from TV to amp: hdmi arc extractor vs optical dac

To be safe, stick to a simple stereo DAC like the Topping D30 will work just fine, or any other stereo DAC with optical input. You can go cheaper but I wouldn’t go more expensive than that. 😁

I say to be safe because HDMI is always a little fussy.  HDMI requires handshaking and protocols and has more settings than optical out, especially just for 2 channel. Especially if you plan on using Audio Return Channel (ARC) from the TV those are just naturally fussy.  Even among big brands ARC/HDMI may be buggy so I never trust a cheap HDMI extractor to work reliably.

OTOH if you get an inexpensive 2 channel DAC, and set the digital output to stereo you are never going to have a problem. Never. It just works.

Even among big brands ARC/HDMI may be buggy so I never trust a cheap HDMI extractor to work reliably.

Agree with @erik_squires. As someone who’s fallen victim to HDMI compatibility issues it’s just not worth dealing with for what you want to spend. I think Erik’s suggestion of running optical into an E30 is excellent and will be more than sufficient for your needs with none of the headaches. Best of luck.

I ditched cable years ago... and thousands of dollars later:  voila Marantz Ruby in the house.  I can't speak to any cable tv method... hell, I couldn't even speak without cable, so can't help there.

I like simple, so I think I'm going w a simple optical to dac to amp... probably the Schitt Modi, as it is less expensive than the Topping and for TV viewing I'm sure it's more than good enough.  That way the TV has its own input on the amp, easy for me and any other even-more-novice-than-me household member to use.

Thank you all for the suggestions.