AV Receivers and Their Place In a Home Theater

With so many common components like the LCD flatwireless service or USB ports so that you can stream
panel TV and a surround sound home audio system, itmusic wirelessly from your home computer or plug in
can sometimes be confusing when additionalan external hard drive so that you can enjoy saved
equipment such as an A/V receiver is needed to tiemusic and movies in their digital format without having
home theater equipment together. A good A/Vto burn them to a CD or DVD.
receiver is essential to having a good home theaterHome Theater Components that Attach to an A/V
system since it is literally the piece of equipment thatReceiver
serves as the command center for the entire systemA variety of home theater components can be
and gets all of the audio and video componentsattached to an A/V receiver. In addition to your
working together in sync.television, DVD player, and advanced disc formats
The functionality of an A/V receiver relies onsuch as HD-DVD and Blu-Ray players, you can include
everything being connected together properly. Oncea stereo CD player, satellite television receivers, a
you've properly set up your receiver, home theaterdigital video recorder (DVR) or similar device, and in
problems will generally vanish. In order to make suremany cases some older components such as an
that you can connect your various home theateranalog record player. Popular gaming systems such as
components to your A/V receiver properly, here isthe Nintendo Wii, the Sony PS3, and the X-Box 360
some basic information on how the receivers workcan also be connected to your receiver with ease so
and what sort of components can be connected tothat you can enjoy surround sound to enhance your
one.gaming experience. If your computer is nearby to your
Function of an A/V Receiverhome audio system then you can attach the sound
An A/V receiver is what could be considered theoutputs to the receiver as well so as to take
"command center" of your home theater system. Thisadvantage of your existing surround sound system
means that it receives input from some of your homeinstead of having to rely on smaller computer
theater devices, organizes that input, and sends it asspeakers.
output to other devices that are attached to yourUsing Your A/V Receiver
home theater system. This allows you to use yourOnce you're ready to make use of your A/V receiver,
home audio system with surround sound in conjunctionsetting it up is relatively easy. Using standard A/V
with your HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player and your LCDcables, connect the outputs on your DVD player,
flat panel TV, all while controlling only a single homestereo, satellite decoder, DVR, or similar components
theater component. An A/V receiver sorts through allto the corresponding inputs on the back of your
of the audio and visual signals that are sent by yourreceiver. From there you simply need to attach your
devices, organizing them so that the appropriate outputTV and speakers to the receiver's outputs. Once
devices receive only the signals that they need andeverything has been properly plugged in and set up,
eliminating the mass of wires that can be required toyou should be able to control many if not all of the
try and manually connect all of these componentsfunctions of your home theater system directly from
without the use of a central receiver.your A/V receiver.
Perhaps more important is that A/V receiversIf you are uncertain about installing your home theater
generally work as a digital amplifier for your audioA/V receiver and the corresponding components
system. This means that you'll be able to watchyourself, consult a professional to make the job
movies, play games, and listen to music in digitalsimpler. They can get you on your way to enjoying
surround sound. To further improve your listeningyour new home theater system in a hurry.
pleasure, many modern A/V receivers have built-in