How much of a difference I am looking at here?

[J6P]

Massive.

To my ears the HD audio difference is just as stark as going from 480i to 1080p, assuming the proper equipment.

And it's the warmth of the sound that gets me, not the big explosions. Even during a "quiet" movie the presence is amazing with all of that bandwidth churning away. I don't even have towers, just a 7.1 set of separates I've cobbled together over the years.

Even on my system the soundstage sounds so much more open and lush listening to lossless. Lossy sound is a strain on my ears now. The low bitrate is fatiguing and you don't really notice that until you get some good PCM time under your belt. Enjoy.