How To Choose A Home Theater Receiver - A Buying Guide

This might sound dumb but do I connect my Nvidia shield to the receiver or leave it connected to my TV?

I am checking complete home theater solution, can u suggest 7.2 package plz

Ebay for secondhand Yamaha receiver and surround speakers. Can't go wrong. 5.1 and 80watt is enough.

a lot of mouths. no instructions

Call me redneck but I’ve been thinking about getting an old car radio, battery, a few amps and throwing some power to it then calling it a day. Car audio makes so much more sense to me 🤦‍♀️

Your content is always really great and educational. Could you maybe do an update on some of the newer AVRs? I'm looking at replacing a really aging Sony STR-DN1030 (NOT the much loved DN 1080 :-( ). Probably going with the AZ5000ES because we have a LOT of speakers to drive, but would love some discussion around similar receiver options. I know, I know, soundbars are superb now but we have CD player and all that jazz.

Thanks for the video, very helpful.

Though I am still a little confused on speaker rms. For example, if I search for the Klipsch Reference Premiere RP-504C II in Crutchfield it says "power handling: up to 150 watts RMS" -- does that mean that the receiver has to have a minimum of 150 watts/channel? or am I misunderstanding that?

thanks

I recently bought some Klipsch KD-51M bookshelf speakers looking to see which amp/ receiver to buy?

Thank you for this amazing info!

Took much work. I guess I’ll just Sonos now

I sure hope you can see my comment today/tonight or tomorrow. I saw these speakers for sale: Definitive Technology BP-9020. It says recommended amplifier power: 50-200 watts. I did a chat with a guy on Crutchfield and he said it is RMS wattage. So your video says receiver should have more power than the speaker RMS wattage. The guy on chat recommended a receiver of 100W or 150W. And he said that the receiver should not be rated higher than the speakers. Anyway, just thought it would be good to get your feedback. Thanks Chris for your video and hope to see you comment. By the way if ANYBODY else has expert advice, it would be appreciated.

When i look at some speakers they say recommended amplifier 15-200 Watts. What does this mean

Sir, this guide was so informative and helpful. Thank you for putting the time into making this. 2 years out and this helped a ton in getting started and building my setup. Much appreciated.

This needs more yelling.

I’m trying to find a good receiver for a klipsh 5.2. Any good recommendations it has two subs, 3 front speakers and 2 rear speakers

Thank you for helping me understand the key points of what to look for. I'm just breaking into audio and am trying to understand as much as possible. you explain things very well for new audiophiles to help us feel better about the choices we are sure to make. Thanks again.

good talk

Chris just want to get your opinion on this, I have a Integra DHC 80.3 processor and aB&K Reference 7250 series 2 amp still works but it is time to update. I like separates but I a, interested in a reciever. I still do 5.1 but would like to see what your thoughts are. I want to spend about 8k. Thanks for the help. Separates or Rec?

How do i connect the amp to the receiver

Hey Chris, do you by any chance have a video series on building a home theater step by step. For example I rent right now but I wanted to upgrade my sound from the sound bar. I want to start buying pieces that will eventually be able to integrate in a dedicated home theater when I purchase a house.

I have not watched may videos on receivers. However the typical approach seems to be from video people. You sound like a music person. A time when multiple amps were used and a pre-amp. For me an RIAA input is required

An RMS power is the average power that a device can output/receive. Devices can have higher momentary tolerance than average, and that figure is the peak power. Continuously providing the device with more power than it can receive, will overheat its internals and damage its circuits. Coming to speakers, the power of a speaker translates to how 'loud' can it produce the sound. Having said that, I am not sure if I subscribe to the Chris suggestion to pair higher RMS audio-driver (receiver/amp) with lower RMS speakers. IMO It needs to be the other way around, that is - you want to give speakers a headroom to absorb power spikes from your audio source. It will not only keep your speakers operating within their specs, but will also avoid any power clipping (aka another source of distortion), when your speakers are faced with larger inputs than they can handle.

