I use an older (about two now) marantz amp without HDMI in my theater and I really like it you can transmit up to a 1080i signal on component video cables unless you are going bluray or HD-DVD HDMI is not really needed all of my current gear (dvd changer with 1080 upconvert, ps2, Xbox 360) are hooked up via component video cables I cant tell the difference when they are on HDMI or on component vid so I stick with component that way I can keep my amp and not have to change to some other amplifier