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Originally Posted by Jmobie
I would seriously study and compare the Sony BDP-S550 and the Panasonic DMP-BD55K. My family and I purchased the Sony one as a Christmas gift, and although we can't test the video yet (long story), the audio is phenomenal. I recommend these two players over the BDP-S350 and DMP-BD35K because the first two can output HD audio with old 5.1 receivers that have no HDMI ports. Take the Sony, for example. The S550 at $320ish costs about $100 more than the S350. If you buy the S550, you don't have to buy another HD receiver that costs $400+. The only logical reasons why you would want to upgrade your receiver after purchasing the S550 is if you want the extra analog ports for 7.1, or you can't stand the mess of analog cables in the back.
If you use digital coaxial or fiber optical for audio output, you will not get HD audio. For HD audio, the S350 and BD35K only have 2 ch analog output, whereas the BDP-S550 and the BD55K have 7.1 analog. The S350 at the moment only decodes Dolby TrueHD internally, while the other three do decode both TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio internally. I would stay way from the S350 because of that. I would not put hope into Sony releasing a firmware update, although that's possible.
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Wow, I didn't know that. Great to know because I definitely don't want to replace my receiver Sony STR-V333ES. It cost a fortune years ago and is a professional model (weighs like 30lbs!). It does not have HDMI inputs but does have optical and coaxial digital. I would definitely want to get a player that would transmit the HD signal over those cables. So what sound would the Panasonic player output to my 5.1 receiver then? For now the best I get is standard DTS. What would be the best it could do?
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Secondly, If you have to upgrade the receiver, do that first. I know sounds strange but hear me out. Your current TV does 1080i which is still a really good picture, but to hear the lossless audio and immerse yourself in that sound with what is still a high quality 1080i picture would be the better way to go, IMO. Satellite and cable are only going to give you 720p and 1080i anyways, so half of what you are going to watch will not be in 1080p anyways.
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Also good to know as I didn't know cable only sent HD in 1080i. That would mean i would only be getting a slightly better picture for DVDs only. Probably not worth it as my TV picture looks great. I'm not too worried about PIP as I never use it anyway.
With all that said then I would probably be better with either the Sony BDP-S550 and the Panasonic DMP-BD55K, that way I can have HD sound with my current receiver.