DSD capable AV receivers
Hi- does anyone know if there are any AV receivers out there that can receive DSD signals unprocessed by the player? My present receiver does not seem to be DSD ready as despite setting my CA 751BD to output DSD, when it plays it says it is an SACD PCM, which suggests to me that it is detecting a lack of the relevant decoder in my receiver. Thanks.
Ah thanks- that's certainly worth thinking about...the ideal receiver for me would 'do' DSD and manage the modern codecs on Blu-ray films. But getting the best sound from my SACDs, DVD-A's and HDCDs is my primary concern so I'll have a trawl on eBay for your model....
Well, you shouldn't be concerned about codecs on Blu-ray films. The receiver is fully capable of decoding Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio.
The only potential concerns could be the lack of 3D passthrough and audio return channel in the HDMI outputs.
I'd imagine most Sony AV receivers will handle DSD via HDMI, particularly as pretty much all their Blu-ray players support it now.
Food for thought there. The DSP Z7 is a lovely piece of technology from what I've just seen, just unavailable at the kind of price I can afford at the moment. Certainly worth looking at the Sony range and seeing what emerges in the 2011 What Hi Fi awards...
Extensive study of the manuals for Sony 820 and 1020 reveals that they do NOT support DSD. How stupid is that! I have a Sony BDP-S380, which outputs SACDs in DSD, and I have one SACD is surround sound, and I can't play it even if I buy a new Sony amp....
Oh well...
Well you might have to go slightly further up the range.
you will find many Onkyo amps will handle DSD my old 805 does.
Looking at the specs for the Pio LX85 it does state it has a DSD-to-PCM converter. Might be worth looking into
Worth looking into Marantz a/v receivers. I've got an SR5003, good with movies but struggles to handle CD through the front two speakers. However when I use my sony s370 through a chord hdmi it picks up DSD and sounds like a different beast entirely with particularly impressive 5.1 sacds. There will be much newer Marantz models than mine but I can recommend the s370 plus relatively budget marantz receiver as giving a hell of a lot of sacd dsd fun.
Thanks- I'm definitely leaning towards investigating the Pioneer then, plus the Onyko, with the fact that I do like the sound of my Marantz, if not the fact as an 'old' machine it locks up sometimes because it can't cope with all the newer kit talking to it I would guess! Oooh, just checked the price of the Pioneer- lottery time.... 
I can say at least, that my old beloved Yamaha DSP Z7 can receive the DSD signal from SACD discs. It sounds absolutely stunning! Of course this amp is no longer new, if that should be a concern for you.
I am sure there are others, but do not have the overview.
Panasonic TH-42PZ800 | Yamaha DSP-Z7 | Oppo PDB-83SE | YouSee HD box | B&W XT-series