Audio out to RCA input on new Sony TV's?

Hgeifman, I just looked at the manual for the Ayre AX-7e online, and see that it is analog only. I'd add a separate DAC to make it more compatible with components that have digital but not particularly good analog output. Good analog circuitry is an expense Sony likely avoids to make their inexpensive Blu-ray line price competitive.

I use an Ayre C-5xeMP disc player, so I can understand why you want to keep the Ayre.

db

Dbphd: My problem is solved. I purchased the Musical Fidelity M1 DAC and run a coaxial cable from my Sony BDP-S6500 Blu-Ray player to the MD M1 DAC.

Since the MD M1 DAc is "balanced", I can run balanced interconnects from the M! DAC to my Ayre AX-7e amplifier. I received the MD M1 DAC today and hope to receive the coaxial and interconnect XLR cables next week.

As I described above, I am using a coaxial cable from my Sony BDP-S6500 Blu-Ray player to the MD M1 DAC. It sounds great.

My next step was to improve the audio from my TV. I tried the optical (Toslink) output from my Pioneer TV to my Musical Fidelity M1 DAC but discovered it does not work. Since I am using HDMI from my cable box to my TV, the optical output signal is blocked. Pioneer said there is NO digital signal if HDMI is used for the inout.

I then noticed my TiVo Cable Box has a optical digital output connection (Toslink). I connected my Wireworld Supernova 7 Glass Toslink cable from my cable box to my Musical Fidelity M1 DAC and it worked. Well, not exactly. I had to change my TV audio settings to PCM output and then it worked.

The sound is much improved from using my cable box RCA's to my Ayre AX-7e amplifier. I am running a balanced cable from my M1 DAC to my balanced Ayre AX-7e amp. The MF M1 DAC has four inputs for source inputs.

If you are looking to improve the audio sound of your TV, you might want to check your cable box and see if it makes sense to use a digital output to a DAC.