Hi there,
I am thinking of reconfiguring my home theater area. 2 Reasons: preparation for the 7.1 sound and addition of zone 2, redirected to an adjacent office.
My current receiver is Marantz SR3001 with really rudimentary Zone 2 support. It has 7.1 input and output which works great with decoded digital sound input from Oppo BD-83. 2 of the Surround Back channels can be redirected to Zone 2. Unfortunately, its Zone 2 does not provide volume control independently, nor can it turn off the main zone and listen to just Zone 2. So I must upgrade...
I am trying to find a used receiver with the following characteristics:
- Used. Latest codecs support not important - I'll do decoding in the Oppo.
- 7.1 amplification in the main zone.
- HDMI input that will accept and play decoded 7.1 LPCM 192 stream from Oppo over HDMI
- Independently controlled Zone 2 pre-amp that can output both analog (FM, etc) and digital (LPCM over HDMI) stream to the external amp
OR what would be even better is
- Independently controlled Zone 2 amplification that can output analog and digital signal using internal amplification (I'd love to not have to buy an extra stereo amp for Zone2)
I looked at local craigslist and found used Marantz SR8005 and SR7001, which almost fit the bill EXCEPT for they will not output digital audio input into Zone 2. The way I read this is that if I feed the sound through HDMI from Oppo I won't hear it in Zone 2. I'd rather not feed in both analog stereo in addition to HDMI, although I guess that's an option.
I also reviewed last few years of Rotel of receivers (I have a Rotel RX-1052 upstairs powering 4 zones which I am extremely happy with) and similarly to Marantz, none of them output digital audio out to Zone 2.
Any pointers on other brands/models?
My budget is <=500 for the used receiver which seems to me plenty enough, but maybe not?
Thank you,
Daniel
I am thinking of reconfiguring my home theater area. 2 Reasons: preparation for the 7.1 sound and addition of zone 2, redirected to an adjacent office.
My current receiver is Marantz SR3001 with really rudimentary Zone 2 support. It has 7.1 input and output which works great with decoded digital sound input from Oppo BD-83. 2 of the Surround Back channels can be redirected to Zone 2. Unfortunately, its Zone 2 does not provide volume control independently, nor can it turn off the main zone and listen to just Zone 2. So I must upgrade...
I am trying to find a used receiver with the following characteristics:
- Used. Latest codecs support not important - I'll do decoding in the Oppo.
- 7.1 amplification in the main zone.
- HDMI input that will accept and play decoded 7.1 LPCM 192 stream from Oppo over HDMI
- Independently controlled Zone 2 pre-amp that can output both analog (FM, etc) and digital (LPCM over HDMI) stream to the external amp
OR what would be even better is
- Independently controlled Zone 2 amplification that can output analog and digital signal using internal amplification (I'd love to not have to buy an extra stereo amp for Zone2)
I looked at local craigslist and found used Marantz SR8005 and SR7001, which almost fit the bill EXCEPT for they will not output digital audio input into Zone 2. The way I read this is that if I feed the sound through HDMI from Oppo I won't hear it in Zone 2. I'd rather not feed in both analog stereo in addition to HDMI, although I guess that's an option.
I also reviewed last few years of Rotel of receivers (I have a Rotel RX-1052 upstairs powering 4 zones which I am extremely happy with) and similarly to Marantz, none of them output digital audio out to Zone 2.
Any pointers on other brands/models?
My budget is <=500 for the used receiver which seems to me plenty enough, but maybe not?
Thank you,
Daniel
