I don't think you can go wrong with the 5800...one of the best on the market right now...as for jtagging...just takes a little time,once you have done the required reading about it.
You are able to add dolby digital to the 3100,have never tried it personally but will be doing shortly and this ird is a gimme to jtag....
Hope this helps you a little.

[topil]

The modification for 3100 and 301 do work but....... IS NOT dolby digital 5.1 is just an optical output in pcm mode, dont be confused, i have 3 diferents home theaters, and none of them can sense any dolby, dts or thx output from the 3100 reciever, they just recognize a pcm digital input from the reciever, wich is obviously better than a rca cable but NOT DOLBY.
the 3 home theaters i test with two recievers(301.010 and 301.013) are
onkyo 600 onkyo 800 and one a little bit older i dont recall the model, but the tree of them sense any digital signal using a 4900 or 6000 reciever.

Topil is right, the 4700,4900, 5100, 5800 and 6000 are the only recievers that I know of for true 5.1
May be I missed one but I think thats it.

[kelowna_pitboy]

i bet there is a firmware mod that can be set to turn on the 5.1. i modded two 430's during dtv days and it was the same hardware mod, and all i had to do was flip a couple of bits. i know nothing about finding the right bits, someone else told me what to do. wouldnt it be great if the 301 series could be turned into a 5.1.......

[kelowna_pitboy]

i just did the mod last week an only optical works. my surround receiever only detects it as dolby surround, not dolby digital surround.

[smithers]

it may not be true dolby digital, but with good electronics at the helm to filter the signal properly, decent surround effects can be created. Usually the amp/receivers that can accomplish this, need an optical input, so for argument sake, the optical mod is a good one. With that being said, if you have the money for the amp/receiver, you have the money for a true dolby receiver. So if you want the true experience, buy the right gear.

[CRASHER]

Very happy with 5.1 DD of 7100. Dont know if it work with BEV.
Had also tried once 6000 with 5.1 and it worked good too.