If the technology can be made to work, the idea of a digital output to the amps is definitely intriguing, but even if we see those amps enter production I worry about trying to do it with today's HDMI. We start with the nightmare that is splitting HDMI - most processors with two HDMI outputs don't have both active at the same time because of the HDCP problems that it generates. They we get to the issue of controlling the audio output via HDMI: is it PWM or PCM? While the HDMI spec may theoretically work with PWM, has anybody actually done it? And when will processors incorporate the software to provide that signal? Then we have the issue of what you do if you don't have all of your amp channels in a single amp chassis. We have theaters with five channels, seven channels, and now (with the arrival of PLIIz) possibly even nine channels. How do we handle that if not by creating a single audio connection for each speaker? That connection gets messy in a hurry unless you require people to buy an amp with all of the channels in a single chassis.