Best choice, Stereo amp or Multi-channel AV amp?

[nigel1457]

I need to replace my aging and knackered Kenwood stereo amp which is connected to my Sky + HD box. Suppose i purchase another hi-fi amp rather than an av receiver, which connection between the amp and the Sky box is best? However, if i purchased an av receiver would the HDMi connection show a significant improvement in sound?

Ps. I want to keep my Mission 760i SE speakers and have no desire to upgrade to a multi-channel speaker system.

 

[Messiah]

If you have no desire to go with multi-channel then a dedicated stereo amp will be miles better than a similarly priced receiver.

Unless you are planning on spending plenty on a new amp with digital inputs, I guess you will just connect the Sky box to the amp with standard RCA.

 

[Anonymous]

To get the best audio from the Sky HD box you need an optical cable (or a digital coax cable on the newer boxes). For some reason it doesn't output Dolby Digital over HDMI, only stereo. For most people (everyone who doesn't own a fancy external video processor) HDMI will almost certainly give the best picture quality.

I agree with Messiah that if you don't need multichannel audio, you'll likely get better sound for your money with a stereo amp. If that's the case then feed the HDMI cable straight into your TV and use the Sky box's analogue stereo output for audio. Or buy a separate DAC or a stereo amp with a built-in DAC and switch off Dolby out in the Sky settings menu.

Personally I think I'd really miss surround sound if I had to go back.ÿ