Not a gaffe, an option for those of us that want our receivers to do the decoding because we know it will be done correctly whether it is a $400 Onkyo, a $7,000 Denon, or a $30,000 Krell.
What is a gaffe is when a player cannot correctly pass PCM to the receiver as has been evidenced with the Toshiba XA2 (a year to correct), Panasonic BD10 (not corrected) and BD30 (corrected quickly), and Denons (hopefully soon).
The BD50 is not a replacement for the BD30. It is a different model to meet the needs of a different consumer. As with any product there are different options to meet users' specific needs. One option is not necessarily good for everyone. The BD50 meets my needs for my family room as my Lexicon doesn't decode advanced audio and I'm not going to replace it because it runs circles around any receiver out there, even the 7,000 Denon pre/pro that does decode. It might meet your needs and other's as your receiver doesn't decode advanced audio. The BD30 meets my needs, and many others, in my theater room as my pre/pro decodes advanced audio. As with any product there are different options to meet users specific needs. One option is not necessarily good for everyone.
I have never recommended the BD30 to anyone on this forum, another forum, or my job that doesn't have a receiver capable of decoding advanced audio. I wouldn't call a receiver that decodes advanced audio "specialty equipment" either. I would call it an advance in technology as with any other product. If products didn't advance we'd all still be using red and white rca cables on the back of our equipment or moved from mono to stereo to prologic to DD/DTS and now lossless. People are upgrading their receivers. Does that mean you have to? Absolutely not.
A look at the top 25 receivers on amazon:
1. Onkyo 605 Black (Out of Stock)
2. Onkyo 705 Black
3. Onkyo 605 Silver
4. Onkyo 805 Black
15. Denon 3808
16. Yamaha 663 Black
17. Yamaha 863 Black
18. Onkyo 705 Silver
21. Sony 2100
23. Pioneer Elite 94
25. Yamaha 1800
The fill ins are inexpensive 162-400 receivers.
S~