Guys Help!!!

[johnnyblackout22]

So I was looking at this system

http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-HT-S5100...7539880&sr=8-4

And eveything seemd going well until I get to this guy's comment

You don't actually want this, July 8, 2008
By Pope Clement VII (Vatican City) - See all my reviews

Yeah, it's a 7.1 system in the sense if you have a decoded 8 channel analog output you can get a full 7.1 surround as it was intended.

But, for any other source, there's no real 7.1, end of story. Optical and coax inputs can only handle encoded formats with more than 2 channels. So any Dolby True HD or DTS HD Master 7.1 sources you may have will not work over optical or coax. Sure, you can get 5.1 through them and setup the Onkyo to "fill in" the missing speakers, even though you actually have the data for them on your source. That's not what you want, though.

The reason is the HDMI Pass Through, which, ironically is touted as a feature. The only way to get 7.1 digital audio is over HDMI, and this Onkyo receiver cannot process HDMI audio of any format. It simply passes it through to the TV, acting like an HDMI switch. Your TV ultimately demuxes the audio: displaying the video, and sending the audio back to the Onkyo through an optical or coaxial audio cable.

So, unless you have a standalone Blu Ray player with 7.1 analog outputs or a PC with a 7.1 surround sound card and are going to use the analog outputs (over 4 mini stereo to RCA cables), keep on looking for a receiver that decodes HDMI audio rather than passes it through. You simply cannot get 7.1 audio from this over a PS3 or a cable box. Blu Ray movies would need a standalone BD Player, and not a cheap one that only decodes to 5.1.

On the other hand, if you were looking for a 5.1 system, this is a pretty good 5.1 system. The speakers are pretty nice, and the subwoofer is more than capable. It has no problems playing 5.1 through optical and coax sources, and has 2 of each, which is plenty for most people. And you get a free HDMI switch with it, if your TV is short 1 HDMI input, that's a good $150 savings over a seperate HDMI switch.

Is this system not worth getting because of the 7.1 issue??? I have a panasonic BD-50 blu ray player.