Great info. Thank you!

Thanks, Chris. Great straightforward explanation!

Home cinema is a complete waste of money! Any given budget spent on a hifi (2 channel) system, and connected to your tv, will ALWAYS sound better in room.

PS speaker efficiency will also make a huge difference to volume levels in room

I like to see a Roku theater mix with Receiver. So Blueray player audio to receiver.

Amazing content!

Very helpful information and speaks in understanding level, because l'm an old school kinda guy....lol

thanks for the informative video, this helped me get my feet wet with receivers after knowing nothing about them going in. Will still need to look into how hooking all my shit up to one works, but this gave me a great starting point for actually getting one in the first place lol

NICE!!!!

IMO Dolby Atmos is overrated.

When one is listening to a 5.1 movie with the height channels on. One will actually be hearing a movie thats been mastered for 5 base level speakers and yet the same 5.1 signal will be coming out of the height channels 😲 (Messes up the whole 5-ch soundstage) it becomes even worse when listening to 2-ch decoded movie with the height channels on. It's only the fact I'm able to turn my height channels off that I was truly able to verify this! But unfortunately most people using a 7 or 9 ch internally amplified AVR won't be aware of it. If one keeps being told Dolby Atmos is the next best thing to sliced bread one really can't blame them.

Conclusion;
unless one has got the option to turn the height channels off, I would recommend not upgrading to Dolby Atmos and stick with 5.1. After all the vast majority content is 5.1 or smaller anyway.

I have a question .If you dont use all your channels on your avr would you have more reserved power for your other speakers ?

Thanks a lot. Didn’t know about preouts or really have a good way to tell if my avr can handle all from my speakers. Have a lot to think about before possibly sending my avr I bought back. May need to get more power, and not really looking to buy an amp at this point, but want the functionality for down the road.

Awesome information. I think I'm way off the system I bought from Amazon. What forum do you recommend a newbie setting up a system that has a ton of questions? I want wall speakers so I bought "Acoustic Audio by Goldwood Acoustic Audio HD518 In-Wall/Ceiling Home Theater 8" Surround 5.1 Speaker System" and thought the "Onkyo TX-SR494 AV Receiver" would work. I have to buy an amp for the 2 subs so maybe I will look for amp to power the center and fronts as well? Thanks for the Video.

This was great thanks

What if the speakers advertise a dynamic RMS wattage. Such as a pair of speakers I've purchased in their manual have a functional power range from 20 watt RMS -> 100 watt RMS with a sensitivity of 90 DB @ 1 watt.

I feel like the wattage concerns only really apply when your running very power hungry speakers with thick cones and low-sensitivity and plan on blasting the volume at good portion of the time.

I have a Marantz NR1605 AVR with an Emotive BasX A2 amp for front speakers only. I wired to the the main Pre Out channels to the A2 but am getting no signal to the speakers. I have a center channel from the AVR that works, and an external powered subwoofer as well. I have checked all IO and amp settings. Any ideas?

Here I am, in a tiny appartment living room, running a sketchy 5.1 setup with hand-me-downs and a cheap Yamaha HTR-6030 with an optical cable, watching videos about crazy 7.1.4 setups and Dolby Atmos

Anyone else think he sounds like Draymond Green?

Anything 5.1 $100 and under?

Wow, that was a head scratcher. Seems I need to be rich to get a decent sound. I've got the speakers but need the receiver

Brilliantly explained. I need to watch this several times. But I will and my knowledge will be vastly improved. Thanks for making such great videos.

One of the better videos on that topic, thank you Chris, great job!

Hi Chris, I'm new to this.
But a keen stereo guy in the 1970's
Do many of the recievers have a radio tuner built in?
And do many of them have a built in DVD player or allow you to plug one in?

what reciever is best for 2 speakers and 1 sub

Super useful video. I'm new to this coming from soundbars previously so all the impudence and wattage stuff was confusing. Thank you for your clearly explained video!