What is an amplifier and a receiver?

Question

What is an amplifier and a receiver? Should i buy either one or both for my new 7.1 surround sound home theater? What is the main purpose of it and how many should i buy? Any othert suggestion what else to buy to make the best sound quality?

Answer 1

The 1st guy is not necessarily wrong, the 2nd guy less so, but they skirt the point of your question.

An amplifier is not a stand alone device. It requires a pre-processor (pre-pro)  which includes a pre-amp, surround sound decoder and possibly a radio tuner.  Once upon a time (before surround sound was common) you might have a seperate pre-amp, surround sound decoder and THREE two channel amps to get 5.1 sound.

A receiver has all of these in one body, including a radio tuner. If you have a receiver then you already have an amplifier built into it (and a pre-amp, and a surround sound decoder, and a radio tuner).

In the 1st linked diagram they are showing the receiver and separates in the same setup, but what they mean is that it is an either one or the other thing.

If you want to go the "separates" route, i.e. amp and pre-processor then you are going to spend A LOT more money to get the same functions. Some purists argue you get better sound, but those purists are the ones willing to spend 10 grand for the same functionality you can get for $500. (The third link is a review of a matched pre-pro and amplifier. Together they are almost $7500, and the review marvels at how in-expensive they are. Note that they only do 5.1, not 7.1 like you want.)

Actually you can go a lot lower; receivers can be had for as low as $200, and can go all the way up to $3000 or more. The separates setups can start at a few thousand, but go up into the tens of thousands. The second link is a list of receiver reviews.

My philosophy in home theater is that if you can get 90 percent of what the guy gets while spending only 10 percent as much then you are way ahead. I don't think that would change I was rich, but who knows?

Answer 2

Many will argue that seperate SSP (surround sound processors) and amplifiers will produce better sound quality albeit more expensive.  The problem with seperates is there aren't many pre/pros that have HDMI, MPCM, and HBR decoders (e.g. the new lossless codecs).  The SSP decodes your DTS and DD tracks.  The SSP will then transmit the sound to the amplifier which will in turn amplify the sound to the loudspeakers.

A receiver incorporates both a pre/pro and amplifier in one unit.  This offers a more cost effective and simpler solution.  Some will of course argue that the sound quality is not on par with seprates.  However, with a high quality AVR you can get top notch performance (Marantz, top level Denon, NAD

Depending on your budget you have some options to think of.

Answer 3

Basically, an amplifier has multiple inputs, and allows you to control the volume of each device, separately. A receiver, on the other hand, has a lot of advanced features, but only one master volume switch, which controls all the devices connected to it. Newer receivers can act as splitters for RCA, HDMI, etc. Receivers can also have an AM/FM radio, but amplifiers cannot. Some receivers can be on a network, as well. You will see many connections in a receiver, that you will not see on an amplifier.