SR7200 Major limitation? (1 Viewer)

[TomL]

I just finished installing my new Marantz SR7200 receiver, but I was unable to get my CD player to work in the other rooms of the house (using the "zone 2" or "multi-room" pre-outs of the 7200 through a separate amp). Zone 2 worked fine with other sources, such as FM radio. Then I read the fine print in the manual for the 7200 - zone 2 does NOT work if the input is digital (my CD player is hooked up using optical feed since its DAC sucks). I'm assuming this means the receiver is only capable of converting one digital source at a time to analog.

Is this a "fundamental" limitation of all receivers in this price range? Does anyone know if other receivers in this range (e.g. Denon 3802, Onkyo 797, Yamaha, Sherwood) can simultaneously convert two digital input signals? If not, looks like I'll have to buy an outboard DAC!

 

[Mikey B]

Why not just connect the analog L/R outputs on your CD player to a 2nd input (AUX) on the receiver? You could then use the CD player as a source in the other room(s). I'm guessing the other room's speakers are for background music, so the lousy DAC of the CD player shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Jacy Legault]

I looked high and low for this feature. No receivers under 3K seem to have it.