A/V Receivers: The Heart Of Your Home Theater
Jul 12 '01
The Bottom Line Be very careful with what you buy... Read my 'Conclusion'
The A/V receiver is the brain of a home theater system. A home theater can't operate without one. Everything is ran through the receiver. From audio components to speakers. The whole system is controlled and made possible by the receiver. If you're going to spend a lot of money on a home theater, most of it should be spent here. The receiver and cables are gonna cost you, so you should make a wise decision. Here's how to find the right receiver for your home theater:
-Different Brands-
*There are different brands in the A/V receiver market. Very many that is. Some brands are good, and some are bad. The best brands in the normal consumer market are Onkyo, Marantz, Denon, Yamaha, Sony ES, etc... Some of the better non-consumer brands are Rotel, NAD, AMC, etc... There are also some brands that make poor excuses for receivers, such as Aiwa...
*Let me show you something that you should never do. Let's say that you're trying to make a decision on some receivers, and you first start out looking for a cheap one, but then move up the line. Ok, let's pretend that you started out by looking at some cheap Aiwa receivers for maybe less than $200. Then, you move up the line... Let's pretend that there is an Aiwa receiver for $1,000. Now, would you want to buy that considering that there are Denon and Marantz models in the same price range? When you move up further in the price ranges, you want to get the best brand possible in those ranges. The best brands will be either Marantz or Denon... Sometimes Yamaha and Sony. You're not gonna want to buy a $1,000 Aiwa because it is simply a bad brand, and you can get receivers from much better brands for either less, or in the same price range. So, always try to find the best deals on highly respected brands. Use the internet, and you'll be surprised at what you can find.
However, the best brands will always be:
*Marantz
*Denon
*Yamaha
*Onkyo
*NAD
*Rotel
*Sony ES
There Are also some brands that you can actually go wrong with if you're not careful, these include:
*Harmon/Kardon
*Aiwa
-You Mentioned Harmon/Kardon?-
*I'll tell you all the truth, Harmon/Kardon is one brand that I never paid much attention to. However, I heard some of their receivers recently, such as the AVR320, AVR510, etc... There's one thing I can tell you. They sounded much worse than I ever thought they'd be. I disliked the way that they were built, and everything about them was either sub-par, or mediocre at best. Harmon/Kardon receivers were far worse than Marantz or Denon competition. Now, I know that Harmon/Kardon has a very good reputation, but you can't build a home theater based on only what people say. A product to them can be good, and a product to you can be different. You've got to hear out products before you buy them. It's the safest way to play the market.
-Decoding-
*All A/V receivers now have some type of decoding. It all started out with Dolby Pro Logic. Then came Dolby Digital, DTS, and so on. Here are some of them:
*Dolby Pro Logic - It existed since the early 1990s. It was able to play music and sound entirely on 5 channels. Today, it playes on 5.1 channels, which includes a subwoofer. If a receiver has Dolby Digital, then it has Dolby Pro Logic no matter what.
*Dolby Pro Logic II - Dolby Pro Logic II is the newest version of Dolby Pro Logic. It's been placed on recent receivers from brands like Onkyo and Denon. The difference between the 1st and 2nd is that Pro Logic II can turn any source, including a mono source into a quasi surround sound. It gives you actual surround sound with anything.
*Dolby Digital - Dolby Digital is the most widely used type of digital decoding on any A/V receiver. There are different ones. The most common one is Dolby Digital 5.1, which plays sound digitally over 5 speakers, and one subwoofer. The newest version is Dolby Digital Matrix 6.1 which plays over 6 channels.
*DTS - DTS stands for digital theater sound. It's a cleaner and less compressed version of Dolby Digital. There is also DTS ES which playes over 6.1 channels. Very good sound quality. If you buy a receiver, you will want DTS, it's my favorite decoding other than Pro Logic.
