the multi-channel audio inputs on the receiver.

I’ve read this from Alan (thanks Alan!) and I BELIEVE that if I get a new receiver, a simple HDMI connection between my B-D player and a new receiver will decode everything except the DVD-A and SACD discs, as the Pannie player won’t play them.

You’re figuring out where this is going, huh?

I noted that a receiver I had looked into getting 6 months ago has dropped to close of half of its original price: Denon AVR-X4000. A newer model has come out with Atmos (as long as I’m in this crappy square listening environment, 5.1 is fine by me and I’m not interested in Atmos). The receiver seems to be a great price and is very well reviewed. I’m tempted to jump.

I think the only feature that it doesn’t have that would be on my wishlist could be analog inputs to enable me to play those SACD and DVD-A discs out of my Oppo. This is because I BELIEVE that in the early stages of SACD/DVD-A discs, copy-protection didn’t allow the sound to be passed via HDMI, only analog (am I remembering that correctly?). Of course, I could also replace both of those players with a current Oppo that would allow all the higher level B-D soundtracks, DVD-A/SACD to pass through a simple HDMI connection to the new receiver for decoding.

Am I off track here?

A “current” receiver accepts Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD-Master and all the PCM flavors and every type of track from SACD/DVD-A via HDMI?

Honestly, I hate all this upgrading now. It’s not exciting for me anymore because I have other things that need my attention; it’s a pain in the ass. I want to throw money at the problem and be current. Maybe not the new Oppo just yet, but if a new receiver gets me everything except the DVD-A and SACD discs, it might be worth jumping.

That last statement should maybe be read like a question.

The lowered price of the receiver got me to thinking about upgrading, but I just found myself wondering:

If I ONLY bought the new Oppo wouldn't I achieve the same capabilities by using it's own decoding to output all the various soundtracks via it's analog outs (matching my current receiver's analog inputs). I could even bypass the receiver's lack of 3D capability by using the Oppo's 2nd HDMI output to go directly to my 3D-capable TV?

Please recite 20 "Hail Mary"s and 10 "Our Father Bob"s and make sure you listen to "Wish You Were Here" before your soul is damned forever.

Don't listen to him Mark. For penance you must go immediately to your workshop and build me a nice low profile equipment rack. Nothing fancy. Black walnut in a satin finish will do.

No, I don't want a shrubbery...

Ni!

These forums have been so quiet lately. I figured if my post involved religion, it would prompt more discussion (though likely a few people leaving the boards).

I'm working on another post where I can discuss 4K televisions by bringing Politics into things!

I'm so glad I don't feel the need to upgrade.

Not until after you finish my equipment rack do your penance!

That should work, though you would have to change settings back and forth depending on what you were watching.

I'm in the same boat with 3D. Lucky for me my PS3 will do 3D and I can send audio to my avr via lpcm through my HDMI connection (at least I think so).

Hey, that Oppo even does SACD.

Edit: Are you allowed to play sacd in a square room?

I had to apply for a variance, but yes. As long as I don't listen critically!

I haven't spent more than 5 minutes in my woodshop since a project in April of 2013. Seriously.

If you really want to move to the latest tech, 4K is where things are heading. Kinda ridiculous seeing how there is very little 4K source material, but I suppose that will be coming eventually. I’m still not getting why the vast majority of HT’s would benefit from 4K though. 1080P is still amazing to me and every time I watch a BD movie that has been mastered well, I find it difficult to believe that the picture could get any crisper. (And I sit 12’ away from a screen that’s 8’ wide). So for me, I have absolutely no desire to “upgrade” the video. As far as sound goes, I just jumped on the trade up deal with Axiom. Moved from some M60’s to M80’s. I did not buy them with the HP drivers either. I suppose the M100’s probably do sound better, but I certainly do not feel as if the M80’s are lacking. The best move I’ve made is the new 500’s. There’s something about the sealed design that I prefer. There’s enough of a difference that I do not feel as if I wasted money moving to them. I tried the 3D thing, and I hate it. Ya it’s kinda neat to get more depth and realism, but the trade-offs for that are not worth it to me. Ghosting, darker picture, and having to wear those stupid glasses make it a waste of money to me. I also tried height channels and width channels. Again, not worth it. If I had a huge HT room, where I could actually set the width channels speakers about 10’s away from the mains, I can imagine that would sound pretty cool. In a smaller room like mine though, they are nothing but a distraction.

If there was one thing I would suggest you do Mark, that would be to get your but back into your woodshop. Just go make something, anything! I find working with wood to be very soothing and a great distraction from the little irritations that life throws at me.

I love my 3D 1080 TV. This morning I listened to a news article that said 4K is the next new thing to buy on sale this Black Friday, making the unwanted 3D TV's obsolete.

Is it true that the 4K won't be 3D, or is the author just speaking out of his (A*(&(&)))?

Edit: Did my own research on Best Buy website.

There were 46 4K Ultra HD TV's for sale. Of these 46,


32 were 3D
14 were 2D only.

Thanks, Mike! Both that receiver and the Oppo do 4K. I agree about the lack of source material at this point; I'll probably be shooting my own 4K before there are discs available. Still, though, I want to "future proof" a bit.

I *almost* just said F-it to my client jobs yesterday to spend the day in the wood shop. I had an overwhelming desire to just make a little Shaker table just for the hell of it. Unfortunately, I always say to myself "Well, when I get these next jobs done, my schedule will get better in a week or two".... and of course, more comes along. I should be (and am) thankful, but man I miss having a life!

