Hi there

I own a Yamaha RX-V863 bought in 2008 when I switch my old Projection TV for a brand new Plasma HDTV.
So far so good. No need of anything, except maybe a few more HDMI in ... this amp has only 3.

I've looked at the latest amps by Yamaha, and I could be tempted by the RX-A1030.
7 HDMI in, brand new tech, etc...

But my old RX-V863 has one feature that I did not found on the latests Yamaha.
For the DVD input, I can plug both coaxial and optical in. (See attachment)
And the new RX-A1030 only offers inputs with either optical or coaxial, but not both at the same time.

I need this because I currently use

- Optical in for the DTS signal from my LD Player.
- Coaxial in for the AC-3 signal from my LD Player via my RF Demodulator.

So, can Yamaha fulfill my needs or do I have to change to another brand for my next amp ?

Thanks

On the surface if looks like another amp is your best bet. I think a Pioneer amp circa 2000 would meet your needs. I got mine on eBay and it does what your looking for.

I agree that you may have to look at other manufacturers for what you want. I have a Sony STR-DA2ES AVR and it has a feature called audio split. It allows you to reassign optical inputs for use with different video inputs. An example is the video 2 input. Video 2 has no optical input assigned on the back of the AVR. There is an optical input that is assigned for a minidisc player. You go into audio split and can reassign the MD optical for use by the video 2 input. Unfortunately, the DA2ES has no HDMI inputs so it would not be usable by you (it was built for the 2002 year). That is an example only. In reality, there are 2 audio inputs (1 coaxial and 1 optical) on the back of the AVR for the DVD/LD video. You can use either one only. What I did was reassign the DVD/LD optical to the video 2 input. The video 2 has a SDP-E800 for video and audio sources. This is an example of what you maybe looking for.

Good luck.

Edit:

On second thought, why not get an Sony SDP-E800. It has AC-3, optical and coaxial audio inputs for its digital 1 input and an optical audio input for its digital 2 input. Just a suggestion, mind you.

Thanks for the answers.

If I change my amp, it would only be because I need more HDMI inputs.
So I cannot look at something older, it would have to be something brand new.

I've found what I need by Cambridge Audio... but it's not the same price
http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/products/ ... a-receiver

As for assignable Coaxial / Optical in, it could be a solution, but I do not know if I can assign both optical and coaxial to the same AV in.
I wouldn't want to go in the settings everytime I put an AC-3 or a DTS disc, today it works automatically with my 6 yo Yamaha.

Why not go for a lexicon LDD-1 demodulator? That what I use to avoid selecting Dig. inputs on my receiver...
Even a sony ep-90es or (Pioneer spd-07 no dig. out!) gives you this feature. I had the denon avd-2000 some time ago. Did a nice job outputting trough the optical output.
I'm just saying

It's true that this LDD-1 could be a solution.
But it's 10 times less "classy" than my gold Yamaha ADP-2 demodulator, who matches perfectly with my X9.
And it's sad that a brand new amp cannot do that anymore

If my RX-V863 dies, I'll go with Cambridge Audio.

Why do you need so many HDMI outputs from an amp?

inputs, not outputs.

The 3 HDMI inputs from my amp are full.

1. HDTV
2. BR
3. PS3/XBOX360 with an HDMI Switch

If I buy anything else (PS4/XBOXOne) I'll need to play with more switches.
So I do not really need anything right now. I'm just wondering what is the right solution if I change my amp.

Okay. Have you ever tried not using the amp and going straight from a particular unit to the HDTV? I realize the amp acts as a scaler but the TV will do this as well.

Yeah. I've done that when I bought the HDTV in 2008.

Was awful.

And I got me this RX-V863 with built-in scaler.
Does a perfect job. LD's looks great on my HDTV.

But anyway, it wouldn't solve my Coaxial + Optical problem.

How about a champagne colored Sony EP90es? They are great looking units btw.
Owned a few in the last few years. You can use them as a simple rf demodulator trought the optical output function. or you can output the rf signal using the 5.1 analoge connections. This way it works like a pre amplifier....
I use the lexicon since it's small in size. You could hide a lexicon unit behind your setup if it doesn't look nice in your setup....
I use a simple switch for wall connection to switch it off. I don't want to leave it in standby mode all the time.

Thanks for the idea. Could be a solution.
But I'm still going to look for the best solution to do this without changing anything else than my amp.