Best AV receivers

(Sep 05, 2008)

John P. Falcone
Senior Editor If you opted for separate speakers and components, your AV receiver will serve as the hub of your entire home-theater system. Today, even entry-level receivers come with a host of features and perform surprisingly well. But sorting through all of your options can be a daunting task, so we've tried to help out by selecting our favorites, all of which deliver a good balance of features, performance, ease of use, and value in their respective classes.

One quick buying tip--if you're looking to buy a receiver with many HDMI inputs, consider buying a step-down model and pairing it up with an inexpensive HDMI switcher. You'll save money, get more HDMI inputs overall, and the switcher can easily integrate with your home theater if you have a quality universal remote.