This will be for my personal demo space and unfortunately it will have to process the audio. It hooks to an ADA Mach 3 though which may have some bass management features even when in 5.1 input mode. Not sure on that one. Network features/SACD would be a bonus but not required. I'm aware they are not created equal as far as setting options.

Any other heads up or comments on problems or tricks with hooking a player via multi-channel out are also appreciated. I've done it before but it's been awhile..from what I remember it worked fine and sounded great.

If you can find one...Oppo BDP-83SE it has an awsome 7.1 out, play almost all Discs put in it and decodes all the formats.

Problem is....they are discontinued. Retail is 899

How, specifically, is the present model inferior? As far as I can tell from the website the 93 has no SACD. Maybe that's not so important. I don't own any SACDs. I don't even know are there still lots of titles? Is the format pretty much obsolete on account of HD audio on BD?

Check closely to see if the BD player itself will allow you to do the bass management. Most, if not all, probably will. Another thing to watch out for is trim levels. Can you adjust the relative volume levels of each channel with your amplifier? If not, the BD player will have to do that, too. Last I checked (and it's been almost two years now) some will and some won't.