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When doing your comparison shopping for a new home theater surround sound audio system, there are two major different types of home theater in a box systems on the market -- those
WITH HDMI audio/video inputs and switching capabilities like Yamaha's YHT-791 pictured to the right, and those
WITHOUT, like Panasonic's SC-BT300 below.
The first thing you need to decide is whether you want to connect each of your audio/video source components (such as a Blu-ray Disc player, DVD player, video game console, HDTV receiver, etc.) directly to a home theater receiver, OR instead to your high definition television. This is important because it tells you whether your home entertainment system will be receiver-centric or TV-centric. |
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If each of your A/V sources are connected directly to a home theater receiver (the better sounding choice) with HDMI cable, then all of your audio/video switching (changing inputs) will be performed through the home theater receiver and its remote control, and you can take maximum advantage of the more advanced digital (such as Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio) surround sound capabilities of your receiver.
If you instead connect each of your source components first to the inputs on your high definition television, you will do your A/V switching through the TV and its remote, but might sacrifice some audio performance. This is because most TVs lack the advanced surround sound decoders that are built-into home theater receivers. |
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