*All receivers should at least have Dolby Digital 5.1. But, you really should go the extra mile and get a receiver that has DTS decoding. It will give you a much better home theater experience. Plus, it is the future of DVDs. You can get some great receivers for around $500 that support DTS and Dolby Digital.
-Wattage-
*Wattage in a receiver is often quite misunderstood. For example, I knew some people that would not buy a receiver that had anything less than 100Watts per channel. But in reality, you'll rarely go above 30Watts, or at least 50Watts per channel. There is such a thing as a high current receiver. Many models from Onkyo are. For example, let's say you have 80Watts per channel on a high current amp. You'll actually be getting 100Watts per channel. But pretty much, an average user will really only need 30Watts or even less for a great home theater experience. However, the lowest I've seen receivers go on average was about 60Watts per channel, which is already enough for most people.
-In and Out-
*When you look at the backpanel of a receiver, you may get a little terrified. No fear though, installing things into most receivers is no problem at all. Most come with good instruction manuals. Now, there are different kinds of outputs and inputs that you get with receivers. The most common of course, is analog inputs. Analog inputs use two wires that transmit analog signals. Then, you can install some products through optical which is my favorite. Optical links are fiber optic, and are more expensive than analog cables. These are the ideal cables to use with DVD players. You can't get digital surround sound with analog cables regarding DVD players. Now, some say that using analog with CD players is no different than using optical with CD players, but I was able to hear a complete difference between the two. If you can't hear the difference, then don't waste your money on optical or digital coaxial cables. However, many others can hear the difference.
*Now, some receivers don't have specified CD optical ins for instance. For example, if you want to use an optical link with a CD player, but the receiver diesn't have one for the CD player. Don't worry. You can use another optical input for TV or Cable/Satellite if it's available. You can hook whatever you want into anything you want as long as the jacks are free, or if they use the same cables. This was the issue with my grandparent's receiver. They use a Yamaha RX-V596. It was $400, but has a $500 ESRP. However, it didn't come with an optical CD in. I use optical links instead of digital coaxial in my hook-ups. I can't tell the difference between them, but I still prefer optical. Anyway, they have the TV plugged into the receiver via gold plated analog cables. They don't use digital cable or satellite television. So, I was able to use the CBL/SAT optical in for CD use. I didn't really want to use digital coaxial for some reason. Anyway, it works fine, and everyone is happy. It is perfectly fine to use auxillary or different ports for certain uses.
*In a receiver, you will usually want as many digital I/Os as you can get. Or, it is also nice to have a lot of analog inputs too. But anyway, if you can't use optical for certain devices, you can always use digital coaxial. It's also good if the receiver you buy has an S-video output. With an S-video output, you can put the receivers menu on the TV screen. However, S-video isn't exactly cheap, so I don't do it.
-Specialty Versus Normal Cables-
*This isn't exactly relevant to receivers, but I wished to add it in anyway. There are many different cables that you can buy. For example, you can buy Monster Cable TOSLINK, or you can buy GE TOSLINK for a few dollars cheaper. Is there a difference between brands like Monster Cable, IXOS, or Acoustic Research against normal non-specialty cables of the same type from brands like GE and RCA. I conducted tests, and there were no audible or visual differences. So in conclusion, go to Target or Walmart, and pick up some normal cables. However, you can also find specialty cables pretty cheap online, from brands like Acoustic Research and IXOS.
-Ease of Use-
*Different brands use different interfaces on their receivers. My all-time favorite interface was the one that was used on the Yamaha RX-V series receivers. They were clean, and easy to look at. However, brands like Denon and TEAC have harder to use interfaces. Sure, it's easy to get used to the features of receivers, but some are less of a pain to use than others. You should go to the store, and try working their features. However in reality, ease of use shouldn't really make a difference, a receiver should be based on sound quality, not the ease of use. Plus, more receivers now come with excellent remotes (Notably Onkyo), and just about anyone can use them. So, if you're a normal person who understands how to work basic electronics, this shouldn't really change your buying decision. If you're buying something for electronic-illiterate people, then maybe you should try to find a really clean receiver, or just buy them a mini-system.
