On the other hand, since you are looking for AV Receivers rather than "Home Theatre in a Box" (HTIB) systems, you need to know some of this technical information. Our AV Receivers Buying Guide is designed to help you get find the best AV Receivers for your budget and needs while sparing you as much technical jargon as possible.

AV Receivers Basics

Starting with the most basic of basics, AV stands for Audio-Visual. AV Receivers receive audiovisual signals from a variety of devices. Your AV receiver is the heart of your home theatre system because it is the interface between your speakers and television screen and all the devices that transfer audible and visual signals.

The key words in the above paragraph are "all the devices."

The first thing you need to look for in AV Receivers is connectivity options. Aside from your speakers and your TV, you will be connecting your DVD and/or Blu-ray player as well as, perhaps, a gaming system and a CD player. You may have a set top box as well and something else we're forgetting about here. In other words, check out the connectivity options on all the AV Receivers you are considering purchasing.

HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface)

You will probably find that most AV Receivers have enough inputs, but many older or less expensive AV Receivers do not have HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface). If you want to get a true HD home theatre system, this is an important feature to look for. In the specs sheet, it may say "Upconvert to HDMI." Also, look for "1080p Upscaling." "1080p" refers to screen resolution and is synonymous with "Full HD." In a nutshell, without HDMI, you don't get Full HD TV, even if you have a Blu-ray player.

AV Receivers and Speakers

The relationship between speakers and AV Receivers is so important; it is something you should look into before you start looking for AV Receivers. These are a few of the more important points:

Number of Speakers

HTIB systems usually come with 5 speakers or sometimes 5 speakers plus a subwoofer (5.1). AV Receivers can go all the way up to 7.2 channel (7 speakers and 2 subwoofers) capacity. If you are looking for the ultimate in sound, this is what you will be looking for, but it may be overdoing it for the average listener. 7.1 (7 speakers and one subwoofer) is more than enough for most of us.

Power

One of the main selling points of AV Receivers is their power output or wattage. In theory, the more watts the receiver boasts, the better the sound quality you will get. This is only true to a point and only true if your speakers are designed to handle that level of wattage. For most listeners, anything over 50 watts will do the job. If you want to get the greatest range of frequencies possible, look for 100-120 watts, but expect to pay more for it and be sure to get a speaker set that matches the power output of the AV receiver.

Impedance

Impedance is a specification in speaker packs. When power comes into the speakers from AV Receivers, the speakers impede (restrict) the power input to what they need. A clash of cymbals, for instance, requires a big burst of power. Impedance is measured in ohms. Usually, speaker packs will have 4, 6 or 8 ohms of impedance. AV Receivers have similar ohm output specifications. The important thing to remember is to match your speaker impedance with your receiver's output capacity.

Other Features to Consider

These are some other features and specifications that will be listed in the "fine print" of AV Receivers' specifications data. Most AV Receivers will fulfil these requirements for most listeners, but this is what you need to know in order to make an informed decision:

Bandwidth

Bandwidth is the range of sound frequencies AV Receivers are able to reproduce. These are measured in Hertz (Hz). Humans can pick up sounds as low as 20 Hz and as high as 20 kHz (Kilohertz). One of the jobs the amplifiers in AV Receivers do is adjust the power output. While most of the time you will have your volume adjusted to the mid-range of Hz, you want to be able to jump out of your seat when you hear a blood curdling scream or hear the ominous footfall as the villain tiptoes up from behind.

Total Harmonic Distortion (THD)

This is a bigger issue with speaker sets than with AV Receivers, but deserves mention. If you are upgrading your speakers, it may be because the ones you have distort sound at high volumes. THD is more important than Watts because 99% of the time your speakers aren't going to need all of their wattage. Ideally, look for AV Receivers with.04% THD.

Dynamic Headroom

You often see Dynamic Headroom listed in the spec sheets of AV Receivers. It sounds cool, but what does it mean? It is an indication of the ability of AV Receivers to double their power output in bursts. This is measured in decibels (db). AV Receivers that have Dynamic Headroom of 3db are ideal.

The Bottom Line

With HDTV rapidly becoming the norm rather than the exception, it's worth it to pay a little extra for HDMI capability. As for the sound capabilities of AV Receivers, most of them are more than capable of fulfilling the needs of even discerning listeners. Just be sure to match your speaker set capabilities with the capabilities of the AV Receivers you look at. If sound quality is your principle concern, choose your speaker set first and then start looking at AV Receivers.