Send music from computer to Receiver?

Just bought the squeezbox from www.slimp3.com Plan on using the digital out to my Denon 2802. I will let you know how it works out.

Since you have a good A/V receiver, I would start with a soundcard like M-Audio's Revolution 7.1 sound card which is really geared toward home theater enthusiasts. It has the following features per M-Audio's Web site (http://www.m-audio.com):

24-bit/192kHz audio playback on all output channels.
Supports all speaker configurations from stereo (or headphones) up to 7.1
Analog line in supports recording up to 24-bit/96kHz
Analog mic in supports recording up to 24-bit/96kHz
Coaxial digital output
S/N Ratio A->D: 100dB
S/N Ratio D->A: 107 dB (eight channel/two channel)
Driver-Level Bass Management
Windows Media 9 Compatibility
Very low CPU utilization
Dolby Digital Decode (Windows)
Supports both CircleSurround II and TruSurround XT

You can install this card into your PC's PCI slot and use your PC as a music playback device. This will provide much higher fidelity than audio than what you can get from audio built into a PC's motherboard. Most home theater enthusiasts really like this card for PC-based home theater set-ups. You also have the option of going digital out on the card to digital in on your receiver. It would probably be worth it to test which device (soundcard or receiver) has better digital to analog (DAC) conversion.

Yamaha Cavit series is a sound processor and will do what you want to do. It's not liquid as an upscale amp, but will improve the sound of the most stock soundcard.

It stands up vertically and doesn't take up much space - and looks sleek. Besides having digital outs (ptical and coauxial), it has effects like Europian concert hall, church, Jazz club, etc.

You can tweak it from a computer. It's fun, and looks sleek - not for the high end minded, but will improve the stock.

You can get them at ebay, amazon, and buy.com.

I use Yamaha cavit products. Improvement on stock soundcard for sure, but not as good as a highend soundcard like lynx.

Has non-fiatiguing sound - USB hook up to by pass sound card for better sound. Has pretty good headphone out. Looks slim and sleek by the computer.

Can hook up to a DAC by digital coax or optical, though it has one inside already - pretty good but can do better.

Another possibility is if you want to get a Philips mini system with USB input if you just want small sound - sounds pretty good for a mini (digital amp) - MC-M570.

You definitely want to use a higher-end sound card. I recommend the audiophile 2496 from m-audio. The quality of the pci card vs a usb connection is immeasurable.