Well, I have been bit by another case of upgraditis. I have a new Sony LCD XBR on the way and with my new Oppo BDP-83 I know I won't get the best color reprodution and sound with my receiver with HDMI 1.1. Looking at new receivers and I am partial to HK (possibly the AVR 354) but a reputable hi-fi store is recommending the Onkyo TX-SR806 as the latest and greatest. I am suspicious of that because they have a ton of them on the floor and I think they are just trying to get rid of inventory. My system is set-up to my liking with the HK sound. What are your opinions on the Onkyo? I have not heard it.

I have heard a bunch of Onkyo receivers, including the 806, and I think they are all solid products. In my mind, when you are getting past the 7xx Onkyo models and into all the options the high end receivers offer, one of their big perks of Onkyo is that they are very user friendly considering all those options.

That said, Onkyo has been slowly rolling out their newer models, with the 607 being the latest. Rumor is that the 707 and 807 may just be a few months away. So if you are looking for the latest model it may not hurt to sit back a month or two.

Also, there are some killer internet deals available for the 806 right now, so definitely take some time to look around. For example, $700 w/ free shipping from Vann's and $600 refurbished from accessories4less.com .

went back to the store tonight and I am now looking into the 876. I talked to an salesman that I have known there for years and I trust him more than the other guy. This guy is a Tech Geek and he gives a personal perspective to his sales pitch. He is like a poor man's Alan Loft. Still researching but I feel better about switching to Onkyo after talking to him.

What's wrong with HDMI 1.1?

Deep color is not supported by any Blu-rays.
Blu-ray was designed for 7.1 LPCM audio. Not bitstreaming.

I have the Onkyo 875 and it is fantastic. Easy to use and a great video scaler.

with HDMI 1.1 you do not get true HD sound and as I understand the video conversion is not as good either. I am still learning as I go along, but that is what I understand.

HDMI 1.1 supports full resolution 7.1 LPCM audio. Your BD player decodes the Dolby TrueHD or DTS HD Master into it's unpacked version and sends it along as a 7.1 LPCM digital audio stream to your receiver. The 7.1 LPCM is simply a decoded version of the HD audio track and it maintains its lossless audio quality. Blu-ray was designed to be used with LPCM audio and not bitstreaming and that is why you didn't see HDMI 1.3 until later. It is not part of the BD spec. When you pass bitsteam, you lose the ability for the player to mux audio commentary from extra features.

See AVS forum for a complete explanation.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=738511

If you want to upgrade, don't do it because you want your little DD TrueHD light to come on because there is no difference in audio performance.

what about these new video processors? can my older receiver hang with them?

Besides the Oppo, what are your other video sources? The Oppo shouldn't be processed by anything; it should be passed straight to the TV. The only time you really need a video processor is if you have 480i video sources, and even then that TV should handle the scaling just fine. Just forget about processing in the receiver, set it to pass-through and let the TV do the work.

Gary135r,
Actually, the Oppo can decode everything and pass it along via analog outs or LPCM over HDMI. So your 1.1 receiver will not be any different than newer receivers.

As for video, most AVRs aren't *that* great in upconverting so I'm not sure it's *that* much of a differentiator.

It is true, what these wise men say. I sprung for the 507, vs the 506, only because the sale I got put them on the same price range. So now I have TrueHD, etc, capabilities but for the life of me I have never detected an audible difference. Granted, my listening room is probably a 3 out of 10, which is far more detrimental than any codec format (until new apartment in 7 days!!!).

I would say this about the newest model Onkyo's as well: they have dropped S-video inputs. I didn't think this would be a problem, and for me personally it is not, but whenever I have guests over I have found that the vast majority of their laptops still use S-video as their main output.

Anyhow, I still really have enjoyed my Onkyo setup, and have recommended them to a lot of friends as well. Unless you can spring for a Denon 3808CI or higher...

The Oppo has only one HDMI out. What would you use for your audio source for DVD's?

Not sure what you're asking. You don't need more than one HDMI output, as it carries audio and video at the same time.

For people with a receiver which does HDMI repeating with audio decoding, they would hook the Oppo to the receiver, and then the receiver to the TV.

For people with a receiver without HDMI (or just an HDMI switch), but offers 5/7.1 analog inputs, they would hook the Oppo's analog outs to the receiver to still gain access to the HD audio formats. Then connect the HDMI out directly to the TV (or the switch input in the receiver, and the out to the TV).

For people with a receiver which lacks both HDMI and analog inputs, they can still use the optical out on the Oppo to get access to the core audio on Blu-rays. The HDMI out of the Oppo once again goes directly to the TV.

I think I am getting what you are saying. Connecting the HDMI straight to the tv seems to assure I get the best video source. Will connecting to my analog 5.1 inputs give me close to the same as the digital audio source and will it decode it to give me the same surround experience as through Dolby/DTS etc? Sorry if these seem like basic questions, but I am new to this Blue-Ray game. Thanks.

Connect the HDMI from the BD to the HDMI input on the receiver. Then set your BD player to Multichannel output (not bitstream). This will send HDMI audio in full HD glory to your receiver.

Then, connect the HDMI output from the receiver to the TV. The receiver strips the audio and sends the video signal to the TV. Set your BD player to output the native resolution of your TV. Likely 1080p. Set the HK receiver to passthrough video on the HDMI port. This will send the video at full quality 1080p to the TV. These signals are all digital so there is no change in quality passing HDMI video through the receiver.

Right on. Exactly what I would have said if I wasn't suffering through watching Fast & Furious. I'm so disappointed.

Heh, I watched that last night as well.
I was relatively satisfied that it entertained me on a rainy evening but it sure didn't come close to the fun of the first movie. Sequels rarely do.

Vin did have a couple of good one liners though but not enough to save the film.

Made the switch. My 876 (great deal from newegg.com. $999.00) arrived yesterday. I have the day off tommorow. It's setup time!
Gonna miss my HK, but I've heard good things about this Onkyo.

Yes, and the forth installation of a movie is even more unlikely to match the first movie in any way, shape or form. However, I think that this was easily the best one since the first came out. But I agree, how can you top Dom's 1970 black Dodge Charger pulling that wheelie at the end of the first movie??? That's a legendary scene in its own right!