Keep my speakers and upgrade to Blue Ray.

[admin_exported]

Due to loss of work because of Parkinson's I have a limited budget. My current 5:1 system is a Sony S800AV. It does not have HDMI connections. I would like a Blue Ray player. Sony say connect via Optical but I believe I will lose out on sound quality! Is there a combined amp/ blue ray suitable for purpose that will allow me to retain my current speakers which I am happy with?

 

[kinda]

You will lose out on the HD audio by connecting over optical.

Does your amp have analogue 7.1 inputs? If so you could get a player with analogue outputs which can provide the HD audio.

There are one box solutoons around but they may not be as good as a separate player and amp.

 

[markyd]

Are you using a Sony DAV-S 800 system?

If you are I would expect you will not notice any significant difference in sound quality until you change the speakers. Then the amp, and finally the source.

Perhaps you should consider getting a budget blu-ray first (e.g. Sony s370) - and connect to you existing amp optically, and upgrade to a seperate AV amp and new 5.1 setup further down the line. At least you will get immediate gratification on the picture front - even if the audio is similar - though most likely also improved...