-Sound Quality-
*Anyone can write anything they want on paper. How about this, 100Watts x 5 and 100Watts x 5 on two different receivers. Sound the same??? Well, it shouldn't sound the same. Let's pretend one company is Aiwa, and the other is B&K. Now would they sound the same? No. Different brands make better sounding devices. Marantz is usually on top in the popular consumer market. NAD and Rotel are some of the most popular in the audiophile market. You won't see professionals using brands like Aiwa or anything. But pretty much, every model sounds different. Some brands rise up above others in the different price ranges. So, you gotta compare models from different manufacturers that are in the same price range. You can't go by reputation. For example, I love both Denon and Marantz. Marantz in my tests usually came on top above Denon regarding sound quality. So one day I decided to compare the Denon AVR-2801 versus the Marantz SR-5000. I figured, why even bother testing them? Well, I was in for a surprise. For the first time ever, the Denon did sound better than the Marantz. So, I was already trying to conclude that the Marantz was better simply based on reputation, but boy was I wrong. If I was to actually buy the products, I would've been upset if I got the Marantz over the Denon after realizing the quality difference. So you see, you can't jump to conclusions based on reputations. Every company has their good and bad products... Even if they are considered better than the other company. It doesn't neccessarily apply to every product in their line-up.
-Shop Around, Never Pay Sticker-
*Buying a receiver is like buying a car. You'll stumble upon deals. Now, every product has an ESRP, but don't expect paying it. For example, here's one about speakers. I was shopping for a new center channel once, and saw the JBL S-center in a store for $299. The MSRP on it is $299 from JBL. So, I went online, and I saw a website selling it for $150! Buying a receiver is like that. You should go to Tweeter or ABT, and bargain for it. Don't pay full retail. I prefer stores over internet, but the internet can often amaze you with their deals. I saw some sites such as www.speedandsound.com, and www.accessories4less.com that almost made me wet my pants, literally. Don't just go to the store, and that's it. Shop around. Use www.mysimon.com or www.dealtime.com to see what certain places are charging. print it out, and bring it to the store. It works better than just bargaining alone. Stores like Sears also match internet prices...
-Other Factors-
*When you buy electronics, there's something that I guarantee you'll never notice. Heat build-up. I want you to imagine having a huge party at your house. You're playing really loud dance music at maximum power, let's say that's about 100Watts per channel. All of a sudden, your receiver shuts off, saying that there is an overload. Ok, your receiver just over-heated. It's hot enough to fry eggs! This is what most Panasonic and Technics receivers will give you. But anyway, you should check out the cooling mechanisms on the receivers. Some like the Nakamichi AV-10 have loud cooling fans, but some are silent, and still keep themselves cool. For example, I can play hours of music and movies on my Marantz SR-14EX, and it'll get just a little hot... I never overheated any of my Yamaha or Marantz receivers before. If you buy the Sony DAV-S600 for example, that thing has no fans in it, and it'll turn after a raging inferno after a little bit. What you should do is to continue listening to the receiver you want to buy. After about 30 minutes of loud music, put your hand on top of the receiver, and on the sides. Feel how warm it is. Try doing that for as long as you can... But you shouldn't do this at maximum volume. Do this at levels you would normally listen to for best results.
-In Conclusion-
*The receiver is the most important component in a home theater hook-up. You can't go cheap on it... I wouldn't buy any for less than $500. Try to go for the best brands in the price ranges, such as Marantz and Denon. Even they have some sweet models for under $500! Stay away from brands like Aiwa. Also, you have to look at models from different brands, and compare them extensively. If you follow my advice, you can't really go wrong. Remember, it's for you to decide what you like, not other people.
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Member: Soup Enthusiast
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