Connecting a DENON DCD-1700NE to a SONOS ARC Surround

Hi, I have just purchased the Denon SACD player DCD-1700NE for C$2000.  After spending an hour on chat and phone support with Denon, they confirmed that this player can output only stereo signal.  Crazy, SACD is by definition multichannel.  SACD player is a misleading name for this expensive product.  I am returning it to the vendor.

For your Info.  I have tried digital coax output.  It played only stereo.  I was not able to get the optical output to work at all.  It played a perfect stereo on analog output.

Hello,

Yes, about the multi-channel issue, I read in the manual:
Plays back the multi-channel area of the  Super Audio CD.
The analog output of this unit outputs a down-mixed 2-channel signal.

The term "down-mixed" means converting a multi-channel audio signal, such as 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound, into a 2-channel stereo signal. This process simplifies the audio output so it can be played back on standard stereo equipment. Specifically, when the Super Audio CD's multi-channel area is played, the device outputs this audio as a down-mixed 2-channel signal through its analog output, making it compatible with stereo systems that cannot process multi-channel audio.

There is no multi-channel output on the DENON DCD-1700NE. 😞

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My very old Denon did that, looks like it is a lot less common now.

I’d suspect you’d need to feed it to your TV and then to the Arc but don’t know either way.

Maybe start looking for a multi-channel playback SACD here?

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/threads/does-anyone-still-offer-a-multi-channel-sacd-player.33031/

Hi @Stanley_4 , can you remember what model your DENON was? it would be interesting to know.

I think a multi-channel playback SACD it is impossible to connect to a SONOS system (the only way I know of is through a PORT or an AMP) because a multi-channel player has several outputs for the different channels. FRONT (L+R), SURR (L+R), CENTER and SUB and the AMP / PORT only has two inputs. Here a example with the SONY SCD-XE597 player.

@Ivko So far the easiest and most economical option for listening to multi-channel SACDs is with the SONY UBP-X800M2. I was using it for a long time and it was fine until I changed TV (a SONY too) and it stopped working.... SONY couldn't help me and that's why I'm looking for a new player... and I don't want one that support Blu-ray or DVD formats.

I’ve had multiple very generic Sony and Pioneer DVD / Blu-ray players, very affordable / cheap, that supported SACD.

For multichannel, in the old days I wired the 6 analog outputs (RCA) from the DVD player to AVR’s 5.1 analog inputs (Denon)

Nowadays, thanks to HDMI, it’s just one cable from the player to the AVR (Yamaha, Marantz).

Configured the players to 1/ read the multichannel layer of the disc 2/ convert all channels to PCM.

I think the SACD 5.1 channels cannot be outputted to optical or coax because those do not have enough bandwidth, they are for compressed 5.1 signals like dts and dolby digital.

I have no experience with multichannel and Sonos though.

Too many years have gone by to remember the model, I used the Denon-link to hook it to my AVR.

HDMI is the only possibility I can see for connecting, even then it is likely you would need a TV in the loop.