Selecting AV Receivers

Audio/video receivers are a combination of an audio/video switch and a multi-channel amplifier. Higher-end AV receivers also include audio decoding and processing capabilities.

While very high-end home theater systems use separate components, unless your budget is measured in tens of thousands of dollars, an AV receiver is great choice to build a home entertainment system around.

NBefore selecting an AV receiver, you’ll want to determine how many audio output channels you will want in your room. AV receivers come in many different models, from simple stereo receivers to models that power up to 13 speakers. You will want the amplifier to be powerful enough to drive your chosen speaker system without distortion at the volume levels you desire. See the Selecting Amplifiers for more information about how to evaluate the amplifier in an AV receiver.

Your video source device will deliver content over HDMI. You’ll want to select an AV receiver that can decode the best possible audio format for your system. For example, if your source device is a Kaleidescape Strato C movie player, you will want an AV receiver capable of decoding lossless Dolby Atmos, encoded with Dolby TrueHD. If your receiver can’t decode Dolby Atmos TrueHD, it will report its capabilities to your source device through the HDMI connection, and your source will instead provide a lower-quality audio format, such as Dolby Digital or 2-channel uncompressed PCM audio. If you’re shopping for a new AV receiver, insist on getting Dolby Atmos processing with Dolby TrueHD decoding capability, as well as DTS:X processing with DTS-HD MA (also labeled as DTS-MA) decoding capability.

One of the most important considerations when choosing an AV receiver is the number of video inputs, and the video signal capability. Modern devices deliver their signal through an HDMI connection. But the HDMI standard has evolved over the years, and you will want your receiver to handle the most modern HDMI formats, so you can use the latest video source devices and deliver the full quality that your video source devices can provide through your AV receiver to your TV or Projector.

If you’re buying a new AV receiver, be sure that it supports the following:

• HDMI 2.1. HDMI 2.1 is capable of supporting 8K video, or 4K at 120 FPS (Frames Per Second).
• HDCP 2.3. HDCP (High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection) is required for devices to transmit high quality video across a digital connection, such as HDMI (or DisplayPort on a PC).

HDCP v2.3 is required for transmission of premium, protected 4K content from your source device, through your AV receiver, to your TV or projector. Also make sure you are getting enough inputs to support all of the devices you have today, or plan to have in the future.

Bluetooth is essential to connect devices such as mobile phones, tablets, and PCs as a media source to your AV receiver. It is also extremely useful when you want to watch something or just listen to music with wireless earbuds or headphones. And there may be family members who are hard of hearing, who could benefit from using Bluetooth headphones at a higher volume while the rest of the family listens to audio through the speaker system.

Modern AV receivers usually support a WiFi network connection. This makes it faster and easier to update the firmware. It is also essential to enable support for cloud music services like Spotify, Pandora, Sirius XM, Amazon Music, Apple iTunes, etc.

eARC (enhanced Audio Return Channel) enables encoded audio to be sent from video apps running on your TV to your AV receiver. It also allows you to control your AV receiver’s volume using your TV’s remote control.

Apple Airplay allows compatible Apple devices to send their audio through WiFi to compatible AV receivers. This lets you use any app on your phone, tablet, or Mac as an audio content source.