When playing CD's in stereo by pass mode, is that only left and right, or is the sub included? And if it is only left, right, is there a mode on the 950 that plays music in L/R and Sub?

My Sony STRDA3ES has this Auto-format mode and it matches the source's recording with it's correct sound source(nice little feature for a receiver).

After selecting, my CD's go into L/R/Sub, now I if I select direct stereo, then it's only L/R. Well the sub really makes a difference in my opinion.

Thanks,

I think there are two options that might apply in answering your question.

"Stereo" mode (useful for digital inputs such as CD's as well as two-channel analog sources) applies all bass management, which means that for "small" main speakers the left and right channels will get high pass and the sub will get everything below the crossover.

"Stereo bypass" applies to two channel analog signals and is also called "analog bypass." When analog bypass is engaged, the left and right speakers get the left and right signals without any processing - no conversion from analog to digital, no bass management, nothing but the original analog signal routed through the volume control. At the same time, a copy of the original signal is converted to digital and processed - if the mains are set to small, a low pass subwoofer signal is generated and passed to the sub while the mains are left unaltered. This is useful for analog sources that you don't want to have processed (CD players with high quality DAC's or turntables, for example).

What if your mains are set to large in either instance?

If the mains are set to large, then you have chosen to disable any bass management for the mains and there will never be any data routed from those speakers to the subwoofer.