I use an old Anthem DSP for both 2 and 5.1 - it seems to be a good solid product and great value. Remember the purists will always shun 5.1 systems! As long as you can accept to have criticism from two channel purists and ignore the doubt that it creates then I think you can probably do very well with this DSP for both 2 channel and 5.1 use.
It may not be as perfectly isolated or as perfect channel separation as a dedicated two channel box with no other connections except analog two channel...but frankly I doubt you are getting much extra noise floor compared to the majority of recordings and you stand to gain enormously in convenience and the electronics/DAC are technically as good as most two channel competition (hence the rave reviews).
It may not be as perfectly isolated or as perfect channel separation as a dedicated two channel box with no other connections except analog two channel...but frankly I doubt you are getting much extra noise floor compared to the majority of recordings and you stand to gain enormously in convenience and the electronics/DAC are technically as good as most two channel competition (hence the rave reviews).