Greg Gentry

Introduction to the Home Theater Receiver
By: Greg Gentry, Technical Writer

In the days of our technological infancy, people would eagerly file into the local movie theater to catch the latest release. Larger-than-life images stormed across the screen, and startlingly real audio thrilled audiences from coast to coast. But the local theater’s monopoly on high-quality entertainment ended.

Today, consumers create a theater’s atmosphere in their own living rooms. One of the key elements to any home theater system is a quality audio/video receiver, also know an A/V receiver.

While the TV may be considered the eyes of your home theater system, and speakers the ears, the A/V receiver is the heart, some might say, the brains of your setup. These receivers provide movie-theater-quality audio and video input from various sources such as TV, satellite, DVD, laserdisc, VHS, or Beta. These receivers also perform all of the tasks of traditional audio receivers. Home theater receivers are really several products in one: an amplifier, preamplifier, tuner, A/V switcher, and surround decoder.

Feel the Force

Amplification is power. In receivers amplification is described as the amount of power – measured in watts – that is sent to each individual channel (or speaker) to produce sound. And, like most any other consumer products more power costs more money. A 60-watt receiver almost always costs less than a 100-watt model.

When you are purchasing a receiver to be included in your home theater system, remember that you need amplification for the center and rear speakers as well. A few manufacturers try to get away without including amplification for the center channel, so be careful. Also, some manufacturers may think that 10 watts to 15 watts for either the center or rear channel is adequate. However, 50 or so watts per channel is definitely better.

Most manufacturers are now offering equal amplification to all five channels: front left, front right, center, rear left, and rear right. For example, a receiver might be rated at 110 watts per channel in stereo (two-channel) mode, or 75 watts per channel in home theater (five-channel) mode. This is one of the most important receiver developments in recent years and manufacturers have recognized the significance of both the center and rear channels.

Tuners are not overlooked in today’s receivers either. Except for entry-level models, all receivers include a digital tuner with station presets. Some models offer up to 40 presets, sometimes allowing you to customize stations under such specific headings as “jazz,” or “rock.”

 Connecting to the Force

The preamplifier portion of the receiver provides a link to several of its functions. One of its tasks is to set up the amplifier to provide power to the equipment that is attached to it. This usually includes audio inputs for your CD player, tape deck, and possibly a DAT player or phonograph – if you remember what that is. Video inputs are sometimes labeled generically as Video 1 and Video 2, or might offer specific video inputs such as for TV, satellite, and so on. Most quality receivers also provide you with an auxiliary jack for a miscellaneous component – as long as it has an A/V output.

Keep the type and number of inputs and outputs a receiver has in your mind when you are making a purchasing decision. Make sure that the receiver has enough inputs and outputs for all the various pieces of equipment that you want to hook up now or in the near future. It’s always better to have more inputs and outputs than you need rather than not enough.

One good input to have is S-Video. This will improve your picture clarity by separating the luminance (black and white) and chrominance (color) signals. Another new input option included on some home theater receivers (and DVD players and TVs) is called component video. This will improve resolution even more by separating the input signal into RGB (red, green, and blue) signals. The pictures you can receive at home are getting clearer all the time.

 Specialized Connections

Several alluring options exist beyond the basics of home theater receiver connections.

Some receivers feature A/V input jacks on the front panel. These are helpful if you plan on doing any dubbing from your camcorder or a second VCR. Some receivers also have internal video-dubbing circuitry to help ease the dubbing process even further. Upscale models have been included with gold-plated inputs and outputs, which provide better connectivity. Some new models also include auto-sensing inputs that automatically detect the highest quality video signal being received, and pass along only that signal.

A subwoofer output is also found on many higher-end receivers. Subwoofers have gained popularity by providing the bone-shaking thumps previously experienced only in the movie theater. This jack isolates the low bass sounds from the output. Most subwoofers include their own amplification, so the receiver doesn’t use power for the subwoofer.

Digital audio inputs are now found on many A/V receivers. These new jacks improve the sound quality of the component connected to it by converting analog audio signals into digital. There are two types of digital audio inputs – coaxial and optical (sometimes called TOS Link) – and both provide similar performance. These jacks were previously used only on CD players with separate digital-to-analog converters. Today they are used with a variety of components – CD and DVD players, D-VHS VCRs, satellite receivers, and HDTVs.

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