Receivers, Processors and Pre-amps

[aplihsrajan]

Hi!

I am a lot confused between Surround Sound Receiver, Surround Sound Processor and an AV receiver.

I understand that a surround sound receiver doesn't have a pre-amp.
A surround sound processor doesn't have an amp but just a pre-amp
And an AV receiver has a pre-amp and an amp. An AV receiver can act like a surround sound receiver too. Isn't it?

Then why would one not want to buy an AV receiver and go for a Surround Sound receiver and a separate amp and pre-amp and all the fuss?

Thanks!

 

[Santy]

Here are some basics:

Stereo Receiver
Basically a two channel integrated amplifier with radio tuner.

Surround Receiver
It has (a) decoder (b) preamp (c) power amp
It does not handle video. I think you wont find one manufactured these days.
The Philips LX600 I had was a surround receiver. But these days A/V receiver is also called as Surround receiver (esp. Marantz).

[ Having a decoder means the unit can accept surround sound formats like Dolby / DTS and split them into 5.1/ 7.1 channels. ]

A/V receiver
It has (a) decoder (b) preamp (c) power amp and it does video (passthrough / processing).

A/V preprocessor
It has (a) decoder (b) preamp and does video
Essentially it is an AV receiver without power amp (you cannot connect speakers to it). For that, you need a multi channel power amp.
Preprocessor + Power amp are usually referred to as 'Components' in HT setup.

 

[aplihsrajan]

Thank you for the neat explanation Santy!

 

[aplihsrajan]

Classe manufactured SSP-800 which won an award at Audioholics. The name says it is a Surround Sound PROCESSOR.