Do i need a receiver?

[homercles337]

I recently moved and bought a TV. Its only audio out is optical, my very old receiver is too old to even know that that is. I am an audiophile without all the equipment (ie, i love high quality systems that image well), but i have been "building" so to speak. I have a Rotel, Onkyo, and HK CD player (and >1200 CDs), a decent record player, and now a TV. I am thinking that i now need a good receiver (my Rotel and HK are withering due to disuse). My place is not conducive to a "surround" setup, not that i would want one. It would be nice to have a receiver for all these devices, including a good amp for the record player and FM for NPR. Thoughts?

 

[JSt0rm]

why not surround?

 

[Ross Ridge]

If you don't watch movies, you definately don't need surround. If you don't have multiple video sources you don't need an AV receiver. However from what you've said, you definately sound like you could benefit from a new stereo receiver.

The speakers in your TV are awful. I don't need to know the brand or model. TV speakers have never been good, and in this age of thin screen TVs they've only gotten worse.

Using some sort of SPDIF to analogue device might be an option that would let you keep using your old receiver, but a new stereo receiver might not be much more expensive. If you do get a new receiver ensure that it has a phono input, these aren't as common as they used to be.

 

[NutBucket]

Yeah, get a converter. If I didn't want surround I'd probably be using my old Sansui receiver.

Any new receiver is not going to be conducive to an "audiophile" unless we're talking big bucks. In my mind, solid state hit its pinnacle in the 70's. It's all been downhill since due to digital crap and cost cutting.

 

[kornphlake]

I've never used this device, but it should let you hook up your tv to your current preamp.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10423&cs_id=1042302&p_id=6884&seq=1&format=2

For $25 I can't guarantee the quality of the DAC, but it can't be any worse than the DAC and cheesy amp built into your television.

 

[dfuze]

I've never used this device, but it should let you hook up your tv to your current preamp.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10423&cs_id=1042302&p_id=6884&seq=1&format=2

For $25 I can't guarantee the quality of the DAC, but it can't be any worse than the DAC and cheesy amp built into your television.

I'm in a similar situation as the OP, my new LED tv only has a toslink and headphones port out. I currently have the older Optimus receiver connected to the TV via a RCA cable adapter that connects to the headphones port. I would rather a similar setup as you linked to because by using the headphone port I have to turn on the reciever for any sound; would the item you linked to work for me as well? I'm not sure because at the bottom of the description it says:

IMPORTANT NOTE! This device will NOT decode 5.1-channel signals. It will ONLY convert 2-channel digital stereo (PCM) input signals to analog stereo output. This will not work with TVs that only output 5.1-channel digital signals!

 

[Ross Ridge]

Your TV would only output 5.1 surround when an TV program was encoded using that that format. It probably has an option to disable this and output stereo in this case. Check your manual.

Note that your TV may not output anything through the digital output if it's not coming from the TV's own NTSC/ATSC/QAM tuner. If you're watching a source connected through HDMI (a BluRay player or cable box) then you might not get any output.

 

[kornphlake]

My TV only outputs 2 channel stereo over the toslink output if the source is connected through HDMI, I believe all current models function similarly as mandated by HDCP. Unless you're using the built in tuner I don't think you'll have a problem, I'm pretty sure my television set does have an option to downmix all audio out to 2 channel stereo regardless of source.