Question Only want a 5.1 amp - do I really have to buy an AV Receiver?

AlanX

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I'm a little perplexed about AV kit. It seems to me that AV Receivers, on the video side, do little more than switch HDMI sources. TVs have multiple inputs, and generally 'fit' one video standard into another, so why complicate things with an AV Receiver?
I can live without DAB/FM/AM tuners and Internet radio, at least in my Home Cinema Room.
It seems to me that all I really want is a 5.1 amplifier, 5 speakers and a woofer. OK, there needs to be a way of splitting out the multi-channel audio from the HDMI connections.
The only thing like this I can find is from Maplin:
Slimline 5.1 AV Amplifier | Maplin
Are there others? Am I missing a lot of tricks by going this way?
 
That maplin amp does not seem to have an input that will actually provide a proper 5.1 signal to the amp. Hence the best you will get with that is a made up pseudo surround sound hence you would be missing a lot with that.
The reason AVRs have HDMI inputs is partly convenience so you only need one HDMI to the TV and also because if you want the best sound quality then this is conveyed by HDMI only (can also get via multi channel inputs but this is getting rarer now). Hence if you want HD audio etc. then you have to connect to the receiver by HDMI and since you have to do this then you may as well do all the switching etc. as well.
 
TVs may have HDMI inputs, but their audio handling capabilities are limited. The HD audio now commonly associated with Blu-ray film titles cannot be dealt with via a TV directly nor can it be passed through a TV. You need an AV receiver to handle these formats and sources need to be directly connected to the AV receiver to be able to access and process these HD audio formats.

Also note that a 5 channel power amp is just five amps sharing a power supply and you still need a pre amp and processing to use one to create surround sound with. An AV receiver combines both the amps, the pre amp and the processing within a single unit.

As said, the maplin unit cannot decode or process discrete multichannel formats and can only create pseudo surround from stereo sources. An AV receiver will facilitate discrete multichannel playback in association with audio that has the discrete channels present. An AV receiver can also create pseudo surround as well if and when required.

All current mainstream AV receiver facilitate direct HDMI inputs. The receiver sources both the audio and the video via the HDMI inputs, processes and amplifies the audio prior to outputting it to the connected speakers and simultaneously passes through the associated video to a display or a PJ via the receiver's HDMI output. Source selection and video switching is facilitated via the AV receiver and not the connected TV.
 
Thanks, both, for your inputs. I had imagined that the Maplin (or similar) 5.1 amps would have looped through the HDMI and picked off the audio, decoded it, and sent it to the amps. But I guess that would have been asking too much, especially at the price.
An AV Receiver it has to be!
 

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