XBox One and Home Audio options without receiver

[drippykleenex]

My livingroom has devolved. I have one device, the XBox One, that delivers everything we need. The idea of having a receiver with multiple inputs/outputs and all the space, complexity, power, heat, etc, to run one device seems silly to me. The receiver is there just to drive some speakers. So my question is... what are some decent options, past a single sound bar, for a self-amplified speaker system that will take optical out from the Xbox and just work?

It seems like this kind of setup should be increasingly common but I'm struggling to find many options out there outside of things like the Logitech Z906 computer speakers (which seems a bit small sound-wise).

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Chris

 

[ien2222]

The thing is, AVR's are cheap since they are mass produced, if you are looking at anything past 2.0 it gets expensive. Also, optical only does compressed bitstreaming past 2.0 (and then only 5.1), hdmi will carry lossless. On top of that, even low end AVR's give you some options to regulate the sound.

But you can look for DAC's that take optical and use something like the JBL LSR305's for a 2.0 setup. If you're looking at a 5.1 setup, unless you are planning on spending over $1000-1500, it's just cheaper (and easier) to go the AVR route.