Q: I own a 4-year-old audiophile-quality B&K home theater receiver. It cost several thousand dollars and is beautifully made; it sounds great and has a lot of power. But I am wondering what I am missing without high-definition audio. My B&K doesn't have HDMI and can't decode Blu-ray high-definition sound. Would I be better off replacing it with a newer, much cheaper HDMI receiver, because the newer one will be able to decode Blu-ray audio?
A: Your answer is simple, and I think you will really like it. This applies to all of you with audiophile grade gear, as well as those with more modest surround-sound systems. It's been a long time in coming, but now there are affordable Blu-ray players that support all Blu-ray features including 100 percent of the lossless audio formats, even when used with older receivers without HDMI and high-def decoding.
The Sony BDP-S550 and Panasonic DMP-BD55 sell for $399 or less. Both decode all of the lossless audio formats used by Blu-ray and have multichannel analog outputs. Connect the player's multichannel analog outputs to your B&K's multichannel analog inputs (on your receiver it is called DVD Audio) and you will enjoy the B&K's sound quality, ample power and superior fit and finish while adding flawless high-definition sound from Blu-ray. It's the best of both worlds, and you do not have to buy a new receiver. Both players support Blu-ray's BD-Live Web interactivity as well. There's really nothing they can't do.
A more modest option is the new Memorex MVBD2510 Blu-ray player, which also has multichannel analog outputs for use with older receivers. The MVBD2510 internally processes Dolby TrueHD, uncompressed PCM, and DTS-HD High Resolution audio. It does not decode DTS-HD Master Audio (the DTS equivalent to Dolby TrueHD), so you do not have 100 percent lossless audio support via the analog outputs. It also does not support BD-Live Internet features. These limitations should not be a deal breaker for most consumers as the DTS-HD High Resolution format still sounds much better than a regular DVD, and many users will never connect their player to the Internet.
While the trade-offs are modest, savings are not. At the time of this writing, woot.com just concluded a one-day sale that offered the Memorex for $139 plus $5 shipping, and Target.com has it for $169.99. If you keep yours eyes open over the holiday, you should be able to find a similar price.
Two separate connections are required to use these players with older home theater receivers featuring multichannel analog inputs. Connect the player to the TV with an HDMI or component video cable. You will need RCA audio cables to connect the multichannel analog outputs and inputs.