I'm currently using my PC as my music & movie machine, with a 2.1 stereo speaker set with its own amps built in, and no receiver. I get analog TV broadcasts on a separate TV with an antenna in the window.
When we switch to digital broadcast TV, I want to send the converter's audio to the big speaker system. (Its composite video signal could then be sent to my digital projector, whose only input source right now is the PC, while it could still send both audio and video to my little TV through the RF jack.) I also want to eventually switch the big system from 2.1 to surround sound, and get a blu-ray player, but not all at once quite yet.
The first step in the change would be a receiver, which I can use with my current stuff and also plug the digital TV broadcast converter into.
So let's say I know I want a surround-sound receiver (not just a stereo one), and I know what inputs & outputs I want/need. I could go to the obvious stores, check the backs of their cheapest surround-sound receivers for their inputs & outputs, and buy whichever one is the cheapest that has what I'm after.
So what's to keep me from doing exactly that? By going for the minimum that meets those qualifications, what will I be missing out on? What other qualifications am I not considering that these cheap ones won't meet?
Also, when I was looking at some receivers earlier today, I saw that two that were otherwise pretty similar had wildly different speaker wattage ratings: one said 10 per speaker and another was well over 100 per speaker. What in the world am I supposed to think THAT means? Can one really be that much more/less powerful than another? (I've read the FAQ, but it's not especially helpful on this issue; it's full of technical stuff but not practical "how to know what the label really means" stuff.)
When we switch to digital broadcast TV, I want to send the converter's audio to the big speaker system. (Its composite video signal could then be sent to my digital projector, whose only input source right now is the PC, while it could still send both audio and video to my little TV through the RF jack.) I also want to eventually switch the big system from 2.1 to surround sound, and get a blu-ray player, but not all at once quite yet.
The first step in the change would be a receiver, which I can use with my current stuff and also plug the digital TV broadcast converter into.
So let's say I know I want a surround-sound receiver (not just a stereo one), and I know what inputs & outputs I want/need. I could go to the obvious stores, check the backs of their cheapest surround-sound receivers for their inputs & outputs, and buy whichever one is the cheapest that has what I'm after.
So what's to keep me from doing exactly that? By going for the minimum that meets those qualifications, what will I be missing out on? What other qualifications am I not considering that these cheap ones won't meet?
Also, when I was looking at some receivers earlier today, I saw that two that were otherwise pretty similar had wildly different speaker wattage ratings: one said 10 per speaker and another was well over 100 per speaker. What in the world am I supposed to think THAT means? Can one really be that much more/less powerful than another? (I've read the FAQ, but it's not especially helpful on this issue; it's full of technical stuff but not practical "how to know what the label really means" stuff.)