L33T

Thank you for your reply! I am hoping to get a 5.1/7.1 setup by XMas as well, so it will have to be an A/B setup (KG-4 x2 for the 2ch setup, and another 5.1/7.1 setup).

I have a budget of up to $1000, and I am thinking about buying either a new receiver that has pre-outs, or an amplifier. I currently own a pair of KG-4's. I listen to lossless music output via TOSLINK from a dedicated HTPC unit, but I also want to enjoy the AV experience. Right now I have a low-end Sony unit as a receiver (doesn't have pre-outs). I'm thinking of getting perhaps the H/K AVR-3600 or the MARANTZ 7100. Please advise; thank you!

I have a dedicated HTPC system running Windows 7 in conjunction with an XBOX 360. In order to make the system In order to make everything interop as tightly as possible, I use WMA lossless. I used to be a FLAC user, but I had a difficult time getting it to work with Windows Media Center. I am also an iPod user. However, for my iPod (which I listen to while commuting in the Metro, &c) I use MP3 or M4A, as quality is not as important nor pragmatic to me.

Does every component have to have HDMI capabilities? I'm not completely understanding this. So we have: Preamp -> Processor -> Amp So the preamp has to have HDMI inputs, but what about the other two pieces?

I'm looking to spend no more than say $200. It's more for the time being, until I start working in about a year after college.

Thanks for the quick reply and the welcome! I am quite excited about all of this. What would be a logical purchasing strategy? Would something like the NAD 2200 be a good amp? Also one last thing... with things like HDMI... well how does that add to all of this? Would the preamp have an HDMI input?

Hi, Admittedly, I'm not really sure what I'm doing. I've read many sites, and sort of figured out what I want. I'm trying to build a 7.1 separates-system that grows as I get more money. All I have right now is a pair of KG4s. Mostly, I'll be listening to music now, but I'm shopping around looking for the best surrounds for movies. What sort of amps, preamps, and processors should I be looking at? If I want 7.1 with all those DTS goodies and other things, does that mean my amp needs to be 7.1 also? I heard from somewhere that you could use a 2 and a 5, but they didn't specify if it worked for things like DTS, &c. Thanks!