SACD playback the DAC

ahhh.
I think that the good news for me is that the feature set suits me fine. (I think.)

Would it be inappropriate for me to ask you what you find lacking in the feature set? It is highly probable that I don't know that I need something that I need and you could save me the time and expense of learning the hard way.

At this point, I do not do mch listening, but I do use the same room and L&R for 2ch.
I am hoping to find a single box that can:
1) handle the hdmi switching and surround sound duties for HTR. Decoding the new codecs would be nice but not a deal breaker as my PS3 can get the job done passably.

2) serve capably as a 2ch pre and dac for redbook and hi rez audio – This is the killer for me. I would rather spend more money on the pre/pro so that all signals can benefit from the better dac and output than to pour the same resources into a player and send analog out from the player.

3) Balanced outs to amps

I don’t need wifi. The room is wired w/ cat5 to my router already.

Thanks in advance for your input.

2nd try:

1. Cannot decode HD codecs and use Audyssey.
2. Has a less potent version of Audyssey than its competitors.

Kal

I dont want to hassle you, and I dont normally hijack other peoples threads so please let me know if you would prefer that I just drop this topic.

I will read up on the different versions of audyssey. I dont use it for music. Maybe I should try. Thanks for the heads up.

Curious though about your first point because that would DEFINATLY be a deal breaker for me. Both the Marantz website and a review online state that the av8003 decodes the new hd codecs (we mean Dolby TrueHD and dts-HD Master Audio, right?) There might be newer and better. Those are all I know about.

Those are the ones. Check the relevant Marantz thread on AVSforum. Of course, one can use the Marantz with a player that does the decoding so that it gets only PCM. Still, there are limits on the sample rate for using Audyssey, even with PCM.

Kal

thanks. found it.
That is really wierd. And somewhere in the vicinity of mislieading in my opinion on marantz's part.
They put the ability to decode the new codecs front and center on their website but do not mention anywhere that I have found that the room correction will not apply. It sounds like there is not enough dsp power to get it all done at once. I guess you gotta cut corners somewhere to come in at the marantz's price.
I guess the new oppo bdp or my ps3 could do the audio decoding.
But is there a better choice? I'd like a pre/pro that I can use for ht that will not be a sonic compromise for 2ch. I'd also like it to do the dac work for redbook/sacd/dvda.
(And if it would do my taxes and mow my lawn that would be nice too.)