"I'm a newbie at this home theater thing so I had another question. Would I get better performance from one of these older units (since the OPPO can do the decoding) or using a entry 7.1 amplifier such as a denon 1912 or 2112 and having it do the decoding?"
Personally, I think a flagship or near flagship non-hdmi receiver will give you overall better sound quality than an entry level receiver from the bigger companies. What you do get from the more modern low/medium level receivers is more features and all video/audio switching at the expense of better internals and build quality. Besides, an early to mid 2000's flagship receiver that retailed for $2000.00 to $3500.00, can be bought used for $400.00 to $900.00 today.
"Am I correct in thinking that the better videoo performance would be obtained from running the OPPO BDP-95 directly to the TV instead of through the HDMI of a receiver?"
Some receivers can actually degrade the video signal even in pass-thru mode and with such a top shelf video processor in your Oppo 95, straight to the TV ensures no video degradation at all. IMO.
Bill
Personally, I think a flagship or near flagship non-hdmi receiver will give you overall better sound quality than an entry level receiver from the bigger companies. What you do get from the more modern low/medium level receivers is more features and all video/audio switching at the expense of better internals and build quality. Besides, an early to mid 2000's flagship receiver that retailed for $2000.00 to $3500.00, can be bought used for $400.00 to $900.00 today.
"Am I correct in thinking that the better videoo performance would be obtained from running the OPPO BDP-95 directly to the TV instead of through the HDMI of a receiver?"
Some receivers can actually degrade the video signal even in pass-thru mode and with such a top shelf video processor in your Oppo 95, straight to the TV ensures no video degradation at all. IMO.
Bill