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Surround central: How to buy an AV receiver

Anika Hillery- 07/02/2008

Tags: Anika Hillery, audio-visual receiver, AV receiver, home cinema, home theatre, home theatre amplifier, surround sound

With everything in a home entertainment system meeting at the AV receiver, it is an essential, but complex, piece of equipment.

Once you have a high definition television or projector and a room full of speakers, all you need to inject surround into your HD system is a home theatre receiver. Also referred to as an AV (audio-video) or surround sound receiver, a home theatre receiver contains all the electronics for decoding the surround contained in digital broadcasts and on DVDs, provides amplifiers to drive each of the speakers in a surround setup, and acts as the control centre for the rest of your entire system.

All home theatre receivers support the standard Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro-Logic and DTS surround sound formats. Higher-level models also support ?extended? formats such as Dolby Digital EX and DTS ES, which provide for seven rather than five speakers (and a subwoofer), and the very latest models support the new high resolution ?Tru HD? surround sound format found on Blu-ray and HD DVD discs. Then there are various sound modes, such as hall, cathedral and stadium. So which do you need?

When it doubt, keep it simple. Most DVDs support Dolby Digital or DTS (or both) and your home theatre receiver will automatically detect which is needed when you load the DVD, so you don?t need to do anything. Extended formats are most useful in large rooms that have a wide rear wall, while Pro-Logic II and DTS Neo:6 are good for creating surround from stereo sources, such as CDs, old TV shows and movies on VHS and DVD.

Sound modes aren?t surround formats, but a form of digital processing designed to replicate the sound of real-life venues. They can create interesting effects, but musical purists tend not to use them.

Specially designed to pair with the company?s DMP-BD-10 Blu-ray player, Panasonic?s SA-XR700 (bottom) is one of the first AV receivers able to decode the new Tru HD surround formats contained on Blu-ray and HD DVD discs. Price is $1,430 RRP.

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In this article

• Surround central: How to buy an AV receiver
• Power output and connections explained
• Features to look for
• The hook-up