Thank you for your reply. I understand what you're saying, but it just seems to me that Apple is a step away from the inevitable, and right now there's one device too many in the chain. However, if you can hook the video portion of apple TV to the TV and connect the audio output to the stereo, that solves my problem. For quite some time I have been using a laptop with the airport express as my sole connection/router to the internet. It's also connected to the stereo as I've been using itunes to manage my considerable music collection. Works great, but since the stereo is based in the living room and the computer the office, I'm at the mercy of shuffle play or constantly running up to the office to adjust the music... and being tethered to an external hard drive kills the mobility of the laptop. Apple TV solves that problem & the new Airport extreme's ability to connect hard drives solves another, I guess seeing that both devices for the most part will be used in conjunction with my A/V set up (plus an additional hard drive) I was hoping for a magical all in one box.