i.LINK connection really makes HT sound better ???

Thx so far,

i-link allows you to feed SACD and DVD-A out of the player in digital, bypassing the DAC's in the player -- so you can use better quality DAC's in your pre-amp or receiver. Without i-link, you have to use the DAC in the player and take the SACD or DVD-A signal out in analogue using one interconnect per channel. Without i-link, you can take every other format *except* SACD and DVD-A out of the player in digital using coax or toslink, bypassing the player's DAC, but to achieve the same thing with high rez, you need i-link, firewire, HDMI, or some other proprietary method. So, if the Pioneer 59AVi sounds better using i-link, I would assume that's because it allows you to use the audio DAC's in the 59 TXi receiver for SACD and DVD-A. Not sure why other formats would sound any better -- if you are currently using coax for those formats, you are already using the DAC's in the receiver for them -- unless the theory is that the i-link is a better interconnect and passes the signal better than coax, which may or may not be be true.

I read from the very limited information available - from Japanese audio press mostly as I have yet to see it from Western audio press and Internet sources - that
1) i-link (between top-of-the-line Pioneer DVD player and AV receiver/amp) sounds better than regular coax, though they didn't tried any real expensive coax and
2) Quality of the i-link cable has a major impact on sound. (Surprise!)