Help with what determining what I need.
Forgive me, I know enough to be dangerous, and so, please question me about what I mean if what I say doesn't make sense.
I recently lost my inexpensive home theater. It has been good, but had much more than I needed. I never needed the radio, or blue tooth or individual analog inputs that decorated the back; I didn't need the sound presets for EQ, or the speaker calibration, etc. It did what I wanted it to do, but It also irritated my wife when things would get off like accidentally changing the input on the receiver. Her patience dwindles quickly.
The equipment I have is a Roku, two game systems and a PiCore player playing MP3s. All of these connected to the HT Receiver via HDMI. What I want is 5.1 for tv viewing with the option to have stereo output for the PiCore Player.
What I would love is one small device with that has five or six hdmi inputs, a toggle switch for 5.1 or stereo output and my speaker connections -- and that's it.
However, I don't think that device exists. As I understand it, I would essentially have a pre-amp/amp combo in that situation; anything that deals with HT is essentially a HT receiver which comes with a Radio, etc. Onkyo, Panasonic, Pioneer, McIntosh, etc. all of which is akin to the Denon I had before (AVR-S2500BT)
Essentially, in the most basic way I can explain the entire line of devices is this.
my equipment -> hdmi selector -> (here starts hazy)A 5.1 decoder with hdmi input, and appropriate outputs such as a sub preout and the five speakers. Whether we have a connected or independent amp is fine(here ends hazy) -> Speakers
What exists, or what should I look for? I don't mind looking for more HT receivers, but I would love to have a simple on/off system.