An AV (audio-visual) receiver is the centre of a home theater system that connects the inputs and outputs of most or all of the other devices in the system. Many home theater enthusiasts believe that an AV receiver is a vital equipment, although you can get by with a sound bar or HTIB to create the home theater system of your choice.
Having said that, a home theater system that truly provides surround sound experience would require an AV receiver. If you are just embarking into this audio-visual, surround sound experience that you want to create in your own home, you might be at a loss as to the kind of AV receivers that suit your needs.
As such, you might want to look at the following criteria that we believe could help you in achieving a blast akin to the theaters - in your very own home.
Things You Should Look For In An AV Receiver :
Apart from the broad criteria above, you might also want to look into other issues such as :
With the above considerations, we hope they serve as guide for you to get an AV receiver that suit your needs…and budget.
Having said that, a home theater system that truly provides surround sound experience would require an AV receiver. If you are just embarking into this audio-visual, surround sound experience that you want to create in your own home, you might be at a loss as to the kind of AV receivers that suit your needs.
As such, you might want to look at the following criteria that we believe could help you in achieving a blast akin to the theaters - in your very own home.
Things You Should Look For In An AV Receiver :
- Budget – a price range of between $600-$1,000 is for those who prefer not to upgrade every three to five years. Those who set a lower budget ($300-$500) may be looking at upgrading more often, in consideration of compatibility issues as well as individual user's needs.
- A tuner for FM/AM or HD (High Definition Radio), Sirius Satellite Radio.
- A built-in multi-channel speaker system. You want to look for something that offers 5.1 or more as the function of this is to send surround sound signals and power to the speakers.
- A Preamp – the function of which is to control the source selected such as Blu-ray Disc Player, DVD player, VCR or CD player. The incoming audio is then distributed to the channels and subwoofer output whereas video inputs are routed to a TV.
- More than four HDMI (High-definition Multimedia Interface) inputs. Just a note that if you want to connect your 3D TV, 3D Blu-ray player to your receiver, it's best to get an AV receiver with HDMI version 1.4a for enhanced audio-video experience.
- Analog video upconversion with 3D compatibility (Some mid-range models like Denon 4311 offers Airplay compatibility. What this does is let you wirelessly stream audio from iPhone/iTouch/iPad directly to the receiver).
Apart from the broad criteria above, you might also want to look into other issues such as :
- Whether you would be using the AV receiver as a ‘control centre' for processing all video inputs to your TV? Or will you be connecting all of your video sources (eg. a DVD player) directly to your TV?
- Internet and networking functionality – whether the receiver is capable of streaming audio (or video) from the Internet or PC?
- Muti-zone function – whether the receiver allows you to send a second source signal to speakers or a separate audio system in another location. For instance, you may want to watch a DVD in the main room. At the same time, someone else may want to listen to a CD in another room. With the multi-zone function, the unique thing is that both players can be controlled by the same AV receiver - giving you and the other person what you want.
With the above considerations, we hope they serve as guide for you to get an AV receiver that suit your needs…and budget.
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