New sound technologies on HD-DVD and Blu-Ray worth the upgrade?
 

I just went ahead and bought my first HDTV, and will prolly take the plunge into the hd dvd world within year's end. I was just wondering if an upgrade to the sound system is worth it. Currently, I have a HTIB from RCA (few years old), 5.1 sound with DD and DTS. I would be upgrading to a Onkyo 7.1 HTIB. Do all the sound technologies on the new HD discs warrant an upgrade to the system? I really dont want to have to do another upgrade within a few years if I were to go with the Onkyo.

Again, I'm a beginner with this stuff, what are they key aspects of the sound system that I should be looking for? thanks for any help.

you need to figure out if you can pass lossless audio through the system. if it has hdmi 1.2a (i think) it will pass lossless audio. it wont decode it, but if the player decodes it the receiver will pass it and you will hear it.

honestly though, i would worry about high def audio if you are buying a HTIB. I hope that doesnt sound "dicky".

Frankly, I would say the DD/DTS on your DVDs is worth an upgrade to your sound system. Get a system with 5.1 analog inputs and you won't have any issues with any new sound for many years to come. You can always get a player that decodes the sound.

I was curious about this as well. I got a Pioneer VSX-1015TX about a year ago for a great price. At the time I was making the upgrade to a receiver that would do DTS. But shortly after (although I really like the receiver) I had some buyers remorse, thinking that I would be missing out on the next gen sound formats b/c of the lack of hdmi. The 1015tx does have analog inputs though.

Right now I'm using the 360 hd add-on for hd dvd, so I guess I'm out of luck in the short term. But for the future, I'll just be sure to shop for a HD player (whichever format it may be) that decodes the new sound types and has analog outputs. Correct?

Also, are analog outputs common/standard on players?

Analog inputs allow the source to decode the audio and then pass it through to the receiver using analog inputs.

if your receiver has analog, and your dvd/sacd/bd/hddvd has analog outputs on it then you will be able to hear the newer, lossless audio formats.

would i say analog audio outputs are standard? nope. they will be more so on a hddvd or bd player though.

So I should be looking for a receiver with analog inputs and a player that has analog output? Then if I use an HDMI connection from the player to the TV, I will receive the best possible audio? Also, I would be looking to add a cable box to the mix, it being the fourth major component. What would be used to connect the cable box to the surround sound? Sorry if these questions are dumb/unclear, just want to make sure I make the right purchases. thanks.

All of these questions are hard to answer because there is no right answer.
i would also need to ask you so many questions. And I am pretty good with this stuff but not on the level of some people.

if you plan on going BD, or hd-dvd, then get a receiver with analog inputs. thats the best way to future proof.

also, if you plan on doing more than one hd-dvd/BD/SACD/DVD-A then you either need a player to do multiple things or multiple analog inputs which i dont even know if they come that way.

whatever you do, avoid HTIB. They are usually lacking in features.

Thanks for the help so far... the RCA I currently have is the RT2500 of 2001.
http://www.amazon.com/RCA-RT2500-Dig...4273359&sr=8-1

Yet, as you can see in the description, it says I have 1 analog input. So if I hooked up a blu-ray player, would I receive lossless audio, even if my receiver is 5 years old?

My other option right now is upgrading to the Panasonic XR57 (I've moved away from the HTIB thanks to you guys), which I assume will provide lossless audio? --> http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4112933

Again, any opinions on what I should do is helpful. If I were to go with the XR57, I would continue using my RCA speakers until I researched which speakers compliment the receiver well and are in my range.

In that price range, I would go with one of Onkyo's new receivers, here: http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4162666

you could connect your blu-ray player to the analog inputs on the receiver. your player would then do the decoding and you would send the decoded audio to your receiver via the analog connections.

be aware that the PS3 does not have analog output so you would need a stand-alone player that has analog output.

i would spend the money on your speakers and hold on to the receiver for now. the speakers are the most important thing in your set-up.

in terms of budget, experts will tell you to spend anywhere from 55-70% of your entire budget on speakers and the remaining on receiver, sources, etc.

Thanks guys,
Mr Salty - I was researching that receiver, but their website says it's HDMI passthrough... would you still recommend?

Onkyo makes awesome receivers, and great bang for the buck. I'd rather go with an Onkyo over a Panasonic, even if it meant running an additional optical cable to it.

Spacey-
Sorry if this is dumb, but are the analog inputs on page 7 of this manual the ones you are referring to?
http://service.us.panasonic.com/OPERMANPDF/SAXR57.PDF

page 8