Video Asylum

TVs, VCRs, DVD players, Home Theater systems and more.

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That depends…

Posted by David Aiken on September 1, 2010 at 22:30:52:
on what you want to do.

If you're happy with your switching arrangements for video as well as audio and you're happy with the sound you're getting, then you don't need a HT receiver.

On the other hand if you aren't happy with video switching at your display (not enough inputs of a particular kind or simply not enough inputs) and you want more flexibility, then a HT receiver is certainly one way to go. It allowed me to use HDMI outputs from 2 sources. It also encouraged me to set up a surround sound system which I didn't have before I got the receiver and that can be a hidden trap. If you've got those extra channels available and you just happen to have a spare pair of speakers in a cupboard somewhere, it's easy to start down the slippery slope to a full scale surround setup. Don't get me wrong, I found I really enjoyed surround sound with movies but the setup completely took over the living room and in the end I decided that it wasn't worth having to keep walking around speakers in awkward places so I dismantled the surround system.

I don't know of any 2 or 2.1 channel HT receivers with HDMI inputs so that means that if you buy one for your current setup and you're interested in getting HDMI switching capablility you may not be able to find a receiver which does that unless you opt for one with full surround sound capability. That's a lot of amplification you don't need if you're only interested in 2.0 or 2.1 channel sound however if you can bi-amp your speakers (ie if they have bi-wire inputs), many HT receivers allow you to use some of the channels for bi-amping the front L and R speakers so you may be able to get some use from those extra channels. If the receiver has standard sub options and automated setup it can make sub setup a breeze and if it has a good built in room eq system like Audyssey that may also give you some useful benefits.

The complexity of the added controls can be a problem—it took me a while to come to grips with them—but in the end I found that they did offer some useful flexibility in my HT system while I ran it. Sure, there were more than a few features I didn't use but the ones I did use probably weren't obtainable any other way.

So my advice is to think about what you want to do with the system and what aspects of your current setup you currently are unhappy with. Work out which of those you can solve with an amp upgrade and which require the extra functionality that a HT receiver can provide. Then look at that extra functionality and decide whether the extra cost involved in buying the extra channels of amplification and the extra functionality that the receiver has over the amp is a reasonable price to pay for the extra functionality you need. If it isn't, then stick with the amp or investigate other options for getting the functionality you want.