A/V Receivers: What Makes Them the Command Station of a Home Theater System
Home theater systems are all the rage these days, but many people aren’t exactly sure what goes into building one of their own. With so many components that the common consumer is used to, such as an LCD flat panel TV and a surround sound home audio system, it can sometimes be confusing when additional equipment such as an A/V receiver is needed to tie it all together. A good A/V receiver is essential to having a good home theater system, however, since it is literally the piece of equipment that serves as the command center for the entire system and gets all of the audio and video components working together in sync.
Of course, the functionality of an A/V receiver relies on everything being connected together properly… if the various components aren’t set up right, then you may have audio or video problems which could have otherwise been avoided. Once you’ve properly set up your receiver, home theater problems will generally vanish. In order to make sure that you can connect your various home theater components to your A/V receiver properly, here is some basic information on how the receivers work and what sort of components can be connected to one.
Function of an A/V Receiver
As mentioned above, an A/V receiver is what could be considered the “command center” of your home theater system. This means that it receives input from some of your home theater devices, organizes that input, and sends it as output to other devices that are attached to your home theater system. This allows you to use your home audio system with surround sound in conjunction with your HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player and your LCD flat panel TV, all while controlling only a single home theater component. An A/V receiver sorts through all of the audio and visual signals that are sent by your devices, organizing them so that the appropriate output devices receive only the signals that they need and eliminating the mass of wires that can be required to try and manually connect all of these components without the use of a central receiver.
Perhaps more important than the fact that it easily organizes all of your audio and visual output without the need for additional work is the fact that A/V receivers generally work as a digital amplifier for your audio as well. This means that you’ll be able to watch movies, play games, and listen to music in digital surround sound. To further enhance your listening enjoyment, many modern A/V receivers have built-in wireless service or USB ports so that you can stream music wirelessly from your home computer or plug in an external hard drive so that you can enjoy saved music and movies in their digital format without having to burn them to a CD or DVD.
Home Theater Components that Attach to an A/V Receiver
A variety of home theater components can be attached to an A/V receiver. In addition to your television, DVD player, and advanced disc formats such as HD-DVD and Blu-Ray players, you can include a stereo CD player, satellite television receivers, a digital video recorder (DVR) or similar device, and in many cases some older components such as an analog record player. Popular gaming systems such as the Nintendo Wii, the Sony PS3, and the X-Box 360 (as well as their predecessors) can also be connected to your receiver with ease so that you can enjoy surround sound to enhance your gaming experience. If your computer is nearby to your home audio system then you can attach the sound outputs to the receiver as well so as to take advantage of your existing surround sound system instead of having to rely on smaller computer speakers.
Using Your A/V Receiver
Once you’re ready to make use of your A/V receiver, setting it up is relatively easy. Using standard A/V cables (or fiber optic and/or s-video cables, if using components that feature them), connect the outputs on your DVD player, stereo, satellite decoder, DVR, or similar components to the corresponding inputs on the back of your receiver. From there you simply need to attach your TV and speakers (as well as any other devices that need to receive a signal from your A/V receiver) to the receiver’s outputs. Once everything has been properly plugged in and set up, you should be able to control many if not all of the functions of your home theater system directly from your A/V receiver.
~ Ben Anton, 2007
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