What to get for playing downloaded material?

[nwf477]

I am looking for a new computer and I want something that will hook up easily to my stereo via HDMI. My current HP Pro 6000 is hooked to the stereo by USB to External Sound Card to Spdif (optical) to the stereo. I have noticed the quality of sound is not bad but not nearly the same as coming directly off of the TV or BluRay etc. I am also going to guess when downloading the quality is not that same as directly from the source. Any suggestions based on a max. budget of 600?

 

[orlbuckeye]

Well all you need is HDMI out (computer) to HDMI in (stereo). When your playing the content on you computer you need a music player like Itunes to play the music and typically music files are .MP3's and you can get the sound from video files using VLC which can be MP4's. The quality if the recorded file is the biggest issue on the quality.