Sacd playback on Sony Blu-ray player - how to do it without HDMI?

[ROBBIN]

I recently bought a Sony blu ray DVDs, which also plays sacd discs. I am trying to play the Sacd through a Sony E9000ES theater amp. Formerly you could only play SACD's through the analog inputs, as processor speeds would not allow optical or component inputs. The amp is a admittedly old, but plays great. The new BLUray is Sony also, but only outputs SACD through a HDMI output. Is There a way to convert HDMI to the analog inputs on the amp and still allow SACD sound. Converter etc.Robbin

[MrBoylan]

I recently bought a Sony blu ray DVDs, which also plays sacd discs. I am trying to play the Sacd through a Sony E9000ES theater amp. Formerly you could only play SACD's through the analog inputs, as processor speeds would not allow optical or component inputs. The amp is a admittedly old, but plays great. The new BLUray is Sony also, but only outputs SACD through a HDMI output. Is There a way to convert HDMI to the analog inputs on the amp and still allow SACD sound. Converter etc.Robbin

I don't know of any outboard audio DACs that do SACD audio decoding, at least not anything affordable. There are preamp/processors that would do this but for the money paid you'd be just as well off buying a whole new receiver.

If SACD is important to you, and you want to keep your current amp then consder getting a universal player from Denon, OPPO or Marantz - these play Blu-ray, CD, DVD, DVD-Audio and SACD and will output these audio signals over HDMI or multi-channel analog outputs. Prices for these start around $299 (for the entry-level OPPO, the BDP-80).

OPPO BDP-80 on Amazon

I believe the new Denon and Marantz universal players are coming out later this summer. I think the entry-level Denon will be $399 and the Marantz $499.

-CB

[ROBBIN]

Thanks, I quess I will ,waait till the prices come down, The theater amp ,puts out 1.5 volts and I am using K2 and Krell amplifiers into Marin Logan Electrostatics augmented by A Krele into pure ribbon tweeters. I doubt my ,ears am 58 and a former concert mixer from the earlier 70's. It's the music which counts Once again, Thanks for your help. I bought a Sony B lu ray sacd player and as usual Sony thr0ws you a curve you a curve..RRobbin

[MrBoylan]

Thanks, I quess I will ,waait till the prices come down, The theater amp ,puts out 1.5 volts and I am using K2 and Krell amplifiers into Marin Logan Electrostatics augmented by A Krele into pure ribbon tweeters. I doubt my ,ears am 58 and a former concert mixer from the earlier 70's. It's the music which counts Once again, Thanks for your help. I bought a Sony B lu ray sacd player and as usual Sony thr0ws you a curve you a curve..RRobbin

That's some nice gear, Robbin. I also favor electrostats - my main rig is an Integra preamp/processor feeding a Conrad-Johnson tube amp driving MartinLogan Aerius electrostatic speakers. The center channel and rear channels are MartinLogan too, driven by Marantz monoblocks. And although I was never a mixer or engineer, I was a drummer in a rock band for a few years so it's amazing that I have any high frequency hearing left myself.

A system like that deserves a slightly more sophisticated disc player, IMHO. Definitely consider the Denon and Marantz players when they come out. I believe they will both have Netflix streaming and some other online options, where the OPPO players don;t currently have any of the online streaming features (great disc players though).

Regards,

-Chris