As one such person, who has but one room; I 'hear' all the concerns.I have a stand-alone processor.It has rcas out for all channels. From fronts out,I take a pair of ics;plug them into the aux of my pre. I get true "fronts" information in HT.I switch back to cd input for 2 ch. listening. Then I throw a blanket over the tv for 2 ch listening. No processor/pre is as good as a quality 2 ch.pre amp. This method gives me the best under such circumstances.
I give up on HT
After auditioning several home theater preamp processors and not getting the two channel sound i expected. I took the advice of previous threads and purchased a line stage preamp, I got a conrad johnson model pf-r and life is great. This website has loads of good info if you dare to wade in. Now all i have to do is figure out how to hook up my home theater receiver into the loop.