Recommended receiver for this:

[banGerprawN]

At the moment I have a set of Logitech Z-5500s and a HDA Mystique 7.1. It sounds quite good, but I've been hearing that this sound card performs best with a receiver, so I've got a few generalised questions about this. Here they are:
1. What exactly will a receiver do for me?
2. Assuming that it will do me good, what would you recommend I buy, with the interests of gaming and audio listening in mind, in Australia and online, under a price point of about $800AUD? I realise this isn't a huge budget, but im not looking for anything too schmick and high-end, I'm not what you would call an audiophile, I just enjoy listening to crystal-clear sound.
3. The control box that actually comes with the Z-550s? Isn't that some type of receiver, albeit a very limited one?
4. A general explanation on how receivers work, and why they are needed would be greatly appreciated, or even a link to a website with a bit of a background on them. Either way, I'm confessing to being a relative n00b on the audio front, which is why I own a pre-built speaker set :p
Thanks for the help.

[thomase]

Why did you buy the HDA Mystique if you didn't have a receiver to begin with?

BTW, the control box that came with the speakers is a decoder. It is a standalone form of one of the components inside a receiver (another being an amp for example).

[banGerprawN]

Awesome, thanks for that.
The reason I bought the Mystique without a receiver is because I find myself on a rather limited budget, and I figured that I'd just get the receiver later. Like, now.
So no suggestions? Anyone? Maybe if I just ask for your advice on this (http://www.jvc-australia.com/products/_products_sub_group_details.asp?ID=1318)?

[texuspete00]

I think who told you to get a receiver probably meant to go all home theater on your rig. Digital Out to Dolby receiver with not made for computer speakers and sub. I'm sure the amplifier on your speaker set is a nice match for them.

[FlatLine84]

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-rIzesU8rrJE/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=131000&I=158STD897S

This worked great for my needs, I use it with my on-board soundcard with fiber out. I have it setup with some really nice inifinity speakers.

[GodsMadClown]

The big feature of the HDA mystique is the Dolby Digital Live encoding. That is, it encodes 5.1 channels of audio into a DD bitstream on the fly, so that a receiver can decode it and get discrete 5.1 audio from a digital connection on all program material, including games and other material that is not preencoded.

You don't need a reciever, though. You can just hook your speakers up to the analog outputs, and it should sound just fine.

However, if you are interested in an upgrade, it would be best to sell your Logitech speakers and add those funds to your upgrade budget. Then, spend the vast majority of that budget on a set of speakers and get an inexpensive DD reciever. Not being familiar with the Australian market, I'm not exactly certain where to go, but I know that in the US there are B-stock receivers that are adequate for a computer setup that start at ~$100(USD). Since Australia is the Asian Pacific market, I'm sure that cheap reciever choices abound, but I just don't know where.

http://www.loudspeaker.com.au/
http://www.planetaudio.com.au/

^These might be good places to ask your question.