is there an (AV receiver) type device that doesn't have amplifier/preamplifiers?

thanks for you reply.

my new cable box doesn’t have any analog outputs. (although my older one does, lol) my new cable box does have an optical output, though.

my plinius obviously doesn’t have optical inputs. so maybe ill look into the DA converter option you mentioned.

i wonder though, about what other processing would be currently going on inside my receiver, that would still be required besides just the DA conversion, band are there external DAC's that are made to handle this?

for example, i assume some audio sources will be stereo (ie. a news broadcast?) . while others would be multi-channel surround. as in movies?

so with nothing else in the chain but

my cable box --> optical out --> DAC --> Plinius RCA inputs,

Im not sure everything would sound correct?

I thought about going from cable box hdmi out --> right to my projector and that would be my first choice, as it eliminates an entire component that is supposedly doing nothing. but of course that only takes care of the video, and not the audio.

If you are only using your two front main speakers you don't need the AV receiver. An optical cable connected to a DAC, then to the Plinius will work just fine. I've done it many times over the years. You may need to go into the setup menu on your cable box and choose your optical output and/or 2 channel audio. But somewhere in your current chain it is downmixing any multi-channel audio to 2-channel stereo, or else your missing a lot of content (such as discrete center channel dialog and/our surround effects). But it's probable set up correctly now and down-converting to 2-channel audio somewhere in your current chain.

You can get a decent DAC for $150 or less. Buy it through a source with easy returns, such as Amazon. Return it if you can't get it to work for you. I'm confident it will work.

thanks a lot, man. you provided the info i was looking for.

It’ll be great if it ends up being this simple. I'd much rather go that route than dropping a couple grand on a half-decent receiver.

in my current receiver, Marantz  NR1403, i have it set on Stereo PCM. everything sounds about right.

i found this link of a Cambridge Audio DAC and in the product highlights it mentions this;

• "If connecting to a TV, please make sure you can select "PCM" output in its audio menu. This DAC Cannot decode multi-channel Dolby Digital signals"

so as long as i make sure all my settings in my cable box are correct, hopefully all will be good!

https://www.crutchfield.ca/S-DmkCsrfQPJI/p_779DM200M/Cambridge-Audio-DacMagic-200M-Silver.html?XVINQ=CY1&XVVer=1BI3&awcr=718828065797&awdv=c&awnw=g&awug=9194029&awkw=pla-1153375833108&awmt=&awat=pla&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA7NO7BhDsARIsADg_hIbm7U_Zq2SJ3QV4oV8yjaLZAVykrtL-jn5GFKxpa_KMgu3338I2EX0aAju9EALw_wcB

btw, from your experience can the HDMI output and optical output of a cable box be used at the same time ?

on DACs, do you recommend one?

i found these two, do you think either of these would be fine for my purpose?

https://www.amazon.ca/S-M-S-L-ES9039Q2M-Decoder-Support-Control/dp/B0DFCFHQ2W/ref=sr_1_37?crid=389I9MYBYNZ6T&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Plsl9MeC6WMHBdKFJj-ZWE0EoK_FyO4jfbrEtuYe2kZMvF-BUjxH4zuxTNMuNsy5BtDwANzRVjV_rpijXd0mWoHYYA9onwvLsr5aZ4fLz6X1vfHmcZ4dfyqDISLpXjJjMHD0dM795vYR8us97iLm6J06KD9o6jE5LaET3rju3wbPsT_O_-hbGJToYJCP9T1_hm4xnVB58BMHODXyESwTgKP3wCG_BiAuCjW-HqXjIRXMYJv5elChvSv9OXD2uIEziGArdn8w0qAEc9uEJsOpdIdmfvtuZB2tqssesfg-uro4lTj6sAJSqaxNIIPqaut6ExyuEFd4n2oiEo-8xKCvTna0WjYgCt1DPKcDKd2rYNp8nK8wsXoYh3aJJIf2V_ClJIbSqR4ucu6XWE5jCu2AY6bLFWPA125qNoUWpj7If1a9gjwKFxZvzTNRHp1birvo.5mxKl1VsD84znZKy16Pj1PQ1OD4MjDNjGFcvRqGMMTI&dib_tag=se&keywords=dac&qid=1735797842&refinements=p_36%3A12500-44000&rnid=12035759011&sprefix=dac%2Caps%2C123&sr=8-37

and..

https://www.amazon.ca/Topping-E50-ES9068AS-PCM768kHz-Black/dp/B09F2BWQV2/ref=sr_1_39?crid=389I9MYBYNZ6T&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Plsl9MeC6WMHBdKFJj-ZWE0EoK_FyO4jfbrEtuYe2kZMvF-BUjxH4zuxTNMuNsy5BtDwANzRVjV_rpijXd0mWoHYYA9onwvLsr5aZ4fLz6X1vfHmcZ4dfyqDISLpXjJjMHD0dM795vYR8us97iLm6J06KD9o6jE5LaET3rju3wbPsT_O_-hbGJToYJCP9T1_hm4xnVB58BMHODXyESwTgKP3wCG_BiAuCjW-HqXjIRXMYJv5elChvSv9OXD2uIEziGArdn8w0qAEc9uEJsOpdIdmfvtuZB2tqssesfg-uro4lTj6sAJSqaxNIIPqaut6ExyuEFd4n2oiEo-8xKCvTna0WjYgCt1DPKcDKd2rYNp8nK8wsXoYh3aJJIf2V_ClJIbSqR4ucu6XWE5jCu2AY6bLFWPA125qNoUWpj7If1a9gjwKFxZvzTNRHp1birvo.5mxKl1VsD84znZKy16Pj1PQ1OD4MjDNjGFcvRqGMMTI&dib_tag=se&keywords=dac&qid=1735797842&refinements=p_36%3A12500-44000&rnid=12035759011&sprefix=dac%2Caps%2C123&sr=8-39

Yes, from my experience, the HDMI and optical outputs should be active at the same time. Any DAC that has an optical input should work. Both of the ones you listed should be good. For less money, the Schiit Audio Modi  is only $129 and is very good and from a very good company.

The only potential issue I can imagine is audio out of sync. Used to be an issue many years ago. Have not heard/seen mention of it in many years.