HD component is an analogue interconnect standard. Analogue circuitry inherently has bandwith limitations. SD component is significantly lower bandwith than HD. (SD luminance has around a 6MHz bandwith, and chroma-difference around 3MHz. HD luminance is around the 30MHz bandwith, with chroma around 15MHz)
If the internal circuitry inside an AV amplifier - such as switching (this is usually performed by electronic, not physical, switches these days) and distribution amplification (the electronics that allow one input to feed more than one output) is designed with a lower-than-HD bandwith in mind, then it may well pass HD, but degrade it as it goes. The poorer the HF performance, the softer the resulting picture. (Even cabling has bandwith limitations)
The short answer is that not all component capable AV amps may be equal - you need to look at the bandwith they will happily pass.
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