Does all this decoding matter if......

[rmackay]

......you are only running a 5.1 sound setup in your home theatre?

Here is my situation while contemplating a blu ray player purchase. (550 panny or sony)

My receiver is a Yamaha RXV661. It is really nice but does not decode TrueHD and DTS-HD so the player would need to do that. However, if you are only running a 5.1 speaker setup (which is what I have with my Paradigm speakers), then is the decoding of the HD audio for 7.1 really necessary?

Am I better off going with the sony 350 or panny 35 which are about $100 cheaper and don't decode both HD formats?

Secondary question - if the player can't decode TrueHD and the receiver can't decode TrueHD then what is the next best option for that given BluRay title?

Long story short - based on not having a 7.1 speaker setup, do I need to be decoding all that fancy 7.1 lossless audio? Does that all make sense?