System - Pioneer VSX-D912 Receiver, Pioner DV 656A DVD player, Samsung LE26R74BD LCD TV, Q Acoustics 1010 speakers, QED Silver Anniversary speaker cable, Ixos XHD608 coaxial cable, QED Qunex OT optical cable (linking Sky+ box to receiver), Qed P2110 SCART (DVD to TV and Sky+ to TV), Tacima CS929 Mains Cleaner.
Situation - Previous to my daughter being born I had a full 5.1 Acoustic Energy Aegis Evo set up. Once she entered the world, her mother banned loud volumes in the house and demanded more space for toys, rendering the Evo's redundant. I duly flogged the speakers on Ebay and purchased a pair of 1010's. I now listen to all music and movies through a two channel set up which er' indoors prefers because it doesn't wake the little one up. I don't like it because music and radio sounds now very wooly, ill defined and there is an obvious lack of sharpness.
Problem - With no plans to revert to a multichannel system until the kids are older I am considering swapping the receiver for a good amp. The problem I have is this would make over £60 worth of cables redundant and I would lose the digital sound connection with the Sky box.
Question time. Is there an amp with optical or coaxial connections? Does 2 channel sound make the Ixos pointless and would a stereo interconnect give a better sound in this situation? Or is there a receiver that 'specialises' in downmixing to 2 channels whilst giving a better performance with music than the dull Pioneer?
Situation - Previous to my daughter being born I had a full 5.1 Acoustic Energy Aegis Evo set up. Once she entered the world, her mother banned loud volumes in the house and demanded more space for toys, rendering the Evo's redundant. I duly flogged the speakers on Ebay and purchased a pair of 1010's. I now listen to all music and movies through a two channel set up which er' indoors prefers because it doesn't wake the little one up. I don't like it because music and radio sounds now very wooly, ill defined and there is an obvious lack of sharpness.
Problem - With no plans to revert to a multichannel system until the kids are older I am considering swapping the receiver for a good amp. The problem I have is this would make over £60 worth of cables redundant and I would lose the digital sound connection with the Sky box.
Question time. Is there an amp with optical or coaxial connections? Does 2 channel sound make the Ixos pointless and would a stereo interconnect give a better sound in this situation? Or is there a receiver that 'specialises' in downmixing to 2 channels whilst giving a better performance with music than the dull Pioneer?