Receiver Buying Guide

It’s easy to get lost in complicated specifications when looking for a new receiver. Is the Total Harmonic Distortion to your liking? How about the Damping Factor? The easiest way to cut through all the technical mumbo-jumbo is to decide how you’re going to be using your receiver the majority of the time. Once you know that, you’ll be able to narrow down your selection and make an informed decision.

Multi-channel vs. Stereo

The first choice you’ll face when picking out your new receiver is stereo vs. multi-channel, or put another way, music vs. movies.

Stereo
If your true love is music, then a stereo receiver is a great place to start. With all the technological advances home audio has experienced over the years, the vast majority of music is still recorded in stereo. If you want to hear your favorite artists as they were meant to be heard, you cannot beat a quality stereo receiver and speakers. There’s no need to load up on the complicated features found in most surround receivers if you’re never going to use them.

Multi-Channel
Most receivers on the market today are multi-channel. If you’re trying to get that movie theater experience at home this is the way to go. Most current multi-channel receivers are built for a 7.1 system (7 speakers and 1 subwoofer), but some that max out at 6.1 or 5.1 are still available. Although they are more complicated to setup than a stereo receiver, the sounds you will hear from a DVD, Blu-ray, or HD DVD will simply blow you away.

Surround Sound
Modern surround sound is usually associated with a 5.1, 6.1, or 7.1 setup although some systems will have more channels.

With the DVD format, most films are encoded in Dolby Digital or DTS which produce a discrete 5.1 experience. There are a few formats that allow 6.1 or 7.1 sound from a DVD such as Dolby Pro Logic IIx, Dolby Digital EX, and DTS-ES but they're not universally supported.

For the next generation of surround sound you need to look to the new High Definition movie formats Blu-ray and HD DVD. Both formats support Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Digital True HD, DTS-HD Master Audio, and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio. These formats offer incredibly detailed sound and some (Dolby Digital True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio) can reproduce the movie soundtrack at the same incredible quality it was recorded at in the studio master.

Additional Features Worth Considering

	Video Switching / Upconverting While most new TVs include lots of inputs/outputs for video players it’s often more convenient to run all your video sources along with sound through an A/V receiver. Many receivers today are also capable of upconverting standard definition video (VHS, DVD) to high definition via HDMI outputs.
	iPod Control Most major receiver manufacturers offer an add-on iPod dock that will allow you to listen to and control your iPod through your receiver remote. If you’ve got an iPod full of music this could be a feature you might not be able to live without.
	Network Connection A growing trend in receiver design is to include a way for your receiver to integrate into your home network. Through either a wired or wireless connection, a networked receiver can stream music right from your computer’s hard drive or over the internet.
	THX Certification Being THX®-Certified means that a piece of audio equipment has passed the most stringent and rigorous audio quality and performance tests set by THX, the audio experts in the movie industry. This assures you will get movie theater quality sound from any component bearing this certification.