If you're going to set up a surround sound setup for home theater, the SR5400 doesn't seem to support Dolby Digital, which is the base layer of modern surround sound.
While the LX301 may not be the pinnacle of sound quality, it's hard to imagine how modifying it to add preouts would help.
As Garet Jax says, try it as-is and see if it's any good. If not, an audio extractor to analog preouts may be worth trying (as long as it's inexpensive), but may add delay on the audio.
Otherwise, the search for a modern AVR would restart.
Hi all. First post but long time lurker.
I'm finally moving into a house where I'll be able to do a proper set. Problem is my current avr. A marantz 5400. It was a gift and is still working perfectly and I love the sound coming out of it. I wanted to be a little more up to date and manage to get a pioneer elite lx301 on the cheap. My initial thinking was to do a little mod to add some preout on the pioneer and use the input of the Marantz. Am I over doing it or the lx301 being more recent will sound as good?
