When putting together a sound system for any room, whether its for delivering a massive theater like entertainment system for your television or whether its for purely listening to some good music, a home theater receiver will be a crucial component.
To put it basically, a home theater receiver is what powers your system, and wires your system. It's like the brains and muscles of your surround sound. The receiver is plugged into the wall and the speakers are plugged into the receiver. If using a television the receiver will also be plugged into the television to receiver the sound signal to be sent through the receiver to the speakers.
There are a multitude of things that the home theater receiver can do for you. It sends power to the speakers, tunes in the FM/AM radio stations, lets you switch between audio/video components, and lets you customize the sound output for your own rooms and preferences. Your entire audio/video experience is created from the home theater receiver.
Many current receivers now come standard with the ability to sync up all the components in your house, wireless and wired. Some allow you to wirelessly hook up with your computer to send music to your stereo system through a wifi signal. If you want the ability to integrate all the possible systems in your house this will be for you. This is a pretty awesome feature.
Choosing the correct power wattage for the speakers that you currently own or are looking to purchase is crucial. You want to make sure that the receiver you choose is going to have enough power to power the speakers that are going along with it. Also you are going to want to purchase the right type of surround sound receiver, whether it be the 5.1 or the 7.1.
Check the amount of outputs and inputs you are going to need as well. Wasting money on excessive amounts of outputs/inputs is not necessary as you can find high quality receivers with lower amounts of receivers. Make sure you have enough though, it's great to be able to have everything plugged into the receiver and simply switch from your surround sound, your music, your television, or your Playstation 3 at the touch of a button rather than bending down under your television stand and plugging and unplugging wires to try to get the correct system working.
If you're really up to date on your technology you'll be sure to check out the iPod compatible receivers. They have a built in dock to allow you to stream your music directly to your speakers. This can be very convenient for you.
So when looking to setup your home theater system look for the right size for what you need, look to have the correct type of surround outpout (5.1 or 7.1), check the outputs and inputs fit your needs, and get all the features that fit the components you have (mp3 players).
