How To Buy An A/V Receiver
Sound & Vision|November 2016

And why you still want one. 

Rob Sabin
How To Buy An A/V Receiver

IT’S EASY IN THIS BRAVE NEW world of Ultra-Uber-HDR-4K HDTV to forget that the sound is still half— yes, half—of the home theater experience. Even if you’re actually smart enough to know that, and you wander into your local big-box electronics store in an effort to improve upon the tiny rear-facing drivers that pass for flat-panel TV speakers, you’re probably in for a knee-deep wade through soundbars and Bluetooth speakers before you stumble onto the audio/video receivers. You remember receivers: Those boxy things? Bunch of buttons and knobs and lights on the front? At one time, people used to called them stereos? “Oh yeah... those,” says the young skeptic festooned with the store logo on his shirt. “I think we still carry a couple of them in that back room over there.”

I exaggerate, of course—though probably not much. Certainly, the ease of installation and operation associated with soundbars and compact wireless speakers deserves credit for turning a whole new audience on to better movie and music sound quality. But if you’re willing to go the old fashioned route and deal with the more complicated installation of an A/V receiver (AVR), together with speaker boxes and cabling and then perhaps a universal remote that allows everyone in the family to work the system, you’ll be rewarded with performance that all-in-one solutions can’t really approach. That has never been more true than it is today in this era of object-based surround sound. Dolby Atmos and its competitor DTS:X have spawned a new and growing generation of soundtracks that offer overhead special effects and ambience that are unparalleled. And discrete, AVR-based systems—with their greater power capabilities, connection flexibility, and widely spaced speakers—represent the best way to enjoy the new software.

This story is from the November 2016 edition of Sound & Vision.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the November 2016 edition of Sound & Vision.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM SOUND & VISIONView All
Pinnacle Picture Performance
Sound & Vision

Pinnacle Picture Performance

IT IS a small miracle that you can buy a TV as good as the 77-inch Samsung S90C Quantum Dot OLED for $2500.

time-read
10 mins  |
February - March 2024
AV Masterpiece
Sound & Vision

AV Masterpiece

THE AV PROCESSOR is the less well-known sibling of the AV receiver. The main difference being that processors don't have built-in amplification.

time-read
6 mins  |
February - March 2024
Sit and Listen Streaming
Sound & Vision

Sit and Listen Streaming

FOR ANYONE who has been waiting for streaming music to be a high-quality sit-and-listen experience, the SVS Prime Wireless Pro SoundBase streaming integrated amp fits the bill.

time-read
8 mins  |
February - March 2024
Worth the Splurge?
Sound & Vision

Worth the Splurge?

AS A RULE I'm not particularly susceptible to the \"audio-jewelry\" school of component design; I'm a value/performance guy.

time-read
9 mins  |
February - March 2024
Focus on Gaming
Sound & Vision

Focus on Gaming

OPTOMA BOASTS of being both the top 4K UHD projector brand globally and the number one Digital Light Processing (DLP) brand in the United States for 2022, citing the PMA Research Worldwide Projector Census, making the company no stranger to the world of projected light.

time-read
8 mins  |
February - March 2024
Sonic Surprise
Sound & Vision

Sonic Surprise

OVER THE YEARS I've reviewed hundreds of audio and video products covering all the usual bases. But not up to now a soundbar.

time-read
10+ mins  |
February - March 2024
Deep Concentration
Sound & Vision

Deep Concentration

IN THE realm of high-fidelity audio, the Bowers & Wilkins DB3D subwoofer offers a fusion of compact design and powerful performance.

time-read
7 mins  |
February - March 2024
When Less is More
Sound & Vision

When Less is More

MY EXPERIENCE with Bowers & Wilkins dates back over thirty years to my high school days, when I first admired the 801 Matrix in Stereophile magazine.

time-read
10 mins  |
February - March 2024
SHARP, BRIGHT, & BUDGET-FRIENDLY
Sound & Vision

SHARP, BRIGHT, & BUDGET-FRIENDLY

IN JUST a few short years the home projector landscape has undergone a radical revolution in terms of price and selection.

time-read
6 mins  |
February - March 2024
They are Coming.I Can't Hold Them Back Any Longer.
Sound & Vision

They are Coming.I Can't Hold Them Back Any Longer.

This is my last communication. Outer walls breached. Door is splintering. Hinges giving way. Out of ammo. Just one grenade left. I'll take as many as I can with me. God have mercy on my soul.

time-read
3 mins  |
February - March 2024