I haven't been on these forums for a few years; a special hello to the old-timers here!

I'm honestly not into the HT tweaking that I used to enjoy. I've got too many other things going on and am basically looking for plug and play at this point. That being said, I'm setting up my HT in a new house and considering a new receiver.

My current ~5 year old Denon 4000 receiver doesn't handle 4K. I've gone from a TiVo with a traditional Comcast cable to using Roku devices at all my TVs now.

I'm tempted to get a 4K-capable receiver to enable easier switching of 4K devices rather than having to sometimes change TV inputs and receiver inputs independently. It's an annoyance from my point of view, but a serious PIA for my wife to deal with. I almost pulled the trigger on a Denon AVR-X2600H the other night, but noticed that it doesn't have multi-channel analog inputs for playing all my multi-channel SACD and DVD-Audio discs from my older Oppo player.

Am I correct in remembering that multi-channel SACD or DVD-Audio discs only played through analog inputs due to some copy-protection issues? Much as I'd love a new receiver to update my system in the new house, I don't want to lose SACD and DVD-A playback capability.

Also, I'm enjoying a higher level of automation in this house, including my Amazon HD music subscription playing on multiple speakers around the house. I'd like to bring that capability into my HT, and considered buying an Amazon Echo Link for $200 to do that. It was when I saw the new Denon receivers capability to work with Amazon Music HD that I almost pulled the trigger. I can't seem to get info on exactly how the Amazon music capability integrates into the receiver that had me almost buying one just to see. I assume that the Denon treats it something like an app, but I'm not sure. So, question number 2: Does anyone use a newer-generation Denon with Amazon Music HD? If so, are there limitations or maybe frustrations with using the assumed app to find your way to music or something?

Welcome back Mark, I have often wondered what happened to you and a bunch of other regulars from years past. Moving into the newer (at least to me) audio/video techs is in my future as well. I would rather avoid costly and/or redundant expenditures. So I am still in a read as much as I can stage, not in any hurry.
Anyway, good to see you’re still with us.
cheers Jeff

Hi Mark

You can get high res, multichannel SACD/DVD Audio output through HDMI, but not toslink, or coaxial.

Really? That would solve my problem! Was it the case at one time that it was not allowed over HDMI for some copy-protection reason? Or maybe specific players?

And, "Hi" 2x6!

I'm just here to say Hi to Mark...

Hi Mark!

Hi Nick!

Hi Jeff!

I think the higher level Denon still has multichannel inputs 3600 and up.
As long as they're in between HDMI versions you should be fine with protection circuits. As most all AVR now use HDMI for their only multichannel 5.1+ decoding

Mark, the X2600H supports PCM for DVD-Audio and DSD for SACD.

Thanks for the help and "hellos" everyone! I picked up the receiver yesterday (they seem to be somewhat hard to find!) but won't have a chance to open the box for a few days. I guess now I'll have to hope that my old OPPO will output over HDMI!

I'll report back!

Nice to see ya again Mark!

You too, Randy!

So, I promised to report back and the news is good.

I did a quick set up and tried out some SACD and DVD-A discs, and all went well!

Further, for those old-timers here that might remember all the issues I had with my square room, I can tell you that in my new room, the bass is fantastic! I only played a bit of some test discs, but a 4K Hacksaw Ridge battle scene was incredible!

I have move to separates . I changed my Yamaha to Marantz AV7705 to pair with ADA1500 3 channel & ADA1000 6 for 4 QS10S and I will add front reference fronts. Looking forward to hear the new sound.



RJ

To play the SACD/DVD-A format, the analog connections were required but if you switch to a digital connection, the discs should have a Dolby Digital equivalent. I used to A/B the difference between Dolby and the DVD-A format during home auditions for people. I probably even left a review on these forums about it, oh maybe ten years ago.

Just checked wiki and yes, the sound goes to the video data portion of the disc where DD5.1 gets played back.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD-Audio#Player_compatibility

If you want to hear the difference, setup your DVD-A using analog on one input on your AVR, then connect the digital to another input on your AVR and you can A/B back and forth between the two inputs. Note the SPL playback volume could be a bit different so you might hear a slightly louder sound via one of the inputs over the other. Don't assume it sounds better but rather listen for differences in the location of vocals, instruments. I found the biggest difference was that.
If i recall the DD5.1 sounded more immersive, like you were sitting with a band playing all around you whereas the analog format sounded more upfront like you were sitting in the front row of the auditorium.