05-20-2008, 04:28 PM
1) Non-ES Sony is pure Crap. With a capital "C." Plenty of better receivers in that price range (maybe less features, but you get what you pay for). I say this a a general fan of Sony products. I would never buy a non-ES receiver. Of course I'd never buy an ES receiver either b/c Denon and Onkyo offer more at the same or better quality for the same money.
2) As mentioned HDMI 1.2 doesn't handle the HD audio codecs supported by BD, so there is no way it's going to hold up for 5 years.
You say you don't own a BD player now. When you buy one are you planning on buying a new receiver too? BD's pic is great, but audio is half the experience. Just as there is a big difference between watching a 480i picture and a 1080p picture, there is a similar difference is listening to a soundtrack in DD 5.1 and Dolby TrueHD, especially if you are looking for true 7.1 and not a simulated mode.
2) As mentioned HDMI 1.2 doesn't handle the HD audio codecs supported by BD, so there is no way it's going to hold up for 5 years.
You say you don't own a BD player now. When you buy one are you planning on buying a new receiver too? BD's pic is great, but audio is half the experience. Just as there is a big difference between watching a 480i picture and a 1080p picture, there is a similar difference is listening to a soundtrack in DD 5.1 and Dolby TrueHD, especially if you are looking for true 7.1 and not a simulated mode.