I have HS 2002 and I have just played back using 11 tracks. The only limitations I am aware of that is relevent to this is that HS 2002 can only have #16 real time audio tracks and can only record a single stereo input (two audio inputs) simultaneously.
Bandit, when you say it won't play back more than 8 tracks, what happens? Do you get audio drop-outs, is there a message at the bottom of HS 2002 that says Audio Stopped and highlighted in red? If so, I think it may be a limitation of your system. You need to go Options> Audio and mess about with the slider at the bottom. Also, on the Advanced tab, I have my buffers set at 1024, far higher than the HS 2002 mentions.
It is a good idea to run the wave profiler each time you change settings.
Post back here any problems. Best of luck.