I have a hookup question regarding the new Oppo BDP83 SE:

My pre/pro does not have HDMI inputs so I know that to get the HD audio codecs for HT I would need to connect 6 cables (for 5.1) from the Oppo's multi channel out to the pre/pro.

But, I am also interested in stereo SACD. To do this would I also need to connect 2 IC's from the the "stereo out" to my pre/pro? I've read that if I play stereo SACD using the mult channel out configuration the music will be downmixed to 2-channel.

Is "downmixing" inferior to a direct 2-channel connection?

Thanks
Doug