Receiver

A home audio receiver for your home theater system can be costly, ranging from $200 to $10,000 depending on the quality and brand. An AVR, or audio/visual receiver, should be capable of managing all your home theater input devices with ease. To get the best deal, consider three things when purchasing an AV receiver: surround sound decoding, audio signal processing, and device switching.

An AV receiver must provide accurate surround sound decoding to get equal levels of sound from each device. Surround sound is produced through a receiver when encoded material (say, a DVD) is loaded into the system. The material must then be decoded in order for it to drive the speakers. A good receiver will do this in at least 5.1 Dolby Digital sound, the industry standard. Some AVRs even perform decoding in 6.1 or 7.1 Dolby Digital.

Audio signal processing then occurs when an analog device, like a CD player, requires decoding through the receiver. Levels of low frequency, such as bass, are also an essential part of audio signal management that a receiver must handle well with little to no distortion. Device switching is the final component; your receiver must be able to quickly switch back and forth between devices with ease and no loss of quality.

The Denon AVR-4806 Home Theater Receiver
The Denon AVR-4806 is a receiver that handles multiple inputs conveniently through a touch-screen programmable universal remote. The Denon AVR-4806 also is the first of its kind to convert analog signals to HD with ease. In addition, it is the first receiver on the market to offer satellite radio inputs, making it a flexible and robust receiver option