Thanks to all for the help, I think I have it all straight now! After all this discussion I did some price checking online and it made the decision REAL easy. On pricegrabber, the Sony BDP-S550 can be had for $300 and free shipping. At that price, I think this player blows everything else out of the water. At $400 I had to think twice, but not at $300.

This player covers me for everything. It decodes all the new audio formats and sends them out via 7.1 analog outputs, so that covers me for now with my old receiver. Bass management may or may not be an issue as I prefer a low crossover with my full range towers, but I am pretty flexible. And if it is really that annoying, I can hookup the optical instead and get 5.1 DD and DTS. Eventually in a few months I'll pick up a new AVR and it will all be a moot point.

Hopefully I'll be able to check it out by the end of the week. Only 720P on my display, but I am guessing the pic will still be better than HD from Time Warner, and I get lossless audio.

FYI while the price mentioned on the Samsung P1500 is a good one (including Matrix Trilogy), that player does not have analog outs and cannot read DVD+R discs for those that care. Doesn't matter for those with new AVR's I guess. Hard to beat that price if you can use the HDMI connection.