Anyone running 9 or 10 speakers in their HT setup?

That's what happened to me too, when I saw Dark Knight in IMAX. Before then, I could always equal or trump what I heard at a theater, IMAX included.

I notice you have Blu-ray and HD DVD players, but--cool as your pre/pro is--it doesn't decode the new lossless surround schemes--uncompressed PCM, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS-HD Master Theater.

I have reason to believe your problem is with the source material, not your hardware. It was quite obvious to me that the surround sound in IMAX Dark Knight was totally uncompressed.

If you're using the coax or toslink digital outputs from your Blu-ray and HD DVD players into your Sunfire, you're not getting the full resolution of the TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Theater soundtracks; you're getting a down-converted DTS datastream that doesn't tax the bandwidth limitations of a SP/DIF digital connection, albeit with an incremental sound improvement over the sound of std-def DVD owing to the faster data transfer in HD DVD and Blu-ray.

Before doing such a dramatic upgrade, see if you can borrow a Blu-ray machine with internal processing and plug the analog outputs into the Sunfire's multichannel analog inputs. Then select a Blu-ray or HD DVD disc with particularly good soundtrack, select the best resolution the disc has to offer (e.g., TrueHD), and see how your system sounds.

Compared to lossless surround, Dolby Digital 5.1 and even DTS sucks. The surround channels are noticeably compressed, limiting both their frequency response and dynamic range. It's not worth upgrading the downstream hardware until you can hear what your current system can do with a true uncompressed surround source.

And, although I haven't gone 9-channel, I'm running 7 omnidirectional or bipolar Mirage speakers in my system, with two subwoofers. I have a total of 26 drivers and 1625 high current RMS watts in an 18x20 room. The soundfield is completely seamless.

My experience playing the HD DVD of Polar Express was enlightening when it comes to the increased audio bandwidth of Dolby TrueHD. When I turned up the volume to +4 (I usually listen at -8), my home system was every bit the equal of the IMAX dynamics in the first scene where the steam train rolls up. My stepson came running out of his room to see if something had crashed into the house!

Johnnyb53.....I have the entry level Sony Blu Ray player that has the 5.1 analog outputs. I use the player for processing thru the analog outputs, and frankly I'm not that impressed. It doesn't sound bad....just that it doesn't distinguish itself from the digital outputs. Actually, I've always thought the digital processing of my processor sounded quite good. I tried the analog outputs of the Blu Ray player to see what all the fuss was about. Well, I'm not impressed so far. I'm sure I could improve the sound If I had the $2000 Denon or Marantz Blu Ray players with their souped up internal processors and the 7.1 analog outputs.

I don't have the dough to pony up for a new processor to digitally take advantage of the new hi-def surround codecs. I just bought my current pre-pro two or three months ago. I'll give it a year while things shake out a bit and maybe prices drop a little before I get another pre-pro. Also, I want a pre-pro that will run 9 speakers in theater mode via HDMI. The only one that I've seen capable of doing that is new $7500 Denon processor. Sorry, but that's a little too rich for my blood right now. My Sunfire currently will run 9 speakers via toslink or digital coax, although it can only output a 5.1 signal to those 9 speakers and it is not capable of playing any of the new lossless hi-def formats.

I think for now, I'll go back to a digtal coax cable for my Blu Ray player and let the Sunfire processor distribute the 5.1 signal through out the 9 speakers digitally.

Your Sony Blu-ray player has 5.1ch analog outs, but it's not internally processing the TrueHD or DTS-HD Master Theater codecs. That's why you're unimpressed and it's why I suggested borrowing a Blu-ray player with internal lossless audio decoding. They're just starting to come out now, and the cheapest one is the new Panasonic DMP-50 at $700.

Of course the prices will come down. You may want to get another pair of Kappas and go 7-channel, but you won't achieve what you REALLY want until you get a higher bandwidth audio signal going to the amps. After all, the IMAX surround is 6-channel. It's 12,000 watts, but it has to fill a 450-seat theater.

On paper, my 1600w, 26-driver surround system should equal in an 18x20 room what 12K watts does in an IMAX theater. Most of the time it does, but the deck is stacked against us until we can get lossless surround sources.

I'm with you--the stuff's too expensive and feature-deficient to adopt right now. I'm not spending $700 to get the Panasonic and I'm sure as hell not tossing my Boston Acoustics AVP7 pre-pro out in favor of an Integra 9.8 pre/pro. I'll just wait until Oppo or somebody offers an all-in-one Blu-ray player with internal hi-def audio processing for $400 or less, and then I'll bite. Until then, I'll wait.

Johnnyb53.....Um, er......you're right. I went back to read up on my player and it does not decode the newer hi-def codecs. Thank goodness you corrected me before I went out and incorrectly and ignorantly bad-mouthed the new formats.

Now, with the Panasonic DMP-50 that you mentioned, it has 5.1 analog outputs. I put on a disc with a 7.1 hi-def soundtrack....if I go thru the 5.1 analog outputs to my processor's analog inputs, will the blu ray player send a signal to all nine of my speakers or just five of them?