Hi if I plan to buy speakers for home theater, do I also need audio receiver?

Question

Hi I have 38'' Philips HDTV/LCD & Philips Blu-ray player. Now I want to plan of having a home theater for summer. But to do that, do I need 2 items? The surround sound speakers & audio receiver right? And how do I know the audio receiver supports 7.1 channel? Thank you.

Answer 1

You will need a 7.1 channel receiver, if you want a 7.1 system.  It usually says it on the receiver (maybe a sticker), but you could also browse online.  

MAKE SURE however, that your receiver has HDMI inputs/outputs, if you want to get the best sound processing from your system.  I bought a Pioneer THX certified receiver 3 years ago, and recently purchased a 52" Pioneer Elite plasma television.  When they came out to hook everything up, they asked me if my receiver had HDMI, and I said "oh yeah, this baby has everything."  Well, it didn't, and now I'm left with a $1800.00 out-dated receiver.  Good luck.

One more thing, get a receiver that has DTS capabilities as well.  You won't regret it.

Pioneer is pretty good, but when I do it again in a few months, I will go with Harmon Kardon first,  Onkyo second, and Yamaha third, because I'm going to be ebaying my Pioneer.

Answer 2

Yes, you need a set of 7 spks and an av receiver.

Most up to date av receiver support 7.1ch, just download and check the spec from the manufacturer website before purchase. Good av receiver are made by Yamaha, Denon, Onkyo(good value), pioneer and Sony.

Answer 3

Unfortunately, as common a name as sony is, their prducts live exactly to their warranty date, and then expire.  Look areound your house.  How many HIGH END items by sony do you have.  Now, think about how recent;y ou've purchased them

Now with Phillips, I was a big fan once, but their products seem to break down on a hardware level (disk trays, sliders) cheap materials to build them  I current'y am using a (2 year old?) yamaha reciever.  Didn't kill me to buy, has optical/digital inputs (of cource rca too) and I've NEVER had to crank it.  Even for outdoor use.  And I have a big house.  I strngly recommend a yamaha reciever, the price is right, and I've never seen a broken one (at least, on that wasn't abused)

Good luck on your purchase!