I recently purchased a Theta Casablanca II with upgraded
DACs here on Audiogon. I am very pleased
with the acquisition and the seller was a true gentleman and professional in
every sense of the word. Now for the dilemma…
Not too long ago, I bought a pair of brand new MartinLogan
11A speakers. The only thing I have to
drive them is a Pioneer SC-57 A/V receiver.
I purchased the Theta with the intention of using it, along with some
Marantz monoblocks, to replace the Pioneer receiver. However, the Casablanca II is not equipped
with HDMI capabilities and I don’t have a spare $10,000 lying around to upgrade
the unit. I think I can run the HDMI
video from my cable box and Oppo directly to my Panasonic plasma without signal
degradation. As for audio, I was thinking
of using an HDMI to optical converter to hook up the cable and DVD player to
the Theta.
Is this a feasible workaround? Would this setup provide superior results
over just keeping everything running HDMI through the Pioneer? If so, do you have any recommendations as to
the best HDMI to optical converter? Your
advice and suggestion are most appreciated!
Thanking the community in advance!
