Does this product exist?

[Perfesser]

The project of the moment is to improve the audio output from my PC, something better than the self-powered Cambridge Soundworks 2.1 system I've had for at least 10 years. I was just about to pull the trigger on a Dayton DTA-1 amp. This is a wee 15 watt Class T amp that I'd use to power a couple of satellites I could buy or build, and then I could attach a powered subwoofer separately to the motherboard. This would, I think, duplicate my existing system but with higher fidelity.
But then it occurred to me that a more elegant solution would be to output a digital signal from my PC (I have a coax digital output on the mobo) and run it to a receiver/amp. I have a Panasonic SA-XR50 that I could use for this purpose, and I could drive the satellites and (again) attach a powered subwoofer to the LFE output of the Panny. But I don't really need all the switching features of the Panny -- only 1 input (digital coax) to 2.1 or maybe more speakers later. Is there a smaller, simpler, (cheaper!) product that would work for me here?

[Kevio]

I think you're on the right track with the Panasonic. You can "simplify" the setup to a DAC and power amplifier. With a setup like that, you won't have unused inputs and you'll very likely have better performance but it will be two boxes and will cost you 10x what you paid for the Panasonic.

The Panasonic will do the DAC, amplification and will also serve as a crossover between your satellites and the subwoofer (the crossover in the subwoofer prevents high frequencies from coming out the subwoofer, in addition to that you need filtering to prevent low frequencies from going to the satellites)

Just set the system up and slide the Panasonic under furniture somewhere and forget that it has all those inputs, outputs and other stuff you don't need.

I would also find a way to do some some listening or experiments to validate your expectation that the new system is going to be better that the Cambridge system. You really need to know what you're doing to build your own speakers.

[Boatman1]

If your sound card has 6 ch. outputs why don't you find a used surround sound amp
that way you can have big sound if you want.