When I first got my BR player I used bitstream via optical, and, as said the sound was better than SD, however, when I got off my duff and finally hooked up the multichannel analog the sound was vastly improved. If you get BR now, use the MC analog connection. You will be able to take advantage of uncompressed PCM, Tru-HD and DTS-MA as long as the unit will decode them internally. If a player had bass management there really wouldn't be a need to rush to a new receiver unless maybe you needed video switching or other updated features.

A very good place to compare players and see what they can output is: www.bluray.com
Click on "players", pick your brand and model, then go to..... I believe "specification". It lists everything and tells you if the particular unit will do it, or has it, or what it has.

LJ pointed out on another thread that Amazon has the Samsung BD-P1500 at $215.00 and includes the new Matrix trilogy. If they haven't improved the bass management from the 1200, it's non-existent, literally.