Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater HTPC getting very close now...

OK...nearly all the pieces have been purchased, or are sitting in the newegg.com cart awaiting the next influx of cash.

The last thing I need to think about is how to power this baby. I had first planned on getting a b-stock Denon from Dakmart (AVR-3806), but am wondering if I really need all the latest bells and whistles at all? I'm just basically going to be using this for it's amplification. That got me looking into finding a used Rotel receiver. It may just be my own bias, but I've always kind of thought the Rotel receivers were a bit better than most of the bigger name brands. For about the same price as the b-stock AVR-3806, I could get an RSX-1056 used.

What say all of you?

On another note...analog inputs/outputs. Most recievers I've ever known about only have one set of analog inputs (usually used for SACD/DVD-A). I had planned on running the analog outputs from my HTPC's audio card into the receiver. If I do that, how can I also connect my analog outputs from my Denon 2900 for SACD and DVD-A playback?

Should I just use some of these?

So where's this beastie going that you can't hook it into your current pre/pro?

My current cabinet cannot fit any more components. I'll be selling my current Rotel RSP-1066/RMB-1075 combo and replacing them with the HTPC and a new receiver.

So if anyone knows of a good home for my Rotel pieces (as well as my Hsu VTF-2) you know where to send them.

Thoughts?

Well, I'll likely do what I usually do, and try both ways and decide which I prefer, analog or digital, but I believe the only way for me to be able to take advantage of dolby digital plus and/or DTS-HD will be through my playback software. In that case, I'd need to decode in my HTPC and output as analog, no? Also for gaming, many games come coded with EAX sound, not the typical dolby digital or DTS. Again, the only way to take advantage of that would be through the pc itself (soundcard) and run analog out.

Regarding the receiver...If I want to go with the most powerful, well built receiver, and forget about bells and whistles...? I don't need video switching, or uprezing. I don't need HDMI. I don't need a million DSP modes (I'll never use even one of them). I don't need multi-room options...

Been doing some googlin'

Can someone give me a good reason(s) not not to replace my Rotel separates with a Denon AVR-5800 receiver to mate with the HTPC? For what I should be able to sell my Rotel separates for, I believe I can easily find a nice one of these.

OK, next question--what do you need to plug into an amp that your htpc doesn't have? My impression was that HTPCs (built correctly) could act as pre/pros themselves. Then you could keep your amp.

SACD/DVD-A player, PS2, and I'm going to continue to use my cable companies DVR until there's a decent way to use the HTPC as a DVR for HD material.