All posts in: Home Theater Receivers

What type of home theater setup is right for you?

Electronics
By Brad Chacos on October 21, 2011 in

Home theater

Who knew home theater could be so befuddling? Sound bars, home theater in a box, discrete components -- what exactly do you need? You just want music and movies to sound good, right, and not a degree in acoustical engineering? Don't despair; we're here to explain the options and shine a light on the pros and cons of each one. Additional information can be found in our reports on home theater receivers, home theater speakers, home theater systems and soundbars.

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Networking hits home theater receivers - but is it worth it?

Electronics
By Brad Chacos on August 12, 2011 in

Home Theater Receiver

Home theater receivers used to be nothing more than the electronics equivalent of crossing guards. OK, DVD player, it's your turn to go; now you, cable box. Enter 2011. While the main role of AV receivers remains the same -- signal switching and audio output -- all but the most basic choices include bells and whistles that make them more versatile than ever. For example, as we discovered in updating our report on home theater receivers, even mid-range receivers are jumping on the streaming bandwagon, offering ways to get content from the Internet or your computer to your home theater set up. But, just how useful are those features? Let's find out.

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What's up with upconversion?

Electronics
By Carl Laron on December 28, 2009 in

What's up with upconversion

If you've shopped for gear for a home theater, you've probably noticed that upconversion is a standard feature in lots of different types of equipment, including DVD players, Blu-ray players, LCD TVs, plasma TVs and even many home-theater receivers. For those unfamiliar with it, upconversion (also called upscaling) is the process used to transform standard-definition TV images to high-definition resolutions. One of our readers, Robert, recently wrote in to ask: "In a home theater, what component is best for performing upconversion, and is there any benefit in doing upconversion more than once?

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Home theater on a budget: Where to scrimp and where to spend

Electronics
By Carl Laron on December 26, 2009 in

Home theater on a budget

In these tight times, everyone is interested in saving a little bit of cash where they can, even when putting together a home-theater system. As an example, one of our readers recently wrote to ask "If you are putting together a home theater system on a fixed budget, where can you get away with scrimping a bit and where does it pay to put performance first?"

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