Hi all, I have been pondering on various future upgrades to my system, which at the moment consists of OPPO 981 player, Panasonic SA-HE9 reciever and B&W 602 speakers. I know the OPPO is supposed to be a good player, but the sound is somewhat hamstrung by the reciever. The reciever was only bought as a cheap all purpose amp for music and films. My question really is this, is it possible to get music playback quality comparable to dedicated music SACD/DVD-A players and amps, using a high quality AV reciever? I have been considering the Yamaha CD-S1000 and A-S1000 for SACD and CD music playback, but this would mean having two players and two amps, one set for music and one for home theatre. My aim is to reduce the amount of boxes and cables on my rack. I would also like to point out at this time, that the cost of hi-res formats has so far put me off buying them, with the exception of Dark Side of The Moon 30th anniversary SACD arriving tomorrow.
I would reconsider the Yamaha gear if high quality is what you are after. I'd look at something like Marantz (higher end) or Arcam for receivers and I'd consider a good used higher end sacd/cd player over a new Yamaha anyday. There are many decent ones to choose from. Also consider a good 2 channel amp to drive your main speakers and let the receiver handle the others - that way you won't need a real high end receiver. My 2 cents worth.
However, if you've heard the Yamaha set up and liked it then go for it - it's your ears. But you should use them to decide no matter what you choose.