Bruce,
I always connect analog cables to my sources. I do so after running across a DVD that would not output a signal on the digital output! It is a Toshiba Surround demo disc, and one track HAS to have good ol' RCAs for you to get sound.
Yes, zone 2 does not work with digital inputs on the 3802. One reason I do not like Denon is all the little incidental notes they have in the manuals. Somewhere in there it actually says that zone 2 needs an analog input.

Echoslob,
What the heck does your name mean?

Yes, you can use the unused surround amps for zone 2. The menu choice is "surround" or "zone 2." I have connected nine sets of speakers with Niles impedance matching volume controls set to x8 or x16, depending on the output level needed, and all was fine.

I don't understand what you are saying about the 5803's discrete on/off for zone 2. Let's just conclude that it is different from the 3802. On the 3802, there is one power command that turns off the whole mess (WAIT! I have never hit OFF when the remote is in the "multi" mode. Perhaps the receiver responds by silencing the multi output. I don't know and did not see the little damn note if there is one.)

And when you turn it on, both zones are on the inputs they were on when you turned the mess off. This can be disconcerting if you want to listen to a romantic CD in the middle of the night, but the pool speakers had been blasting the all-Metallica station during the party that afternoon... that is exactly what you would get when you power up.

Sorry, but I do not understand your edit. So many words, so little punctuation.

Ernie