Aloha Axiomites - I'm guessing that there's a link to this answer if somebody might please point me in the right direction. Just got my Oppo 981HD and waiting on some new SACD's. Would like to take advantage of all 8 analog input channels on my Outlaw 990. Is it possible to split the Oppo 981hd's LS/RS analog signals, with or without amplification ? Is so, would appreciate recommendation for proper cables and/or amplifier. Thanks.

Aloha Mark, but your question almost fell through the cracks. I gather that you want to use all four surrounds in your 7.1 setup to duplicate the sound in the 4th and 5th channels of a SACD. I'm not sure that's such a good idea since if the SACD surround channels contain discrete info to precisely locate a musician or other sound(rather than just general ambience, which classical SACDs typically put into those channels)it may confuse the location to have the back surrounds also playing the same thing(some prefer direct radiating surround speakers for SACD music to get a little more precise localization).

Be that as it may, if you want to try it, you'd just get two Y-connectors from the usual sources. You could plug one into each analog surround output on the Oppo and then run two coaxial cables from each so that all four multiple analog surround inputs on the 990 were connected. Then, when you selected the 7.1 multiple analog inputs on the 990 it would output it(with the usual coaxial cables)to all four surround channels on your amplifier(if you still have the 7125 you have all the amplification that you need).

Thanks John, that makes sense. I'm curious though - does either format, SACD/DVD-A, have the ability to support additional channels, should this medium survive and engineers decide to take further advantage? Also, would you know if the current 5-channel format is designed for front, center, and side speakers, or is the intent to have equivalent speakers in a pentagon type pattern?

Mark, in the past it's occasionally been mentioned that SACD was technically capable of holding up to 8 channels, but that isn't what the standard calls for(actually only 2 channel stereo is required on a SACD; 5.1 is optional)and with the general commercial failure any expansion of the standard is extremely unlikely.

As far as speaker positioning for multi-channel music, here's the ITU suggestion. Not exactly a pentagon, but even with 5.1 speakers the surrounds are to definitely be farther back than directly to the side. Yes, identical speakers in all positions was often suggested as an ideal.

Thanks again John. Only my opinion, but it seems like the recording industry was too quick to abandon this format, and perhaps too quick to bring it to market. I'm a "born-again" audiophile - I missed the progression from stereo to 5.1 surround, but it seems to me that the expansion to 7.1 is a growing trend. It would be a shame if the format doesn't survive to achieve it's full potential. Anyway, thanks for your feedback - 5 discrete channels means five, but perhaps I'll experiment with using my two rear channels instead of the sides...