This receiver seems a bit more feature filled for an amazing price:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000OGA802/

Including the $30+ shipping?

Now if we could only get the game playing part up to the same level as the movie playing part. Yes I know, things are coming but they aren't here yet so it doesn't really matter much.

I know flying cars are coming but it does me no good now :(

Of course not everyone has an XA2 (or wants one for that matter).

Looking over the specs for the SS2000 at the Sony site, it does not appear it can decode next-gen audio via bitstream, so in your case, it won't matter whether the PS3 can decode or bitstream, because you'll have to let it decode to get lossless at the receiver.

I think most people are still decoding in the player rather than bitstreaming. Besides the BD30 on the Blu-Ray end and the XA2 and Onkyo 805 on the HD DVD end, there aren't many other players out there that can bitstream. Maybe the Pioneer BD player?

An "insider" has confirmed flying cars in the 2.50 firmware update.

Me either. This update makes it without a doubt the best BD player on the market and until they find a way to speed up the standalones it may always be the best.

The only feature I still want is in game XMB, but that will probably come at some point. Looks like I may try and sell my Sharp Aquos BD junker to see if I can buy a second PS3.

the PS3's slot loading is one of the main reasons i use my A35 for DVDs.

[QUOTE=kefrank]well, it doesn't do everything. it doesn't (and apparently won't ever) stream the advanced audio codecs. it also doesn't have 5.1 analog outs. those things are important to some people.
[QUOTE]

:wave: yep, I'm one of those people at the moment. Don't want to use a receiver as a stop gap nor do I want to buy a standalone just for the analog outs. So I'll probably still pick up a PS3 MGS4 bundle and run optical until Rotel figures out how to do HDMI properly so I can replace my current 1066 pre/pro (no HDMI, no current decoding).

Damn! Now I really have to replace my 9 year old receiver.

No. See here:

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/1064

I have that AVR. It's probably on sale since the 920 is comming out in about a few months. I remember buying it for around 350 or so. Buy IT.

Excellent news! Time to finally pop in Kingdom of Heaven.

This is perfect! I JUST ordered the Onkyo 605.

Fixed for my personal needs. :D

Interesting read. My PS3 is currently connected to my reciever via optical, and this article brought up a somewhat unrelated question: I'm getting the core DD or DTS track on most discs, but if PCM is selected, I'm only getting 2-channel? So if PCM is an option on a BD, I should always make sure the DD or DTS track is selected?

I plan on upgrading my receiver down the line, but money is tight. But when I do, this PS3 update will be a nice addition. It confirms my belief that I made the right decision buying a PS3, even though I don't game.

HD Digest says the update happens on April 15. FYI

Yeah, I'm a bit confused on the DTS-HD MA with bitstreaming vs decoding. I currently have my PS3 connected to my receiver with optical as my receiver does not have HDMI. I would like to upgrade eventually....I do have $150 in Best Buy GC/RZ though...hmmm, anything good at Best Buy?

Great news. I'm glad to hear this being made official.

PCM is limited to 2 channel via optical. So I'd recommend selecting the DD or DTS track if your received doesn't have HDMI.

This is where I'm confused...this receiver does not mention DTS-HD or DTS-HD MA....whereas the Onkyo 605 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00..._cp_ob_title_2) does. Am I missing something? Will I get DTS-HD MA with this since hte PS3 decodes it and passes it....All these next-gen audio formats puzzle me.

your receiver doesnt need to decode the sound codecs, as long as it can accept uncompressed PCM, which it should if its HDMI...

Ok, I think I understand now....my current receiver does not have HDMI, but it's not that old either....maybe I iwll upgrade eventually.

Thanks -- this helps. I was always selecting the highest audio option, thinking it would be decoded for the best possible sound since I don't have an HDMI receiver. I didn't realize PCM was different.

not necessarily. not all HDMI receivers process multi-channel PCM, though most current-gen ones do.

You're partially correct. The lossy 'core' dts track you get on ps3 is 1,536 kbps--the equivalent of full bitrate dts on standard dvd (of course, most dvds use half-bitrate dts @ 768 kbps). But that's different from DTS HD. DTS HD MA is the full lossless uncompressed verision, and DTS HD is somewhat compressed but still way ahead of the old dts standard. So it falls between full MA lossless and the 1,536 kbps core. Both DTS HD and DTS HD MA will default to the core track if played over optical/coaxial. Hope that clears it up.

The Sony STR-DG910 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver is showing up for me now at $349.99. How much less was it earlier?