Hi I currently have an upscaling panasonic dvd surround sound system. Rather than buy a blu ray surround system is there a bluray player I can buy that has 5.1 (or 7.1)speaker outputs. I.E. a straight swap for my Panasonic. Looking for a bluray player at the bottom end of the pricing spectrum. ex betamax and hd dvd fan !
Most of the newer blu-ray models are now only coming out with 2.0 analog output, and only 5.1-7.1 through HDMI. If you want 7.1 analog outputs, any of these players are good: Panasonic DMP-BD80 Panasonic DMP-BD55 Sony BDP-S550
You can not just replace the main unit as those that are paired with the type of system you refer to (HTIB) have a built in amp and the speakers are powered directly from the main unit. A stand alone Blu-ray player can have 5.1 analog output but that will not help you as it would still require a power amp to power the speakers. The only suggestion I could offer is go for any Blu-ray player and connect via the optical output on the Blu-ray player to the optical input on your system. You will only get regular Dolby Digital or DTS, but at least you can enjoy the improved picture quality. The only drawback is you will have two units.
