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Digital Receivers
Home Audio Receivers
AMC Amplifiers Audiosource Amps Harman Kardon Receivers Sherwood Receiver
Again, HiFi Digital Receivers are the back-bone of any Home Audio or AV Stereo System. However, Home Hi Fi Power / Stereo Receivers were not always digital as they predominantly are today. Analog music / audio signals have been electronically amplified since the 1920s. Back then, engineers used vacuum tubes to boost the analog signal to a level at which it could power a speaker. Subsequently, the use of transistors to amplify an audio signal became the standard method. Both of these methods produce a lot of heat and if cheap components were used (to cut costs), there was a significant signal distortion and thus loss of signal quality. Then came audio on a Digital CD, which although had a digital signal, the audio signal had to be fed through an Analog Amplifier to be heard. Hence, the next logical progressive step, The Digital Receiver. This new Power Amp allowed the transmission of the stereo signal in a digital form without a conversion back to an analog signal (if the unit has digital inputs), which created a signal loss and hence quality loss.
These Home Stereo Digital Receivers provide most of the connections to the rest of your system, often including your television. Moreover, they often include a Preamp that controls which audio/video source is selected, processes the incoming sound signals, and distributes audio to the separate channels. Many are fully capable of running a whole house audio system, as well as home theater systems, without the need for additional Power Amps. Certain models have multiple channel / zone outputs for whole house audio. As stated on other pages, if the unit does not have multi channel capability, one will have to worry about low impedance when connecting multiple speaker pairs to one zone. When a multi zone system is wired off one channel or zone, one would have to use an impedance matching/protecting device. Connecting impedance matching volume controls in line from the power source will achieve this, as will wiring to a multi zone speaker selectors with impedance protection.