I like projects too. Keeps my mind at peace.

I see the behind the 8 ball in tech as an opportunity to get with the now. We make spending quality time together goofing on TV and movies a priority. Nice to unwind and escape.

Good gear makes the experience all the better.

The new 4K colorspace and HDCP will render the current "4K" stuff obsolete in 2015 according to those in the know. The standards are still being hammered out.....

I would hold off on a new receiver if either 4K or Atmos are on your radar. Still pretty bleeding edge.

Otherwise, any current receiver with an HDMI input should decode what you are looking for. In the case of SACD I use my oppo 103 to transcode to PCM and then send to my receiver. Works like a dream.

JohnK is pretty good at keeping up with what is current and decent. John? You still out there?

I'm still waiting on my next upgrades. I want the new Blu-ray specs to be final with discs already rolling out (potentially holiday season next year) before I do any major component purchases, with the exception of the display. I need a new TV to tide me over until 80"+ UHD TVs are affordable. I'll probably just get the biggest Sharp AQUOS 1080P I can from Costco in the meantime.

My advice would be to hold out a little longer (well, a year might be more than a little longer if you have the itch right now) if you've already held out this long. Can I ask what the major motivation for upgrading now is? The newer lossless soundtracks? I suppose that would actually be worthwhile, and I'd personally go for the new receiver over the new Oppo player. But I'd go for a mid-range level as opposed to higher-end, simply because of the upcoming Blu-ray standard.

I know they'll keep working on new standards and features, but UHD, 4K Blu-ray, and Atmos are all things I want in my next set of upgrades. This just isn't the year I would tell other people to spend big on HT.

That means I can have your Mortise and Tenon machine, right?????

It's just sittin' there!

I think, picture quality-wise, an OPPO with Darby would be better than a 4K Ultra-HD TV. I have OPPO with Darby and the picture quality is noticeably sharper with Darby on. I think I'm using 60% on the Darby setting.

I doubt you can say that for 1080 vs 4K comparison.

Damn you, Charles.

I had pretty much decided to go for the Oppo and now you have me thinking about the receiver again.

I'm going to tell Joyce that I wanted the Oppo, but you talked me into spending more on the receiver instead.

you're in trouble now.

I probably shouldn't be listened to. I haven't paid as close of attention to this stuff as I used to, simply because I'm waiting on all of those big things I mentioned.

Plus, I no longer care about SACD and DVD-Audio, and it sounds like you have more invested in those formats.

Yeah, it would be a major pain picking which of the 20 speakers you have up on the wall to upgrade first.

The Denon X4000 that Mark is considering would be a good buy, but my preference would still be the Onkyo 818 factory refurb still available for about $600 from Accessories4less .

Yeah, but it still sounds amazing.

But think of how much better it would sound if you mounted a pair of LFR's on you wall.

Yeah. Like, that's going to happen. (NOT)

I bought the receiver, since that's what Charles recommended. Man, my wife is gonna be mad at him!

Ha ha. Oh, man, I tricked you good.

CV is going to have to come over and sleep on the couch for a whole week until she cools down?

Whew. I'm alive. J was pretty cool about it.

Now I can do the Oppo too!

Not just cool. Smart!!!
She knows you now owe her anything she wants for Christmas. This is going to cost you wayyyy more than you budgeted in collateral costs.

I guess that means CV doesn't have to pack his bags then.

I wish she WOULD let me buy her stuff. She never wants anything for herself!

So I spend her share of discretionary income as well.

Receiver comes today; I went for overnight shipping.

Buying stuff is fun as sh*t.

Fred, since this went over pretty well, I decided to keep Charles' name in reserve for the day when I have a midlife-crises, yellow corvette purchase.

NOW I'm going to be in trouble. I went ahead and ordered the Oppo too.

I figured that if I'm pulling out the rack and reconfiguring everything for a new receiver, I might as well set it up for the Oppo too instead of jury-rigging my two older players.

Did you go for the Darby version for $100 more? IMO, it's worth it.

No, I didn't. Some reviewers liked the enhancement, and some not so much. Besides, if Charles is right, I'm going to be looking at a 4K player in a year and a half anyway.

Keep it up! What else can we convince you to get?

Honestly, you'll probably be happier with both than if you'd just gotten one. I like your reasoning.

I really think that I will be. I'll have a player that plays everything and transmits everything perfectly to a current receiver.

Joyce isn't thrilled, but she knows that this isn't the type of thing I normally do.

Slippery slope...

I have not been keeping up with the Oppo's. I have a 83 and a 93. I've been thinking about getting another one. Which model number is the preferred one with Darby?

Michael, they have the 103 with and without Darbee, and the 105 with and without Darbee. The 105 is the "audiophile" model.

I have the 103 with Darby. Love it.

Thank you. I've passed the BDP-103D model number to someone who knows someone in Santa's house.

New Stuff is fun! Good for you, Mark. This thread is exactly the sort of thing that makes this such a great place.

Except, it makes me miss Bob.

Ya know, for someone with all that wasted "religion," one would think you'd have a little more faith.

Almost exactly 24 hours later!

Like ships passing in the dark...

The vessel formerly known as Bob has sailed through the forums.

Forgive me GOD