You might be right Bro but based on what others say, that audio does not consume much, using the AVR might not be as bad as you think. Also, the Cignal HD channels sometimes carry a 5.1 audio signal that you'd miss out on.
The only input I don't pass thru our AVR (Pioneer 1019) is the PC output since I never watch from it though I sometime listen while doing stuff on the PC.