There are many different kinds of home theater receivers; so many that picking the right one can be a little overwhelming. First, there is not such thing as a complete home theater system. Some basic components are just not included. One of the major items is the television. While your home theater does have video capabilities, unless you are buying a package deal, your monitor or television is extra. Many of these products also don't include the DVD player or Blu-Ray system, however some of the more high end products do.
One of the main things that you have to take into consideration when buying home theater receivers is that they come with speakers, and have a built in digital tuner to listen to the radio, such as the Onkyo HT-RC180 Home Receiver. If you have speakers, and just need the receiver itself, make sure that the speakers are compatible for the system you are buying. Know the different channels, what they are for, and how they are used. If have a six speaker system but are only using a five channel receiver, you're not going to get the full effect that you want. In the same token, if you have a five speaker system, but buy a six or seven channel receiver, you won't even hear a lot of sounds that are supposed to come out of these extra speakers.
When you are looking at the different home theater receivers, you should have an understanding of Dolby Digital which offers support for 5.1 channels for audio play back. A good example would be the Onkyo HT-RC180 Home Receiver. The sound can be further enhanced with THX. To have a better understanding of these features so you can choose a system that's right for you, a little Surround Sound 101 is necessary. In the past, we had the mono speaker system, where all sound was channeled to one speaker. This had so obvious flaws so as technology advanced the development of stereo speaker systems emerged. Stereo speakers provided a better sound balance. Stereo was actually the first baby step taken toward true surround sound. However, if you wanted to enjoy full stereo sound, you needed a receiver that could break up the sound layers and have tracking.
Dolby Digital was one of the first product systems that can decode all the different sound waves, and channel them into the right speakers for optimum clarity. For an example, when you hear a train going by in a movie, digital decoding makes it possible to hear the sounds coming from one speaker. As the train approaches, the sounds adjust from one speaker to another, making the train seem louder on the approach, pass by you, and disappear in the distance on the other side. This also makes up for the ambient sounds, ocean waves, wind blowing through the trees, and rain, just to name a few.
The bare minimum you should settle for in home theater receivers for high quality sound amplification is a system that includes Dolby Surround Sound or Digital with a 5.1 channel standard, such as Onkyo HT-RC180 Home Receiver. While there are newer 6 and 7 channel systems, the technology used to make movies isn't there yet. However, many of today's movies incorporate THX, so look at home theater receivers that include this capability. Additionally, any receiver you buy should offer ample ports in the back for connecting other equipment, be easy to use, and come with clear instructions.
