Home AV Receivers

Anthem AV Receiver

Seems these days we've had a lot of you asking about Home Theater Systems. We love that you come to us for advice on different options for your home. We find that most people put a lot of emphasis on the speakers. Now while speakers are crucial to your theater we need to be sure that we pick the right receiver for your setup. With so many options for receivers and so many blown up specs it’s hard to decide what’s best works for you.

A Home AV Receiver or Surround Sound Receiver, is the heart and brain of a home theater system and provides most, if not all, the inputs and outputs that you connect everything, including your television or projector. A receiver combines two different functions:

A Preamp that controls which audio/video source is selected (Blu-ray Disc Player, DVD player, Satellite or Cable box, CD player, iPod, etc) processes the incoming stereo/surround sound signals, and distributes audio to the channels and sub woofer output.

A built-in Multi-channel amplifier (5, 7, 9 or 11 channels) that sends the surround sound signals and power to the speakers. Also, one or two preamp outputs for connection of a powered sub woofers is usually an option.

Back of Pioneer Elite Receiver

You always see Ads for AV Receivers, always lists the Watts per Channel rating. One receiver has 50 Watts per Channel (WPC), another one has 75, and still another has 100. The more watts the better right? Not Necessarily. Most people think that more watts means more volume. An amplifier with 100 WPC is twice as loud as 50 WPC right? Not really.

Sound level is measured in Decibels (db). Our ears detect changes in volume. A db is on a scale of loudness. For a Receiver to be twice as loud as another, you need 10 times more wattage output. A Receiver with 100 WPC is capable of twice the volume level of a 10 WPC amp. A receiver with 100 WPC needs to be 1,000 WPC to be twice as loud. Tricky numbers!

An additional factor is the ability of a receiver to output its full power continuously. In other words, just because your receiver/amplifier may be listed as being able to output 100 WPC, doesn't mean it can do so for any significant length of time. Always make sure that, when you check for specifications, that the WPC output is measured in RMS terms. This means that the listed power output is sustained output at a specific volume level.

The brands that we carry are:

Yamaha, Pioneer

Denon, Onkyo

Marantz, Anthem

Klipsch Palladium

 
We love these brands for many reasons one of those reasons being that they aren't big blowing their specs out of proportion. When Paul Klipsch started designing his famous speakers his company used a slogan, “No BS.” Straight to the point and with great sound without over doing it through specs. Here at Lynn’s we love this. We don’t start naming off specs every time you come to look at Audio equipment. 95% of the time when someone buys Audio equipment it’s how it sounds. We all want the best sound for the right price. So let your ears do the thinking and give your calculator a break. Pick the system that you could listen to for hours, not spend hours talking about it’s specs.