Home Theater Receivers

Home theater receivers are the heart of any home theater system. They take in the sound and picture and transmit to your speakers and television via the inputs and outputs. The receiver allows you options to watch a DVD, listen to CD’s or use a VCR without having to plug these accessories in and out.

The receiver is also known as a surround sound receiver or AV receiver and is a cost effective and easy way to centralize your system. One of the best online shops to buy such a product is Amazon who provides a good deal of information about each systems function. You can also read customer reviews and postage is free.

There are several things to check out before you will be able to decide on which home theatre receiver will best suit your needs:

• The number of watts determines the power, so check this out first. However, it’s not a good idea to compare by watts per channel without checking the total harmonic distortion (THD). Resistance ratings should be 8 ohms.
• If you have children, then parental controls will be important so that you can lock any unwanted features.
• The receiver needs to be sufficient to accommodate all your accessories.
• If you are interested in high-definition, then check out the decoding.
• Remember the cost can steeply escalate according to the number of features.

Most of you will be familiar with the words DVD, Dolby surround and high definition and there is nothing like a home theater system to enjoy a movie with real cinema sound.

The three main functions of home theater receivers are:

• A control panel to select the video or audio source you want to use e.g. you may want to watch television, play a DVD or listen to a CD. The panel will process the video and sound signals to the correct channels sending video signals to video, DVD and DVD recorder and distributing the various audio signals and subwoofer for quality bass.
• A tuner so that you can listen to FM and AM radio. Depending on how much you have to spend, then there are also possibilities for satellite, Internet and high definition radio.
• A multi channel amplifier. This sends surround sound signals to the various speakers at the correct power. You can choose from 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1 channels and 5 speakers will ensure that it sounds just like you are sitting in a cinema.

It is not always an easy task to connect the home receiver to the various video and audio components, but you could look out for a theater in a box system or those that are color-coded according to the various components.

Otherwise look for connections that provide the best quality for your component. For audio signals this means choosing between analog RCA and HDMI and for video choose S-video, HDMI and composite video and RF. HDMI is the best quality available but only the most up to date DVD and blue ray disk players and televisions have this connection. However, this is likely to change, as high definition television becomes the new standard.

Taking the time to read reviews and to check out the above pointers will ensure that you get the best value for your money when buying home theater receivers!