AV Processor

[craigizmo2k2]

LAter today I am buying some gear off my uncle, for the record, it is two Wharfedale Valdus bookshelf speakers (can't remember which number) gale center speaker and a Yamaha amplifier which has a 5.1 input.

For now if I have to, I will just use it as a hifi amp, but I would also like to use it as the heart of a home cinema system. My pc has 5.1 built into it, so if I were to take 3.5mm stereo jacks from the pc to phono sockets which plug into the amp, I assume I will get 5.1? Of course once I have enabled the settings.

But long term, I would really like a dedicated processor. I know that yamaha do the ESP-800 decoder, which actually looks exactly the same as the amp I am getting today. Is this a very good one? I know it has built in amps for the center and rear speakers too, can I just bypass these? Does it have the 6 channel pre outputs?

I also spotted this on eBay: Technics processor (http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-582776-9479574?loc=http%3A//cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll%3FViewItem%26category%3D3280%26item%3D5792286359%26rd%3D1%26ssPageName%3DWDVW)

Are there any processors that work with pc speakers that I could use this piece of kit?

Sorry for all the questions :D

Any help will be very appreciated. :D

[Ragnar]

Yes using the PC for decoding should work fine,
as for the Yammy E800, unless its been updated, its quite a few years old & doesn't have the latest sound formats such as DD6.1, Pro-logic 2 etc, so unless that doesn't bother you & you can get one for a good price I would steer clear.

The Technics is even older than the Yammy & again won't have the latest sound formats, & if my memorey serves me correct has its own amplification for the centre & rear speakers.

when you can get a Yamaha RXV-450 intergrated AV amp for £120, or a Sony STR-DE698 for £180, paying anything more than say £50 for an old processor just for the sake of using an old amp seems a bit silly,

but if you still want a processor & the latest sound formats, try the Rotel range of pre-amps.

Most PC speakers aren't designed to be linked to full blown amps & will problably blow if connected.

[craigizmo2k2]

I don't mean the pc speakers, I mean the decoders which plug into them.

I saw a packard bell one once which was just a decoder which had optical inputs and so forth, then it outputted line level sound via the 6 phono sockets ( i think)